LFS Undergraduate Blog

FarmFolk CityFolk’s BC Seed Security Program is focused around helping organic farmers scale up production of high-quality organic vegetable seed. In addition to running a number of training and outreach programs they have developed a suite of resources to provide organic farmers more information on integrating seed production into their farming operations. These resources include:

• Case studies on procuring seed contracts
• Seed enterprise budgets to better understand the economics of seed production
• Guidelines on quality assurance measures for seed production
• Vegetable variety trials

The BC and Canadian government have proudly awarded The BC Seed Security Program up to $100,000 over the next 2 years through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership! This funding is crucial and very well received in order to allow programming continue. Lana Popham, B.C.’s Minister of Agriculture says “Seeds may be small, but nothing is more important to agriculture than the life they contain. Seeds are the beginning of so much of our food supply and are absolutely critical to our personal health and the food security of our province. That’s why I am so proud to announce new funding to help diversify and increase seed production and processing in the province, supporting 15 seed businesses and 50 Seedy Saturdays, as well as the creation of resources and tools that promote seed growing, exchanges and 20 seed libraries throughout B.C.”

Local seed production is so important in sustainable food systems and this program aims to increase the quantity, quality, and diversity of organic seed being grown in BC. Local seed production helps support the local farming economy; results in better-adapted crop varieties for BC farms; and reduces our reliance on imported seeds. BC has an optimal climate for the production of many types of vegetable seed crops and could be an important producer of organic vegetable seed to supply the continually growing organic farming sector in BC and across North America. To learn more about programming contact Chris Thoreau, BC Seed Security Program Coordinator at chris@farmfolkcityfolk.ca

For more information please visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2018AGRI0070-001902

Event details: Wednesday, October 24, 2018, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Room 254, Henry Angus Building (ANGU), UBC

Indigenous Food Sovereignty and Wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand and Peru: ‘He kai kei aku ringa’—“the food is in my hand” with Dr. Marielena Huambachano.

In this talk, Dr. Huambachano explains how Indigenous peoples across New Zealand and Peru have maintained their food sovereignty post-colonization. She will introduce the “Khipu Model” and explain how Indigenous peoples use it as a knowledge and research framework for understanding and controlling their food under current food systems. The talk will also feature her recent research and interviews with the Māori people of Aotearoa and Quechua peoples of Peru as she explains how this new framework can aid in Indigenous resurgence, advocacy, and policy change.

Pedagogy, Learning and Identity Construction in the American Youth Food Justice Movement with Dr. Morten Kromann Nielsen.

In this talk, Dr. Nielsen will be hosting a discussion of central findings from his doctoral research of a specific Californian job training and youth food justice program. The topic will explain how a critical approach to the food system is operationalized pedagogically, how paradoxes and power dynamics inform professional role management, and feature the narrative constructions of youth agency and identity.

For more information please visit: http://ubcfarm.ubc.ca/events/wed-oct-24-dual-talk-event-on-indigenous-food-sovereignty-with-mariaelena-huambachano-and-american-youth-food-justice-with-morten-nielsen/

Want free food? UBC Student Services wants to hear from upper-year undergraduate students (year 3+) in Science, Arts, Applied Science, or LFS. Share your experience in a 45-min session and get a $15 gift card to Food Services! Sign up here.

Career Days is happening next Wednesday and Thursday, Oct 17 – 18 at the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre in the Jack Poole Hall (second floor) from 11:00am-4:00pm.

There are approximately 2195 positions that employers are hiring for! Go to www.tinyurl.com/ubccareer. Click on the left tab Events > Career Fairs and click the main banner to see the full list of employers.

Rob Kim, LFS Career Strategist, and the Centre for Student Involvement and Careers are offering a slate of workshops for students to prepare for the fair and how to be ready. Rob will be floating around, so find him and he can be your live support coach for all LFS students during your visit there. Join Rob on Thursday at 2:00pm (sign-up through the link above) as he will take a group of LFS students over to the event and provide real-time coaching and support as well.

The Sustainable Agricultural Landscapes (SAL) Lab is looking for volunteers to help us with fieldwork as part of the Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Project. If you’re interested in climate change mitigation and sustainable agriculture, this may be a great opportunity for you. The position entails traveling to different blueberry fields in Delta, BC, to measure soil moisture, temperature, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The fields we travel to have different drainage systems and management practices, and the goal of the project is to characterize how these differences affect GHG emissions over a two-year period. For more information please visit: http://sal-lab.landfood.ubc.ca/contact/positions-available/.

You are invited to a Pop Up Café  Scientifique

on the Ethics of Genetically Modified Organisms in the Global Food System

When: Tuesday, October 2, from 6:30pm to 9:00pm
Where: St. John’s College, Fairmont Social Lounge, 2111 Lower Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4

Hosts: Dean Rickey Yada, Faculty of Land and Food Systems and Dr. Henry Yu, Principal, St. John’s College

Join us for an engaging dialogue on the ethics of GMO’s in the Global Food System. Bring an open mind and your questions for an intimate evening of inclusive discussion. Middle eastern mezzes, dessert and coffee will be provided at the salon.

Salon Animators include public interest lawyer Steven Druker and Dawn Morrison, the Founder, Chair and Coordinator of the B.C. Food Systems Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty, and Dr. Yves Tiberghien, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, and Director Emeritus, Institute of Asian Research, UBC.

RSVP here