The Centre for Sustainable Food Systems is excited to announce that registration for the 2022 Spring community workshops series is now open!
The UBC Farm hosts a wide range of workshops covering diverse skills in gardening, cooking, fermenting, and foraging. This year, we have added new workshops and brought back many favourites. All of our workshops are beginner friendly and open to everyone, so please share with your networks! Until further notice, all of our workshops will be conducted online. We hope to announce summer and fall workshops soon, too!
For more details and to register, visit ubcfarm.ubc.ca/workshops or view the full list of workshops here. Please sign up early, as popular workshops sell out. We hope to see you (virtually) at our workshops soon!
Learn some useful food foraging survival knowledge in case of emergency. You’ll learn how to find food in a pinch and where to safely forage on the coast. Your questions will be answered about how find sustainable edible wild weeds, nutrient rich plants for survival and beach forage superfoods like seaweeds and shellfish. We’ll cover any poisonous plants you should avoid and simple cooking methods for the food you find in this 2 hour video collection.
To be clear, the format of this workshop consists of 2 hrs of Robin’s original video content (that you can watch and re-watch over the next year) and a 1 hr live Zoom session. The live session will begin with Chef Robin bringing wild edibles for show and tell that she’s harvested that week to give you examples of what foragables are popping up in the forests. Additionally, Robin will demo and briefly go over a few more currently available edible species. The final 30 minutes of the session will be an opportunity for questions from participants.
About the Instructor
For the past 10 years, Chef Robin Kort has been teaching foraging programs from wild mushrooms to winter foraging classes through her company Swallow Tail Culinary Adventures. Her experience spans from being a commercial wild foods supplier for Vancouver’s high end restaurants to bringing agrologists and forestry students into the field for lectures on traditional food plants of BC. Robin is a native Vancouverite who grew up hiking the mountains and swimming the seas of the Pacific Northwest and would love to share her knowledge of her home with you.
Online via Teachable and Zoom.
A link to access the pre-recorded video content will be shared with registrants a week prior to the workshop. For registrants who sign up less than a week before the workshop, the link to access the pre-recorded video content will be shared 24 hours prior to the workshop. Link to the live Zoom workshop will be shared with all registrants on the day of the workshop. Please note that the Zoom portions of our workshops are not recorded.
Food prices climbed during the second year of the pandemic and climate disasters contributed
News Source: CTV News
Jan 27, 2022
“We’re seeing an increased pattern of impacts to production that are currently impacting the capacity of farmers to produce food and this will only get more challenging as we move forward.” – Dr. Sean Smukler
Dr. Sean Smukler, CSFS Associate and chair of agriculture and environment at UBC, spoke with CTV News about how the extreme weather conditions in 2021 impacted food production and subsequent inflation of food prices. Statistics Canada reported that food prices in Canada increased to a decade high, following record-breaking heat, severe drought and devastating floods last year. Dr. Smukler says we’re seeing what climate scientists have long predicted becoming reality, and as the food supply continues to be affected, the markets will react accordingly. Smukler goes on to state that this is just a “taste of what is to come” and advises the development of strategies to improve farmer resilience to weather volatility, reduction of greenhouse gases, and commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change are crucial next steps.
The BC Land Matching Program: Explained and Evaluated
Hannah Wittman
Véronik Campbell
News Source: Centre for Sustainable Food Systems
Jan 27, 2022
The agricultural sector in British Columbia (BC) is facing a farm renewal crisis, and the long-term viability of the sector depends on attracting and retaining a new generation of farmers.
CSFS Associates Dr. Hannah Wittman and staff member Véronik Campbell conducted an evaluation of the BCLMP to determine
how the outcomes of the BCLMP are aligning with the needs of new entrant farmers. The evaluation looked at the factors contributing to successful land matches and identified areas of potential growth for the future.
Amongst the key findings, land matching is identified as a key opportunity to link new farmers to arable land. The research team found it takes on average 6 to 7 months to create a successful land match, and 66 percent of land seekers and 63 percent of landholders indicated that their farming operation and the land were more stable after matching through the BCLMP. Essential aspects of an effective land match are a strong agricultural community network, availability of region-specific resources, aligned goals of land seeker and landholder, and business and legal literacy. It’s also recommended that the BCLMP continue to deliver education and business resources, track long-term outcomes, and develop programming to meet new entrants’ needs.
Sunflowers’ invisible colours are revealed: UV bullseye pattern attracts pollinating insects and helps the plant regulate water loss, study reveals
Dr. Loren Rieseberg
Dr. Marco Todesco
News Source: Daily Mail
Jan 21, 2022
“It exemplifies the complexity and efficiency of adaptation — solving two problems with a single trait” – Dr Loren Rieseberg
CSFS Associates Dr. Marco Todesco and Dr. Loren Rieseberg, research associate and professor, respectively, at UBC’s biodiversity research centre and department of botany were interviewed about their recent study revealing how sunflowers’ UV patterns vary depending on climate. Floral UV patterns are already known to enhance pollination, but this study suggests that they also regulate water loss from flowers.
The researchers found that a single gene, HaMYB111, controls the production of UV-absorbing flavonol compounds, which help flowers survive under different environmental stresses. Larger floral UV patterns appear in drier environments reducing water loss, and smaller floral UV patterns in hot humid settings enhance evaporation and improve cooling. Dr. Todesco claims these findings are valuable in helping us “understand how sunflowers, and potentially other plants, better adapt to different areas or temperatures, which could be important in a warming climate”.
