“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!
Fraser Valley farmers won’t know for weeks how floodwaters have affected prized soil
News Source: CBC
November 28, 2021
“Those pollutants may not be on site anymore. They actually might be in our nearby aquatic ecosystems.” – Dr. Sean Smukler
Dr. Sean Smukler, CSFS Associate and agricultural ecologist, spoke about the ways how recent flooding events may have affected nearby soils and aquatic ecosystems. The exact extent to which pollutants have contaminated the soils is unknown prior to more testing. However, the Ministry stated that this is a weeks-long process and tests cannot be conducted until the water recedes.
Happy World Soil Day! Established in 2014 by the United Nations, World Soil Day is celebrated every year on December 5th, with the goal of spotlighting the importance of healthy soils and sustainable soil management. This year, the theme of World Soil Day is Soil Salinization.
Soil Salinization is the process that occurs when salts, such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, chloride, etc., accumulate in the soil. While some salts are good for plant and soil health, too much of these salts leads to all sorts of problems with plant growth and soil structure.
To see the global extent of soil salinization, check out this page published by the FAO. If you are curious about the soils around the Lower Mainland, here are some openly available sources for you to explore: Vancouver Soil Map and GeoMap Vancouver.
How the B.C. floods revealed the fragility of Canada’s food system
News Source: The Globe and Mail
November 27, 2021
“In order to make the modern food system today, it involved a lot of trying to control nature.” – Dr. Hannah Wittman
Dr. Hannah Wittman, CSFS Associate and IRES Professor, gave comments in The Globe and Mail. Citing past studies, she stated that diversifying farms is essential for resilience towards climate change. For example, one such approach is Mr. Bodnar’s Abbotsford farm, a small-scale operation with varying landscapes and a wide range of organic produce.
“The key is to ask yourself, is this something that I will use for a long time? Or is it something only used for a couple of months, going to sit around and clutter my house?” – Dr. Kai Chan
Dr. Kai Chan, CSFS Associate and Professor at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability discussed the ways in which sustainability and social behaviour should be incorporated in Black Friday shopping. According to Chan, there’s no harm in taking advantage of the sales: that being said, it’s best to be mindful of the item’s potential for longterm usage as well.
‘A form of control’: Why people panic buy and how to potentially stop it
News Source: Vancouver is Awesome
November 19, 2021
“What these events are showing is making visible the cracks in the food system that have been there for some time.” – Dr. Hannah Wittman
Dr. Hannah Wittman, CSFS Associate and IRES Professor, was quoted in an article about panic buying and food hoarding in light of the recent floods. She mentioned that there are four pillars to food security: availability, accessibility, the healthiness of food and sustainability of production.
According to Dr. Wittman, the Fraser Valley was already at risk as a food source: recent events have brought this issue to light, with damage to farms and distribution systems. However, she stressed that the underlying issue is not with the roads — rather, it’s paramount for the lands to be repaired.
