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Lunchmates : a campus lunch co-op

University of British Columbia. Campus and Community Planning

There is a constantly growing need for enjoyable, nutritious, and affordable lunch options on campus. Students and staff members are becoming more pressed for time and decisions about food, sustainability, and the community seem to be growing in complexity. At the Vancouver Campus of the University of British Columbia (UBC), we are attempting to establish the feasibility of a campus based lunch co-op program to make it easier for students, and potentially staff members, to simply connect with others through the simple act of sharing food with others and eating lunch together. The Lunchmates campus lunch co-op aims to reduce the amount of time, energy, and waste students generate when cooking a typical individual meal. The Lunchmates each take turns cooking a homemade lunch for the entire group one day per week. To determine the feasibility of a lunch co-op on campus, we conducted a six-week trial run that identified the issues and challenges related to purchasing ingredients, food safety concerns, and nutritional requirements. We also looked into appropriate dining locations on campus, waste and energy reduction, and how the co-op project can contribute to community building at UBC. The Lunchmates project aims to include students and staff from all departments and faculties across campus. There are potential collaborations between the lunch co-op project and the UBC Wellness Centre Nutrition Team and also the UBC Vancouver Collegia program. There are three key recommendations for the subsequent stages of the lunch co-op project. Additional research opportunities and funding can be considered to ensure the project’s successful continuation. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Text

University of British Columbia. GRS 397; UBC Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Report

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0108523

Land and Food Systems, Faculty of

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/