A few weeks ago, students and community members joined together to battle out the title for top chef at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). Though the evening was truly competitive and intense, the event was part of a celebratory Foods Week.
UNBC’s foods week involved several ‘food’ events developed in a collaborative effort by the Northern Undergraduate Students Society (NUGSS), UNBC’s Campus Food Strategy Group (CFSG), Prince George Public Research Interest Group (PGPIRG) and UNBC’s campus food service provider, Eurest.
There were many events, opportunities for conversation and delicious food! The top chef event featured products from the Good Food Box and UNBC’s Farmers Market. In the Dining Hall, locally and provincially sourced ingredients were highlighted by Head Chef Rodney Mansbridge. For those thirsty for local – the campus pub highlighted local microbreweries, selling out every day!
As for conversation, a local grass-fed beef farmer spoke to a group of students about the opportunities and challenges of sustainable food production in the region during the screening of the documentary Fresh and the campus was alive with discussion about food at their Town Hall.
CFSG coordinator Nitha Karanja said, “This is a very timely event. UNBC is currently developing and will be releasing a request for proposal (RFP) for a campus food service provider in the near future. The more involvement and awareness we can build around the campus food system, the more information we will have to develop a RFP that accurately reflects the needs and desires of everyone at UNBC.”
The week was a huge success and as stated by Cam Bell, UNBC’s CFSG co-coordinator stated, “UNBC’s Food Week is an excellent example of a several campus organizations coming together to display the possibilities of a more sustainable campus food system. It also provides everyone the opportunity to celebrate the strengths in our present campus food system.”