“We should be building the infrastructure for the next 30 years, starting yesterday” – Dr. Sean Smukler
Dr. Sean Smukler, CSFS Associate and UBC Chair of Agriculture and Environment, stresses the importance of strengthening the agricultural sector’s resilience to climate change following the extreme weather disasters B.C. encountered last year. He explains that B.C. is “ahead of the curve”, but funding stands in the way of more urgent adaptation efforts. Smukler advises that continuing in “reactionary mode” is much more costly than taking a proactive approach.
Hosting another Olympics would require minimal new infrastructure
News Source: Vancouver Sun
Dec 10, 2021
“If the city is to consider hosting another Olympics, it has to spread out the amenities across the city.” – Dr. Robert VanWynsberghe
Dr. Robert VanWynsberghe, CSFS Associate and UBC Education professor, shares his perspective on the possibility of another Olympics being hosted here. As social housing remains top of mind, he doesn’t think that citizens will be happy if Olympic amenities appear again in East Vancouver.
Growing a Farm: The 20-year Journey of the UBC Farm
Episode 2: Saving the Farm
The UBC Farm that students had started was growing and thriving, but it became clear that that land was slated for development, and the Farm was going to be bulldozed. A movement rose up to protect it and prove that it was worth saving. But the odds were not in their favour.
Show notes:
To further your knowledge of Musqueam Territory upon which the UBC Farm is situated, check out Land Beneath Our Feet, a Musqueam guide brought to you by the UBC Library.
Credits:
Hosted by Anisha Sandhu (LFS Student and former CSFS Knowledge Mobilization Assistant, CSFS at UBC Farm).
Produced by Melanie Kuxdorf (Communications and Marketing Manager, CSFS at UBC Farm) and Anisha Sandhu, with special production thanks to Duncan McHugh (Digital & Instructional Media Producer, Faculty of Land and Food Systems).
Music:
“Denali at Dawn (feat. RIVER LUME)” by SPEARFISHER
“Beyond” by Ian Post
Special Thanks:
Thanks to the staff at the UBC Farm and LFS who provided feedback and support, and a very special thanks to everyone who was interviewed for this project and especially to all those who started, supported and helped save the Farm: Thank you for your vision and perseverance – we wouldn’t be here without you.
Growing a Farm: The 20-year Journey of the UBC Farm
The UBC Farm is 20 years old! To celebrate we are excited to release a limited podcast series, bringing forward the voices of some of the many people who helped start and, ultimately, save the UBC Farm.
The Teaser is out! Listen Now:
“The Farm wasn’t saved by faculty members. It wasn’t saved by administrators. It was saved by students.”
– Dr. Art Bomke, Associate Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Land and Food Systems
“The first time I went, you opened the gate that just looked like it hadn’t been opened in ages, with these old buildings and blackberries taking over it. And it was this amazing place, and had that feeling of somewhere that had a lot of life to it.”
– Kristina Bouris, the UBC Farm’s first Education Coordinator
About the Podcast:
Twenty years ago, UBC’s south campus looked very different. Among a scattering of empty buildings and some remaining cattle, sheep, quail and poultry, there was derelict farmland, 24 hectares of field and forest with research projects running but not much else – but a small group of students saw the potential.
Growing A Farm: the 20-Year Journey of the UBC Farm, is a limited podcast series that tells the story of the beginnings of the Farm in 2001 and the against-the-odds story of saving it.
The podcast is hosted by current LFS student, Anisha Sandhu, who wanted to explore the Farm’s history on its 20th anniversary by speaking to the students, staff and faculty members who were key to turning a vision into reality.
“The story of the UBC Farm shows we are capable of anything we put our minds to: the team work makes the dream work,” says Sandhu. “It’s also a story that needs to be shared as students come and go. It’s such a unique space and brings so much to the UBC experience.”
Over two episodes, we follow as they uncover this derelict land, learn how to start a farm, battle against devious wireworm pests, set out to show the value of food and sustainability before it was a hot topic and start a movement to prove the value to the university and, ultimately, save the farm.
See how we’ve grown over the years: a timeline since our inception in 2001 can be found in this LFS ReachOut article. Learn more about our history here.
Stay tuned for the launch of Saving the Farm on December 3.
To further your knowledge of Musqueam Territory upon which the UBC Farm is situated, check out Land Beneath Our Feet, a Musqueam guide brought to you by the UBC Library.
Credits:
Hosted by Anisha Sandhu (LFS Student and former CSFS Knowledge Mobilization Assistant, CSFS at UBC Farm).
Produced by Melanie Kuxdorf (Communications and Marketing Manager, CSFS at UBC Farm) and Anisha Sandhu, with special production thanks to Duncan McHugh (Digital & Instructional Media Producer, Faculty of Land and Food Systems).
Music:
“Denali at Dawn (feat. RIVER LUME)” by SPEARFISHER
“Beyond” by Ian Post
Special Thanks:
Thanks to the staff at the UBC Farm and LFS who provided feedback and support, and a very special thanks to everyone who was interviewed for this project and especially to all those who started, supported and helped save the Farm: Thank you for your vision and perseverance – we wouldn’t be here without you.
Cowichan couple cultivates a passion for cheesemaking
News Source: The Discourse
April 20, 2021
“A lot of the farming community around us have become our good friends. It’s a support network — we all go through the same rigours of being farmers.” – Cory Spencer
Cory Spencer, 2009 Graduate of the UBC Farm Practicum and the founder of Haltwhistle Cheese Company, talks about his career change from software development to cheesemaking. Quite the drastic adjustment!
