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UBC Sustainability: Food Services and Food Providers

The University of British Columbia has made becoming a more sustainable campus one of its priorities in recent years. A large part of attaining sustainability lies in the responsibility of UBC’s campus food systems. Food systems and food providers are large contributors to the total amount of waste in any community; they can also be leaders in achieving sustainability. UBC Food Services and campus food providers have made many changes in recent history in attempt to help UBC become more sustainable. There are a number of ongoing projects at UBC that strive to promote sustainability through methods of composting, recycling and supporting local resources whenever possible.

UBC Food System Project

The UBC Food System Project (UBCFSP) is an ongoing collaborative research project started in 2001 by the Faculty of Land and Food Systems (LFS). UBCFSP works collectively with representatives in the UBC food system to assess issues in sustainability and areas in which sustainability can be improved. Goals of the UBCFSP go beyond the UBC campus and include: “Moving the UBC Campus towards sustainability", "Positively impacting the movement towards the sustainability of the larger BC, Canadian, North American and Global food systems" and "Offering students hands-on learning opportunities in a multi-disciplinary project with potential for positive impact on ecological and human health" . UBCFSP is led by students of LFS 450, a required course for all students in the Land and Food Systems faculty, each year students continue the projects of their predecessors or start new projects for students in the coming years to build upon.

Organic, Local, Fair Trade

Many of UBC's food services and food providers strive to produce food and beverages made and prepared with organic, local and fair trade goods. UBC campus is the home to a number of 100% volunteer and student-run businesses, all of which serve fresh, local and organic food choices that are baked fresh daily. Many of these locations also have vegetarian and vegan options. In September of 2006, campus run food providers switched to serving only 100% fair trade, organic, shade-grown coffee . Wherever possible, ingredients and produce from the UBC Farm are used.

Compost and Recycling

UBC Food Services has made efforts to reduce the amount of solid matter that enters the system as waste. In working together with UBC Waste Management, UBC Food Services has increased the amount of pre-consumer and post-consumer organic waste going to the in-vessel compost facility on campus. This organic matter is composted then used for on campus grounds keeping. The amount of waste entering UBC's waste system was decreased by 125 tons in 2011. Many organics bins and composting bins can be found on campus, often times along side a recycling bin and a trash bin making it easy for students to separate out their waste into the appropriate bins. All Food Services locations offer fully biodegradable, single-use cups, napkins, plates, forks, knives and hinged containers making it further possible to reduce the amount of solid waste entering the system as waste.