Speaker A
(gentle upbeat music) Food has such a profound impact in terms of environment, in terms of climate.
UBC aims to cut food system emissions by 50% using research, labeling, and community projects to promote sustainable food choices.
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Key Takeaways
- