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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
GLOBALPARTNERSHIPSLaura GossetTiffany TongGRS Alumni Goes to OxfordThere is no limit to where your education can take you. Just ask LauraGosset, a graduate of our Global Resource Systems (GRS) program whois currently enrolled at England’s prestigious Oxford University.“I switched from general science to GRS in my second year and I felt sohappy to be in the right program, to be part of a community of peoplewho were interested in the same things,” she said.Through the GRS program, students study science in the context ofa region of the world, gaining an understanding of agricultural andnatural resource systems from an international andinterdisciplinary perspective.Gosset, who graduated in 2009, focused on environment anddevelopment. “I’ve always been interested in water and agricultureand how development ties into that,” she added.At the urging of one of her professors, she applied for the Mastersprogram in Nature, Society and Environmental Policy atOxford University.“The interdisciplinary approach of the GRS program really preparedme for my studies at Oxford,” said Gosset. “It instilled a sense ofthe complexities we face in addressing contemporary globalenvironmental issues.”She also credits the international experience she gained through theGRS program for helping her get into Oxford. “I wanted to exploredifferent things and the GRS program gave me the opportunityto do that.”Putting Skills to Use in AfricaTiffany Tong loves to travel. Born in Hong Kong, Tonggrew up in Vancouver but has spent a lot of time workingin Africa in recent years, thanks in part to her decision tostudy in our Global Resource Systems (GRS) program.An interest in international development work, especially food securityissues, is what initially drew her to the GRS program. “I’m interestedin how the food security of ‘marginalized’ populations are affectedby economic systems,” she said, adding that the Program’s minimalrestrictions on electives gave her the flexibility to discover the nichesshe was most passionate about.As part of her studies, Tong went on exchanges to the NorwegianUniversity of Life Sciences in Norway, Uganda, and Tanzania. Shealso took classes in development studies in Norway and Uganda andconducted research in Tanzania that included a dairy goat project fororphans in a rural village. From August 2010-February 2011, Tong didan internship with Sustainable Cities International, an organizationthat is focused on catalyzing action on urban sustainability in citiesaround the world.“My work in Dar es Salaam is to promote and advocate for bettersupport of urban agriculture. The experience has been amazing andI’ve learned so much in a short amount of time,” said Tong. “Everycourse and experience in the GRS program contributed to what I havelearned and has helped to solidify my future career.To read more about Tong’s experiences in Africa, please visithttp://blogs.landfood.ubc.ca/tiffanyt/Gosset spent six months at the University of Copenhagen in Denmarkon an exchange and a month at the Research University in Thailand.In 2011, she will travel to India to research water governance anddevelopment for her master’s dissertation.Faculty of Land and Food Systems Annual Report 2009 | 2010 13
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