UBC Undergraduate Research

UBC Farm : contributions to a sustainable food system Goyal, Sarika; Hsi, Sharon; Law, Kenneth; Lu, Wendy; Mulligan, Rob; Spencer, Nicole; Weatherhead, Scott; Yin, Cindy

Abstract

As a working team, our group collectively assessed the sustainability of the UBC food system and identified the ways in which the UBC South Campus Farm (UBC Farm) can contribute to a sustainable food system. Specifically, we have examined the potential of the UBC Farm to supply healthy, diverse food products to various local UBC outlets. Through interviews we discovered that the productive capacity of the farm can be increased to meet growing demand for local foods, either through small-scale animal systems, greenhouse production, or expanding the UBC Market Garden project. The barriers which hinder these expansions were also identified, and include the following: degraded or missing infrastructure, government regulations concerning meat production, and limited market opportunities for non-processed food. This document also serves as a “stepping stone” for future students to use by identifying areas for future research. Future students should examine the possibility of processing food from UBC Farm, labeling the food as locally or organically grown, incorporating wetland and forested areas in agriculture production, and methods of integrating animals back onto the farm. By examining where the “holes” (or weaknesses) in the current food system lie, our group envisioned the ways in which the UBC Farm could fill these “holes” and fulfill our utopian view of a sustainable food system. 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.”

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada