Ontario woman files proposed class-action lawsuit over salmonella-tainted cantaloupes
By sandland on January 11, 2024
Ontario woman files proposed class-action lawsuit over salmonella-tainted cantaloupes
Image of cantaloupe. Credits: Globe and Mail
January 3rd, 2024
An Ontario woman who became ill after eating cantaloupe is the lead plaintiff in a second proposed class-action lawsuit filed over cantaloupe-linked salmonella infections across the country.
Cantaloupe is grown in bushes and is particularly vulnerable to salmonella carried by wild animals, such as reptiles whose feces can contaminate the soil. “A major feature of salmonella compared to many other food-borne pathogens that make people sick is that it can be carried by a very wide variety of hosts,” associate professor of food safety engineering at UBC said, comparing it to E. coli, which is mainly carried by cattle.
Seven people in Canada have died from cantaloupe-linked salmonella and there have been 164 laboratory-confirmed cases in eight provinces, 111 of them in Quebec, the Public Health Agency of Canada said in its latest update last month.
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By sandland on December 5, 2023
Food at the Tipping Point: Ways Forward from a Food System in Crisis
Climate Resilient Farming: Bok Choy and Rice
Learn about Wendel’s research on rice growing techniques
Learn about Amanda’s research on shading bok choy
Climate Resilient Farming: Bok Choy and Rice
Droughts, wildfires, floods and heatwaves are happening more often and with greater force every year. Farmers are suffering great losses worldwide. It has become clear that innovation and new practices are needed in order to adapt to these changing normals. As part of the Sustainable Agriculture program, undergraduate students at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) learn how to be part of the solution and complete their own research project that addresses the challenges facing our food system today.
Wendel and Amanda are two students in the program that wanted to find more sustainable ways to grow food under two arising environmental conditions: water instability and warmer summers.
Rice is often grown in paddies that are flooded with water in order to suppress weeds and competition. However, with droughts becoming more severe over the last few years, water usage in agriculture has become an area of significant concern. For her research, Wendel decided to grow rice in dry fields to see if we can reduce our water usage in this globally important crop.
Producing seeds is a natural part of a plant’s life cycle. However, sometimes a vegetable crop produces flowers and goes to seed earlier than we’d like it to. This is called “bolting”, an irreversible process that changes the flavour of the leaves that we harvest for food, such as lettuce, spinach, and bok choy, and makes the produce unsellable. As a result of climate change, we are seeing higher summer temperatures that stresses plants and causes them to bolt early on in the season. In her research, Amanda tested different methods of shading to see if it would help reduce the rate of bolting in bok choy crops.
Check out our two short videos detailing Wendel and Amanda’s research.
Find more information on the student research projects and results here.
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By sandland on November 21, 2023
Food at the Tipping Point: Ways Forward from a Food System in Crisis
Is the Future too Bright?
Meet Daphne and the “ALANizers” she designed
Learn about why research on ALAN is important
Is the Future too Bright?
Our night skies are becoming brighter and brighter with population growth and increased access to electricity. However, while lights extend our days and help us navigate at night, its impacts on our fellow living beings isn’t quite so positive.
Daphne Chevalier, a master’s student in the PIEE lab at UBC, is researching the effects of artificial light at night (known as ALAN) on insects and bats, using the UBC Farm as her study area. ALAN is a significant threat to insect populations as studies have suggested that it is a major driver of declines in several key insect species, for example, through increased predation by bats. These lights exert a powerful attractive force on some insects that can interfere with their navigation and behaviour; we have all had experience with moths being attracted to our porch lights!
As pollinators, pest-controllers and nutrient recyclers, insects are foundational to our food system, and understanding how we can adapt our nighttime activities to their behaviour will be critical to maintaining healthy insect populations.
Watch the short videos above to learn more about what motivated Daphne’s research and how she’s monitoring the effects of ALAN.
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By sandland on November 21, 2023
Food at the Tipping Point: Ways Forward from a Food System in Crisis
Beyond the Fields: Exploring On-Farm Biodiversity
Dr. Matt Mitchell talks about the biodiversity project at the UBC Farm
Why monitor biodiversity? Matt Mitchell explains the purpose behind the project
See a day in the life of the project’s Work Learn students
Beyond the Fields: Exploring On-Farm Biodiversity
When we talk of climate change, biodiversity protection is usually one of the main things we hear about. But why is it so important?
