
LAND, FOOD & YOU
Our Land, Food & You program supports teachers in fostering student interest in local and global food-system issues as they relate to BC high school curriculum. This program introduces students to LFS degree programs while providing insight into the student experience. Our outreach team of LFS students will work with you to customize a learning experience that best suits you and your students: a combination of a UBC Farm tour, a Faculty info presentation, or an interactive workshop.
We are lucky to have the Centre For Sustainable Food Systems at the UBC Farm in our own backyard. Our team of Student Ambassadors can lead your group on a tour to learn more about:
- The exciting research happening at the Farm
- How LFS students engage with the Farm both in and outside their classes
- The UBC Farm’s Indigenous initiatives when you visit the unceded ancestral territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓-speaking xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people
If you are interested in joining us for an in-person farm tour, please contact the LFS Student Ambassadors.
If you want a remote, hands-on learning experience for your students, let our LFS Student Ambassadors work with you to leverage our Faculty’s expertise in topics including food security, climate change, and nutrition to engage students in online workshops and experiences that relate BC high school curriculum to what students can learn in our four LFS degree programs.
If your students are interested in learning more about themes explored in our programs, you can email us to request a customized visit.
Workshop Title Description Considerations of Canada’s Food Guide The new Canadian Food Guide has been impactful in its approach. It promotes more plant-based alternatives, and in doing so, it has removed the dairy and alternatives food group. What impact does this have on nutrition, food markets, and farmers? Furthermore, is eating more plant-based a sustainable recommendation for people living in northern Canada? This workshop allows high school students to connect their learning and critically evaluate Canada’s Food Guide from a multidisciplinary Land and Food Systems perspective. Appropriation of Staple Foods Dive into the complexities of food gentrification and appropriation of staple foods in our local and global food systems. Unsure of what exactly food gentrification is? Explore these concepts and how western-culture, diet trends, and food bloggers have impacted small-scale farms, traditional cultivation, and access to staple food items in minority communities through a case study in this workshop. COVID-19 & Food Systems COVID-19 is speculated to have originated from a wet market in Wuhan, China. Wet markets are part of the culture, providing opportunities for small-scale farmers as well as affordable produce and meats for locals. However, large corporations force competition for increased productivity, leading to the unregulated and crowded environment that is hypothesized to have led to COVID-19. The response in Western countries has been controversial, especially with race, food marketing and vitamin C. This workshop will allow your students to critically explore the speculated agricultural origins of COVID-19 and the world’s response with a Land and Food Systems perspective. Exploring Supply Management of Canadian Dairy What does an economic system have to do with public nutrition, animal welfare, and producer livelihoods? In this workshop, you will learn about supply management: Canada’s controversial policy framework that controls the price and production of poultry and dairy products, and how it affects more than the price of milk. Human Wildlife Conflict Towards Coexistence Explore the impacts of human-wildlife conflicts on wildlife populations particularly in urban areas. Dive into the complex issues facing wildlife management and conservation as well as adaptations to coexist in shared spaces. In this workshop, we try to understand the relationship between wildlife and humans, and the ways in which we have impacted their habitats. Indigenous Ways of Knowing in the Food System Indigenous ways of living, knowing and being are being neglected from Western culture. Western ways of farming encourage productivity, outcompeting traditional ways of farming, and leaving the land barren. Indigenous peoples are restricted from obtaining their cultural foods, and then treated unequally in society and in healthcare systems. What can we do about this? This workshop will allow high school students to analyze racial inequities within a local context and a multidisciplinary Land and Food Systems perspective. Behind the Scenes of Global Agribusiness Why are your bananas so cheap? Global agribusinesses are competing for the lowest prices. In doing so, Indigenous ways of living are collapsing in Mexico, Brazil, Philippines, and other tropical areas. The cost of bananas are traded at the cost of human rights, health, and environment. This workshop will allow high school students to connect their learning and critically evaluate global agribusinesses and their impact on Indigenous ways of living with a Land and Food Systems perspective.