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COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPSAnelyse WalkerLearning Outside the ClassroomIn 2010, six LFS undergraduate students - Victoria Elliot, AmandaHunter, Keely Johnston, Kim Lucas, Catherine Montes and BriannaStewart– participated in a community-service learning project aspart of the LFS 350 course (Land, Food and Community).The project focused on the local food distribution system in BC’sGulf Islands and the development of a farm store on Mayne Island,a small island off the southwest coast of British Columbia. Thegroup conducted an online survey about the barriers farmers facein distributing food and the changes they’d like to see to localfood distribution.“Distribution is a huge challenge for local farmers,” said VictoriaElliot, a third year Global Resource Systems student. “We lookedat the food distribution channels currently available on the GulfIslands and which farmers might be interested in expanding theirlocal food distribution.”The group sent the survey to more than 100 Gulf Island farmers;they received a 30% response rate. It is hoped the data will be usedto help Don and Shanti McDougall, owners of Deacon Vale Farm,develop their Mayne Island Farm Store. The store will sell produceas well as products such as chutneys, jams and other grocery items.“The idea is to source as locally as possible,” added Elliot. “And thegreat thing is that farmers don’t have to be producing on a largescale in order to sell to the store.”In order to reinforce the importance of a local food system,products will be labelled with the number of miles the producttravelled. And although there is not yet a set opening date, thestudents are proud to have helped lay the groundworkfor the store.“Combining community service learning with research was anamazing experience,” said Amanda Hunter, a third year NutritionalSciences student. “It gave me a better understanding of foodmarketing and I feel like I have an insider’s view.”Brianna Stewart, a third year Applied Biology student, agreed. “Wegot to have conservations with people actually involved in the foodsystem, outside of the university context. This project made me realizethat I have a passion for the marketing side of food. It turned my focusa little bit.”Sharing LearningA group of students in our Land, Food and Community II (LFS 350)course worked on a project in 2010 that combined two of the areasthat make our Faculty so unique: Community Service Learning andUBC Farm.The project explored establishing a student-led community farm atOkanagan College in Vernon, BC, modeled after our own UBC Farm, a24 hectare learning and research farm located onUBC’s Vancouver campus.“The students focused on raising awareness among Okanagan Collegestudents, staff and faculty about the existence of their farm,” saidAnelyse Weiler, teaching assistant for LFS 350 and a fourth year GlobalResource Systems student focusing on sustainable agriculture. “Theyhanded out leaflets, made presentations to classes and the Vernon CityCouncil, and helped to establish a list of farm positions.”The group also tried to convey how the Farm would be relevantto Okanagan College students and how it could provide uniquelearning opportunities – learning opportunities that extend muchfarther than the field of traditional agriculture. Okanagan Collegebusiness students, for example, were excited about the possibility ofdeveloping business plans for the Farm.“The LFS Community series challenges students to look past thesilos of their discipline and be critical about the role they play in thefood system,” added Weiler. “It was great to see our students pass ontheir learning and give the Okanagan College community a betterunderstanding of what their Farm could really be.”12 Faculty of Land and Food Systems Annual Report 2009 | 2010