While the importance of biodiversity is manifold, in the context of agriculture, biodiversity is the foundation of agricultural productivity and contributes essential ecosystem functions and services (benefits we receive from the natural environment). Pest control, pollination, and storing carbon are all examples of ecosystem services that biodiversity provides on farms.
At the UBC Farm, the diversity of life is being measured each year through the Long Term Biodiversity Monitoring project. The project helps us understand how biodiversity is changing over time and how it’s affecting important ecosystem services that aid people, help crops grow, and contribute to overall ecosystem sustainability. The learnings from this small-scale research can be applied to communicate the broader societal and ecological benefits of biodiversity, and demonstrate how land-use changes are impacting biodiversity.
Check out these short videos to learn more and meet some of the people involved with the project.
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By sandland on November 20, 2023
LFS 496 Student Profile: Asalah, Farm hand at City Beet Farm
Supervisor: Liana Glass
What do you study?
Environment and Sustainability
What was your work placement?
Assisting with harvesting vegetables + flowers for City Beet’s weekly CSA and markets!
What did you get out of doing this placement?
I loved getting a deeper look + being immersed in our local food system. Getting my hands dirty every week and harvesting veg that goes to local organizations and their markets was so fulfilling
What was the most surprising thing about your work placement?
Contributing to a regenerative and sustainable food system can start small! City Beet Farm is a testament to that – by growing in front and backyards, they demonstrate how even little spaces can yield bountiful harvests. I dream of our local food system to be one where abundance is shared, public spaces are used to grow food or native gardens, and where everyone can feel more empowered and have access to be part of the system – whether that be through growing food themselves or getting to know and supporting their local farmers!
Why are you interested in working within the food system?
Why are you interested in working within the food system? All issues are interconnected and none exist in isolation, so after working in the environmental space for many years, I found that digging my hands in the soil and learning + being part of our food system was a tangible way for me to, quite literally get my hands dirty and do my part in working towards more regenerative, just, and equitable communities. I believe that the food system is the foundation of everything, and with one that is healthy, local, and accessible, our local communities can better work on building better futures, in all ways. Starting local and rippling outwards!
What would you like other students to know about the CSFS at UBC Farm?
Working in the food system and harvesting opportunities with LFS and the UBC Farm is fulfilling – it’s a wonderful way to cultivate meaningful connections, become equipped with hands on knowledge, and feel empowered to be a part in creating a more regenerative food system!
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By sandland on November 20, 2023
LFS 496 Student Profile: Malli, Farm hand at City Beet Farm
Supervisor: Liana Glass
What do you study?
Urban Forestry
What was your work placement?
Helping out with harvesting and processing for CSA boxes and later soil testing project
What did you get out of doing this placement?
Working with City Beet Farm, I gained experience working on a novel and unique farm. I was inspired by the impact and abundance grown within the heart of urban Vancouver
What was the most surprising thing about your work placement?
The volume and quality of vegetables grown by City Beet!
Why are you interested in working within the food system?
Growing food is a meaningful way for me to contribute to my community.
What would you like other students to know about the CSFS at UBC Farm?
There are a range of opportunities to become involved in!
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By sandland on November 14, 2023
Sustainable packaging made from blueberries
Image of blueberries in process of making sustainable packaging. Credits: Global News Video
November 6, 2023
Land and food systems professor Dr. Anubhav Pratap-Singh and graduate student Xanyar Mohammadi are developing a sustainable food packaging made from blueberries.
“This packaging is very flexible, and is very strong compared to regular plastic. Sometimes it’s even more resistant than plastic” says Mohammadi.
“This sustainable packaging […] is being called a game changer, not only for just preserving food products, but the trickle down effect it would have on our health and to the economy.”
Read the full article at Global News
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By sandland on November 12, 2023
Food security starts with seeds
Picture of carrots. Credits: The Ubyssey
October 31, 2023
The Ubyssey interviewed UBC Farm staff and researchers about The Canadian Organic Vegetable Improvement (CANOVI) project, an ongoing research project at the UBC Farm.
Organic growers in Canada “rely largely on seeds that are produced outside of Canada,” said plant breeding postdoc and CSFS associate Weijia Wang. “So the seeds might not be well adapted to the specific environment here.”
