LFS Today Sept 26, 2022

News

New director of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm

I am pleased to announce that Sean Smukler will become the new Director of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, effective January 1, 2023.

Many of you are familiar with Sean who is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, and the Associate Dean, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. In addition, he serves on the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Food’s 17-member Advisory group for Regenerative Agriculture and Agritech (RAA), and holds the Chair, Agriculture and the Environment.

Sean is excited to start in this position and is well-versed on the research, teaching and outreach activities of the CSFS, as he’s been involved as a CSFS Associate member since joining UBC in 2012.

He will transition his duties as Associate Dean (AD), Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies over the next few months to Sumeet Gulati, who will be stepping into the AD role permanently. In the meantime, Sean will be reaching out to the CSFS Associates and management team as he prepares for his new role.

It’s been a pleasure for me to work closely with the CSFS and UBC Farm management team over the past year and a half as interim Director. I am certain Sean will position the CSFS for even greater success in the future.

Sincerely,

Rickey

LFS in the News

Alexandra Protopopova discussed the UBC Human-Animal Interaction Lab and its public call for dogs to take part in its research.
CTV, Global, Vancouver Sun, Sing Tao

Events

Sept. 30 – Intergenerational March to commemorate Orange Shirt Day

Led by UBC Applied Science and Land and Food Systems. There are no fees or registration required.

Join us for an intergenerational march to commemorate Orange Shirt Day. Members of the UBC STEM community, families and those in solidarity are welcome to participate. As this event is held on the day and classes are cancelled, we hope that the statutory holiday will allow faculty, staff, students and community members join the march and engage with the UBC Indigenous community. The march is intergenerational, and aims to be educational and supportive to the Indigenous community on campus and beyond. Educational activities will allow younger participants to connect with the original inhabitants of the land and plant a seed to continue these conversations of a difficult era in Canadian history at home.

Fri, September 30, 2022
11:00am – 2:30pm

Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre

Learn more

Oct. 2 – Joy of Feeding – chef list and full menu available

Join 12 local chefs, including some from Vancouver’s most beloved restaurants, preparing their favourite family recipes in the fields of Vancouver’s local organic farm, the UBC Farm.

Featuring UBC Farm produce, Joy of Feeding is an outdoor food festival and fundraiser for Chefs’ Table Society of British Columbia’s new Culinary Centre and the food literacy programs at the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm.

Chefs include:

• Andrea Alridge, Head Chef, Osteria Savio Volpe
• Eleni Fergadi and Vassilis Kerasiotis, Owner/chefs, Nostos Greek Taverna
• Sarah Mierau, Founder, Tradish Plant Medicine Jams
• Frank Pabst, Executive Chef, Blue Water Cafe + Private Wine Rooms
• Vikram Vij, Co-owner and chef, Vij’s Restaurant

See the full list of chefs and buy your ticket now

Sunday, October 2

12 – 3pm

UBC Farm

Deadlines

Oct. 31 – Indigenous Food Systems and Agriculture Partnership Program (IFSAP)

The Indigenous Food Systems and Agriculture Partnership Program (IFSAP) supports First Nations and Indigenous communities, businesses, and organizations in increasing food security and sovereignty over their food systems and strengthens Indigenous peoples’ success within the agriculture and food sector.

This program funds activities involved in agriculture, food processing, and/or food systems planning, training and skills development, technological adoption, productivity and profitability improvements, and climate change adaptations.

Applications will be accepted through IAF’s online client portal from September 26 to October 31, 2022. If there is available funding, a second application window will open in the fall of 2023.

Learn more

Nov. 7 – Campus as a Living Lab (CLL) Fund Competition

UBC’s Campus as a Living Lab (CLL) initiative provides a collaborative framework for researchers, students, staff and external partners to leverage the campus to explore, develop and test new ideas, and to share the knowledge gained from these experiences. The CLL Fund Competition provides up to $50,000 in seed funding for teams to develop new ‘living lab’ projects, and test them on campus.

Key dates:

• September 27: Information session
• October 18: Workshop
• November 7: Application deadline

Learn more