“Industrial agriculture is associated with myriad environmental impacts, from nitrous oxide emissions tied to excessive fertilizer use to hurting pollinators through habitat destruction.”
Dr. Navin Ramankutty, CSFS Associate and Canada Research Chair in Global Environmental Change and Food Security, recently gave input in The National Observer regarding the sustainability of plant-based meats.
“We know that there’s this co-existence of food insecurity and mental health problems. It’s a feedback loop, where one makes the other worse.”
Dr. Jennifer Black, CSFS Associate and LFS Professor, recently commented in The National Observer about the impacts of COVID-19 on two related topics, food security and mental health.
“The foods that we eat — the pieces of the land, the berries, the fish, and the roots — get transformed into our food, which transforms into our bodies, all of our cells and DNA, and that gets passed down generation to generation through birth.”
The Star and IndigiNews featured the xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Garden at the UBC Farm, a.k.a. as the Indigenous Health Research and Education Garden. The name xʷc̓ic̓əsəm means “the place where we grow” in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, the traditional language spoken by the Musqueam people whose unceded lands the garden resides on.
“If that compound can be discovered or identified, then for sure, it could be used as a way to ward off the Asian giant hornet.”
Dr. Leonard Foster, CSFS associate and professor at UBC Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and beekeeper at the UBC Farm, recently gave comments in WIRED. Honeybees use animal excretions on their hives to ward off hornets, so it is discussed how chemical compounds that are repulsive to hornets could be isolated from animal dung.
Inspired by the late Mi’kmaq artist Mike MacDonald, the Finding Flowers project aims to build connections and knowledge about people, land and wildlife by bridging art and science. The loss of pollinators and native landscapes threatens the sustainability of natural ecosystems and the people connected to these natural processes. By focusing on wild pollinators and native plants, Profs Lisa Myers and Sheila Colla will discuss the project’s commitment to understanding nature from diverse perspectives. Various activities of the project include the replanting of Mike MacDonald’s Butterfly Gardens across Canada, pollination studies of culturally important medicinal plants, knowledge-sharing events and community science programming, coordinated by Research Associate,
Dana Prieto.
Dr. Sheila Colla
Dr. Sheila Colla is a classically trained Ecologist, using scientific principles to address real-world conservation issues. Her research thus far has focused on the conservation of lesser-understood native species such as bees, butterflies and flowering plants. As pollinators and pollination have become important issues amongst policymakers and the public in recent years, her work has become more interdisciplinary. She works closely with environmental NGOs, landowners, academic partners and government agencies at the municipal, provincial and federal levels to implement conservation management based on the best available science. Dr. Colla’s research considers species with large ranges across the US and Canada, but also local species which are at-risk in Ontario.
Dr. Lisa Myers
Dr. Lisa Myers is the co-PI of the Finding Flowers Project and an assistant professor with the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University. Based in Toronto and Port Severn, she is a member of Chimnissing, Beausoleil First Nation, as well as an internationally recognized artist and curator. Myers’s research focuses on Contemporary Indigenous art and curatorial practice, Indigenous food systems and food sovereignty. Through socially engaged art, she creates gatherings that respond to place, sharing Indigenous foods and reflecting on underrepresented histories and collective forms of knowledge exchange.
Thursday, February 11, 2021 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. PST
The CSFS Future of Food Global Dialogue Series is brought to you by the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems.
This week we are featuring Wild Child Co., a second-year vendor at our market! Wild Child Co. combines a bakery, play space, and gently used clothing boutique, for parents and kids alike to enjoy. We recently had the pleasure of chatting with owner and UBC alumni, Leah Passmore, to find out more.
I started Wild Child Co. in 2019 with the goal of creating a unique space that combines a Bakery, Play Space, and Shop that sells preloved kids’ clothing, shoes, accessories, books & toys online.
What are the three most important things you think people should know about Wild Child Co.?
I always had those 3 components to Wild Child Co.- a bakery, play space & shop of preloved/used kids’ clothes. I think a space where a parent/adult can have a coffee & baked good that’s child-friendly (so with toys the kids can play with & feel welcome because there are things for them), combined with a retail shop was something that sounded good to me! I started collecting vintage OshKosh overalls for my kid when he was born from places I travelled to and just continued that “collecting”, I guess, with other kids’ clothing that parents need & want.
How do you source clothing? How does this connect to your zero-waste bakery?
I source the kids’ clothes, books & toys from thrift stores, kids’ consignment shops, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, garage sales. I love thrifting & hunting when I travel to new places. Parents have been wanting to have their kids’ outgrown clothes on consignment, so I will start receiving clothes through consignment soon as well.
The ethos of having a “zero waste” bakery, where customers are encouraged to bring their own containers & have reusable pie plates or jars that can be brought back fit with the “preloved” kids’ shop because both make us think of the waste we produce & how we can bring new life to old things rather than throwing them away.
Why did you choose to come to the UBC Saturday Market specifically?I have really enjoyed attending the market with my family as a customer we really like the small community feeling and it’s nice to come back to the UBC community as alumni. It has also been a great, accessible market to get started at.
My bread!
You can order online at our website!
Market Dates| Facebook Page | Instagram | Website
“There’s an assumption that we’re going to be able to target everyone with these new technologies and everyone is going to be able to benefit.”
Dr. Zia Mehrabi, CSFS Associate, recently gave input to ZME Science about how advanced technology could create more inequality and divide, due to the fact that not every farmer has access to such technologies.
“With very large-scale agriculture, we are simplifying the landscapes a lot. It makes them much less hospitable for most species.”
Dr. Claire Kremen, a UBC professor from the Institute for Resources, Environment, & Sustainability and the Department of Zoology, recently won the 2020 Volvo Environment Prize for her research into how humanity can sustainably feed itself while preserving biodiversity. Congratulations Claire!
“We’re trying to gather the information not only to help farmers with their day-to-day, but also to think more broadly about the future and how we can build a better planet for our children.”
This article features interviews with CSFS Associate Dr. Zia Mehrabi and project staffer Kevin Cusson. They are creating a free, open-source web app to advance sustainability science and to help farmers improve their financial and environmental management.