Read the full article at The Ubyssey
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By sandland on November 9, 2023
LFS 496 Student Profile: Madelena, Nature Camps Assistant for Vancouver Botanical Gardens Association
Supervisor: Natasha Friedmann (she/they), Assistant Manager of Youth Programs for Vancouver Botanical Gardens Association
What do you study?
I am majoring in Food, Nutrition, and Health
What was your work placement?
As a Nature Camps Assistant, I was very lucky to have a hybrid role that allowed me to work in an administrative role with office responsibilities along with leadership opportunities with summer campers. Part of my responsibilities included preparing and facilitating activity-based workshops for campers and logistical responsibilities pertaining to summer camps such as care plans for campers, itineraries, name tags, and consolidating family feedback. I loved how my placement gave me the chance to experience so many different perspectives of youth outdoor education as it pertains to the food system in such an integrated manner.
What did you get out of doing this placement?
This placement was more than I ever could’ve hoped for. I’m walking away from this experience with a deeper passion for food system education and youth discovery-based learning opportunities. I enjoyed getting to contribute to administrative progress in camp and developed a much more detailed understanding of the processes involved in running a summer camp. My placement helped me develop skills in organization of materials, proficiency in office manners and organizing educational resources. My experiences leading camp activities and working with youth directly served as excellent learning opportunities to enhance camper engagement, activity facilitation and workshop structure. My placement really fostered the development and enhancement of multidisciplinary skills that have better equipped me to continue into my future in the food system.
What was the most surprising thing you learned throughout your work placement?
My placement validated the idea that food system concepts really are everywhere. It was exciting and enlightening to me to experience first hand how concepts I am learning about the food system directly translate to youth summer camp themes such as “Dirt to Dinner” and “Strategizing Sustainability”. It was such a cool experience to contribute to this education and foster individualized connections to nature for campers.
Why are you interested in working within the food system?
The leadership and educational attributes of this placement really struck me as something I would like to pursue. I strive to make a positive impact in food system education to foster this ongoing and continuous relationship with the food system and nature around us.
Host Profile
The VBGA has had great success with students from the LFS 496 Career Development Program, and this term was no different – the interviewing and onboarding process was smooth, candidates were qualified and highly enthusiastic, and timelines and requirements were communicated by UBC program coordinators clearly and effectively.
This term’s role, the Nature Camps Assistant, provided integral administrative support to a program welcoming over 500 children ages 5-10 and approximately 30 staff and volunteers throughout the summer. The student was also able to harness their food systems knowledge and interest in education and communication to plan and deliver a series of diverse and engaging workshops and presentations for our participants. Their ability to understand and cater to our various program needs was so evident that they were offered employment within our team at the immediate conclusion of their placement, and they were also asked to contribute to other projects and events within our organization. The success of this position has made it clear that the same role will be fundamental to our programs for next year, and we wholeheartedly look forward to hosting students in various roles in the future.
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By juliana cao on November 1, 2023
Food at the Tipping Point: Ways Forward from a Food System in Crisis
Developing Organic Vegetables for a Changing Canadian Climate
Chris Thoreau and Aabir Dey talk us through what CANOVI is all about
Meet Weijia Wang, the new postdoc leading CANOVI
Developing Organic Vegetables for a Changing Canadian Climate
With the increase of temperatures and extreme weather events such as drought, flooding and heat waves, combined with the instability of organic seed availability and costs, it has become apparent that the food we grow needs to be adapted to the now rapidly changing climate. CANOVI, standing for Canadian Organic Vegetable Improvement, was launched in 2018 by the UBC Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, and FarmFolk CityFolk, as a participatory research project trialling organic vegetable varieties suitable for growth in the Canadian climate.
Farmer participants across Canada generate and share data, looking at traits that are important to both the economic and ecologic viability of a crop, such as heat tolerance, marketability, cold hardiness, flavour and yield. Researchers at UBC are also supporting plant breeding projects based on results from the trials.
This research has become particularly relevant since its inception as we’ve seen drastic environmental changes within just a few years. Developing local seed security and knowing which crops are resilient in unpredictable growing seasons will be key to maintaining our food system in times of crisis.
Check out these short videos to learn more and meet some of the people involved with CANOVI.
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