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.
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.
“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!
“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.
Don’t forget to check out the City of Vancouver’s proclamation for “Vancouver Soil Day”!
“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.
“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.
“We have a biodiversity crisis that is as bad as the climate crisis, but hasn’t captured as much attention — farming is the biggest driver of the biodiversity crisis.” – Dr. Navin Ramankutty
Dr. Navin Ramankutty, CSFS Associate and Professor at the UBC School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, provided input on the impacts of food production on climate. While food accounts for roughly a third of global emissions, it has historically held a relatively low profile in international climate negotiations (COP). According to Ramankutty, in addition to a greater focus on food systems in such discussions, countries must also ensure that supports are in place for human rights and local ecosystems.
