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Think & Eat Green @ School is a Community‐University Research Alliance promo ng change in what students eat, learn and do at school in rela on to food, health, the environment, and sustainability. By working closely with school authori es, teachers, parents, and youth, the project aims to reconnect students with the sources of their food.
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TTTHINKHINKHINK & E& E& EATATAT GGGREENREENREEN @ S@ S@ SCHOOLCHOOLCHOOL T hink & Eat Green @ School is a Community‐University Research
Alliance promo ng change in what students eat, learn and do at school in rela on to food, health, the environment, and sustain‐
ability. By working closely with school authori es, teachers, parents, and youth, the project aims to reconnect students with the sources of their food.
The Think & Eat Green @ School Project builds on concepts of food system sustainability, recognizing that the ways food is produced, processed, packaged, transported, consumed, and disposed of have significant impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and our ecological footprint. The project also encompasses the concept of food security, emphasizing that to achieve food security, all six of the following components must be present:
1. Availability of enough safe and nutri ous food for everybody;
2. Affordability, making it possible for all people to sa sfy their food needs
within their purchasing power;
3. Accessibility of food or the ease with which people may obtain available
food;
4. Acceptability, mee ng diverse cultural and culinary needs, and ethical
standards of respect for human and animal lives in produc on systems;
5. Safety, meaning that the food supply meets the sanitary standards of
Canada;
6. Sustainability, meaning that the food system does not damage the capacity of ecosystems to endure and support the permanent produc on and reproduc on of food sources and the stability of food supply over me.
Approximately 45% of food consumed in BC is imported. Climate change and other
global issues affect the food system sustainability of BC communities.
Think & Eat Green @ School addresses food system sustainability by enabling staff and students to influence how their food is produced and where it comes from, through concrete school projects in areas of:
Food produc on at school (i.e. food gardens, compos ng and environmentally sound and produc ve disposal of end products);
Food consump on, prepara on and procurement at school (i.e. school food programs, cooking skills, and ea ng spaces, farm‐to‐school programs for fresh local food);
Curriculum and teaching and learning innova ons aiming at integrated learning on the whole cycle of food systems, from produc on, processing, transporta on, distribu on, consump on, and disposal of end food products (i.e. compos ng and recycling vs. “waste”) and impacts of health and environment;
Food policy and ins tu onal adapta on to climate change (policy and programs to support more healthy and sustainable food systems at school).
These concrete school projects involve collabora ve learning amongst a mul ‐tude of players, from university students and researchers, health and educa onal ins tu ons to a network of community‐based and community‐supported non‐profit organiza ons working on food, health, and the environment, linking farms to schools, city dwellers with farmers, school cooks with successful green chefs, restaurateurs, restaurant designers, gardeners, school authori es, teachers and students.
Schools are places where students can learn about the food system by being engaged in growing, harves ng, preparing, cooking and ea ng food. Schools can significantly contribute to the greening of their communi es and neighbour‐hoods through the reduc on of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to the light‐ening of its ecological footprint.
Think & Eat Green @ School provides opportuni es for students and staff at all levels to reconnect with the sources of their food and to see food as the grand connector of all aspects of human life, including our rela onships with each other and with nature.
Think & Eat Green @ School fosters food ci zenship by providing the en re community of learners—from pupils to professors, teachers to chefs, farmers, gardeners, restaurateurs, and nutri on and health professionals—with opportu‐ni es to be involved in all aspects of the food system to learn how to par cipate in decisions that shape the food system of public schools and educa onal ins tu‐ons, and by extension, the food system of the local communi es and the City of
Vancouver.
Think & Eat Green @ School addresses the ques on of how the hundreds of thousands of people that comprise complex ins tu ons, such as the public school system, can par cipate in a process of social learning, crea on and ac on to influence the food system and contribute to a transi on towards sustainability.
Learning and acting to address global problems at the local level is where ordinary
people can make a direct difference.
Photo cred
its: Inn
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s and
Think&
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reen
project
University of Bri sh Columbia Faculty of Land and Food Systems
107a‐2357 Main Mall Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z4
Tel: 604 822 9986 Email: [email protected] Web: www.thinkeatgreen.ca
The Think & Eat Green @ School project will be a success when many schools embrace an explicit orienta on toward human and environmental health and food system sustainability.
The objec ve of the project is to contribute to regional food system sustain‐ability and ins tu onal adapta ons to climate change. By working with schools and a community of learners involved in community‐based and school‐based projects, we will develop healthy, sustainable school food systems that include:
√ Food and environment educa on across the curriculum
√ School growing areas that produce food to be consumed in schools
√ Func oning food waste compost and recycling systems
√ Food programs that provide safe, healthy, and sustainable food for students
Main ac vi es:
Working with the most accomplished teachers, community gardeners, urban agriculturalists, chefs, restaurateurs, restaurant designers and builders in Vancouver school communi es and partnering with teachers, students and parents.
Involving over 300 UBC undergraduate and graduate students per year in the next five years to collaborate on school specific projects and collect data regarding school programs and policies, teachers’ prac ces, and students’ knowledge, a tudes and behaviours.
Collabora ng with more than 25 co‐inves gators from a wide range of disciplines and community‐based food, environment, health & educa‐on organiza ons. Using their experience, exper se, and exis ng
community connec ons to enhance, deepen, and support exis ng and future food system sustainability projects.
AAACTCTCT LLLOCALLYOCALLYOCALLY The Think & Eat Green @ School project comprises a wide range of partners, described in five general categories:
‐ Local community‐based organiza ons that focus on food security, sustainability, and related issues, including the Environmental Youth Alliance, Farm Folk/City Folk, Growing Chefs, and the Society for the Promo on of Environmental Conserva on;
‐ Permanent city‐wide organiza ons and bodies, involved in governance, service delivery and policy‐making, including the Vancouver School Board, the Vancouver Food Policy Council, and Vancouver Coastal Health;
‐ Provincial or na onal community‐based organiza ons, including the Public Health Associa on of Bri sh Columbia, Canadian Centre for Policy Alterna ves, and the Evergreen Founda on;
‐ Individual city schools — 21 in the first itera on of the project in the Fall 2010 and 23 schools by the end of Spring 2011;
‐ University‐based partners, including University of Bri sh Columbia, and researchers from Simon Fraser University and Ryerson University. At UBC, part‐ners include the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, and researchers from the Faculty of Educa on and from the schools of Landscape Architecture, and Community and Regional Planning.
With the financial support: … be part of it www.thinkeatgreen.ca
