PROJECT PROGRESS
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw
localEd is making some exciting significant and important changes to their community project this week! As a team, we have further revised and solidified our project vision and goals with the assistance of Dr. Will Valley, our teaching assistant, Josh Edwards and our community partner, Marc Schutzbank from Fresh Roots.
Objectives This Week
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- Use the Flexible Learning Session to conduct a team meeting where each team member would share a scholarly article they found focused on students’ perception about school cafeteria food.
- Create our own survey about school cafeterias (with emphasis on the role of local food) and send the completed survey to Dr. Valley and Marc.
- Discuss project revisions with Dr. Valley to get his feedback and advice on actions to be taken, such as survey REB approval, Vancouver School Board contacts, funding for recipe testing, and Food Safe concerns.
- Ensure all team members complete the TCPS 2 Tutorial: Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics before conducting research in the field.
- Finalize timeline for project
Achievements This Week
- Found local food surveys from scholarly articles to use.
- Set up a meeting with chef Steve Golob from Vanier Dining Hall to discuss recipes ideas.
- Brainstormed and created recipes that emphasize local BC foods currently in season.
- All localEd team members have successfully completed the TCPS 2 Tutorial: Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics.
- Created an organized Google calendar listing project timeline and due dates.
After team meetings with Dr. Will Valley and Marc Schutzbank, and multiple modifications to our plan, localEd has successfully finalized their community project plan. Still staying true to our original goal to spark an initiative for integration of local food within schools in the city of Vancouver, localEd has narrowed the project program to fit the course schedule.
localEd is now approaching this community project at a different angle, which is to demonstrate the marketability of local food in the school system and the great opportunities that come with it. We hope to display the prospects of local food using surveys from other initiatives like California Thursdays as well as presenting our own local food recipes.
In addition, if localEd is successful in achieving all objectives this semester, there is a potential for the next semester of LFS 350 students to actually implement our survey and recipes in a continuation of this community project.
What?
Since Update #1, localEd met with Dr. Will Valley to discuss our project timeline and the resources available to us. We realized that surveying high school students in Vancouver was not a possibility because of the lengthy approval process. Initially we thought that this would jeopardize the whole project because the aim of the survey was to determine the demand for local foods in school cafeterias, and without this data there would not be a foundation to launch our local food recipes; which is a key component in the project goal. However, we realized it is still possible to capture the attention of Vancouver high schools without running a survey first. If we can show that recipes incorporating local ingredients are just as delicious and cost effective as existing cafeteria meals, there will be a higher possibility that Vancouver high schools look into our idea.
As for the survey we had originally planned, this will be a task for next semester’s LFS 350 group to carry out if this project is continued. For time restriction reasons, localEd has replaced the idea of creating our own survey with using literature-based surveys concerning local food in the school setting. The results from previous surveys will help guide our thinking. Finally, we have contacted Marc and Steve Golob, the chef at Place Vanier Dining Hall, for assistance and feedback on the recipes localEd will be creating. The ups and downs of this whole experience has brought the team closer together. We have gone through quite a few changes in this project and it is difficult to see our hopeful ideas turned down – but one of the best aspects of this week is to see how motivated the team still is to optimistically work on this project.
So What?
Stepping into the meeting with Dr. Will Valley, it was fair to say that the tone surrounding the group was a heavy and disheartening one. We were continuously running into a number of issues about time and logistics, and it began to weigh down on the team’s morale. Every time we thought we found a solution to a problem, another issue arose. This was similar to when Dan Barber’s experience with attempting to make foie gras on his farm. He tried the experiment for four years, but encountered a variety of problems every year. We think that one of the reasons for his failed experiment was lack of expertise and knowledge, which we can relate with. Although our team knows a fair amount about food and nutrition, our unfamiliarity with approval processes and the Vancouver School Board system proved to be challenging. Like Barber and his persistent nature, we were unwilling to give up on our plan. This could be viewed as a display of stubbornness or close-mindedness, but it is also an example of ambition and determination. Moreover, this experience tells us that the entire team is dedicated to improving school food systems and is unwilling to settle for less. Barber has faced failure and challenges in his life on his way to becoming the chef he is now (such as getting fired from the famous La Brea bakery), and his drive is an inspiration.
The moment that Dr. Valley said it was impossible for us to go into the schools ourselves, our hearts sank. Despite this initial feeling of defeat, we quickly moved forward and started talking about alternative plans for the project. One of our original ideas was to devise recipes using local food, and this idea was once again brought to the table. We also started working our way back to the reasons why local food is important to the food system – the core principles that should drive our push for local food in cafeterias. We will be bringing in more knowledge from literature and research to supplement our current understanding about the economics, nutrition and social benefits of local food. The reasons to buy local also open the door to broader issues in the food system, such as the transparency (or lack thereof) of the food system and hidden costs behind non-local food items.
Our understanding of the situation now is that although we aren’t able to actually get into the schools right now… it doesn’t mean we won’t have a successful, impactful project. Furthermore, we are thinking about localEd and this school cafeteria project more in the long term, with the possibility that future LFS 350 group will continue the work we have started this term.
Now What?
With a new focus and a revised framework, localEd looks forward to creating the best outcome possible. We realize that a semester’s worth of work will not drastically change anything in the school food system, but it is a crucial launch point for future groups in LFS 350 to develop the project.
In planning our recipes localEd will conduct nutritional analysis, and with the help of Marc and Steve, we will also cover cost analysis. Our recipes will also be planned in consideration of the 2015 Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools to better comply to the rules within the VSB.
We have a lot of researching, designing, and calculating ahead of us. At the same time we need to have clear deadlines and an organized schedule because we only have about 6 weeks left. Taking a broader look at the project, we want to gather input from all the community resources possible to create the best recipes we can!
Looking beyond this term, our success in this project will contribute to other people’s success in LFS 350 as they take on what we have left them. We hope that the survey and recipe list we are preparing will be conducted and tested out in real schools to create a visible impact on the school food system.
Upcoming Objectives & Strategies to Achieve Them
- Find a student-perspective survey on the school lunch satisfaction/experience.
- Obtain a list of local BC food and the wholesale buying costs.
- Look into popular farm-to-table restaurant recipes (ie. Fable, The Oakwood, the Farmer’s Apprentice).
- Make recipes that integrate the use of local BC food, and follow the Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools
- Must be: locally-sourced, nutritious, delicious, visually appealing, and cost-effective.
- Work on the Academic & Experiential Review Paper due Oct 30th.
- Arrange a time for a mini taste testing amongst the group members.
- Meet with Steve Golob Wednesday next week to discuss recipes.
localEd Team — Thursday Oct 22, 2015
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References
Madsen, R. and Stenton, T. (2013). [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.swide.com/food-travel/sustainable-foie-gras-from-spain-an-interview-with-eduardo-sousa-extremadura/2013/12/16
[Untitled photograph of a “Plan A Plan B”]. Retrieved from https://boomerbenefits.com/faq/can-i-change-my-medigap-policy-during-the-annual-enrollment/
[Untitled photograph of woman preparing stew]. Retrieved from https://livewellmagazine.org/10-easy-tips-for-healthy-eating-during-the-holidays-and-anytime/attachment/140299731/
[Untitled photograph of road sign]. Retrieved from http://www.hudsonvalleysportsreport.com/looking-ahead-we-cant-wait-to-see-beacons/