Who are the groups involved and what do they do?
UBC Sprouts
UBC Sprouts believes that the best food comes with an active understanding and involvement in the processes bringing it to our plates. They aim to create an aware community at UBC bound together by a common love of good food, positive social change, and a sense of collective responsibility. As a 100% student-run, non-profit, sustainable food initiative on campus who aims to make local, sustainable food on campus accessible to all. They host 2 cafes, a bulk buying program, a by-donation meal made from salvaged produce, and a weekly produce box.
Sprouts also strives to promote and increase awareness of local food producers practicing sustainable farming techniques by promoting and supporting fair economic development. Through their workshops and other initiatives, they help create educational opportunities around health and nutrition, sustainable food systems, and global trade, in addition to fostering critical thought and ethical global citizenship.
Agora Café
Agora Café is a student volunteer-run, non-for-profit café at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver campus. Their goal is to provide affordable, accessible, healthy, local and organic food choices to students and faculty members while training volunteers in food service and business management. This is done to promote the values of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems and to aid in UBC’s movement towards sustainability.
Agora is also committed to our volunteers because they see the value in providing food service experience to students at UBC, broadening interpersonal and networking skills, as well as gaining experience in food preparation and customer service.
Roots on the Roof
Roots on the Roof is a 100% student-run club that manages the rooftop garden space and the community garden plots on the roof of the AMS Student Nest, the Student Union Building at the University of British Columbia. They focus on creating community-minded experiences and opportunities for personal empowerment that also incorporate concepts of food justice and food security. In addition, Roots on the Roof facilitates student and community capacity around food by producing food as sustainably as possible, and by hosting events and workshops that encourage interactions around food, culture, health, and sustainability.
Located on the rooftop of the AMS Student Nest, accessible from the 4th floor of the building, their main goals are:
- To grow and harvest food sustainably
- Develop and conduct food literacy workshops to facilitate conversations around food, culture, health, and sustainability
- To create an inclusive space for social engagement and opportunities to explore, learn, and actively take part in food system initiatives.
UBC Farm
The UBC Farm is a 24-ha teaching and learning space, and integrated production farm located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people. Situated within a 90-year-old coastal hemlock forest, the UBC Farm comprises a mosaic of cultivated annual crop fields, perennial hedgerows and orchards, pasture, teaching gardens, and forest stands. The UBC Farm is certified organic through NOOA, and grows over 200 varieties of fruits, vegetables, and herbs, and also features honey beehives and egg-laying, open-pasture hens.
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