News Source: The Star, Yahoo
February 18, 2021
“This reality is something all Canadians should be concerned about, as soil is integral to our ecosystem and the source of our food.” – Gabrielle Bastien
Dr. Sean Smukler, CSFS Associate and a professor at UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems, gave comments about the impact of regenerative agriculture on agricultural production and the mitigation of climate change.
News Source: Cepagro
January 22, 2021
“A aceleração da crise climática global ameaça cada vez mais a segurança alimentar e nutricional das populações do campo e da cidade” (Translation: The acceleration of the global climate crisis is increasingly threatening the food and nutritional security of rural and urban populations) – Cepagro
Please see the left sidebar in the article for translation into English.
The “Agroecology in Latin America: building paths” project had been created through international collaboration between Cepagro and UBC via Dr. Hannah Wittman, CSFS Associate and professor at the IRES (Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability). The project’s data collection is conducted by LiteFarm, a digital agricultural management tool developed by UBC’s scientists, designers, and students.
News Source: The Conversation
February 3, 2021
“Given population pressure, it is not politically feasible to increase the extent of protected areas. The question is, how will Africa provide space for its wildlife and food production?” – Dr. Terry Sunderland
Dr. Terry Sunderland, CSFS Associate and professor in the Faculty of Forestry, co-authored an article on why resource conservation strategies should not only focus on protected areas, but also make use of the chance to maintain biodiversity within agricultural landscapes.
News Source: National Observer
February 3, 2021
“Free trade deals like NAFTA have consistently made it more difficult for smaller, regional food processing facilities to compete.” – Dr. Hannah Wittman
Dr. Hannah Wittman, CSFS Associate and professor at the IRES (Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability) & LFS, recently interviewed in National Observer about food shortages during COVID-19. The pandemic has exposed shortcomings in our current food processing and distribution model. To increase the resilience of local processing operations, B.C. food and beverage manufacturers are soon to receive funding from the provincial government.
News Source: Medium
January 28, 2021
“Efforts are needed to put climate change back on the agenda and in the spotlight in media outlets worldwide.” – Dr. Zia Mehrabi
Dr. Zia Mehrabi, CSFS Associate and researcher at the IRES (Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability), wrote about how climate change was covered in the media during the pandemic. Coverage about COVID-19 has dominated news outlets in 2020, but climate change is another important challenge that needs to be addressed to maintain the health and wellbeing of people and the planet.
News Source: National Observer, The Star
January 6, 2021
“When we think of the food bank, we’re not necessarily thinking that people who use the food bank should have a say in the decisions or the kinds of services offered or the kinds of food provided. The dominant discourse is that people experiencing poverty should just be grateful and thankful. I think this reproduces a system that treats people like objects.” – Colin Dring
National Observer and The Star spoke with Colin Dring (a UBC PhD candidate in agricultural planning) about food justice and accessibility. He helped launch an educational resource called Just Food, which was created with former Work-Learn students Meryn Corkery and Joyce Liao. Colin discusses the lack of diversity in B.C.’s food discourse, and how we can work towards a more equitable food system.
“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.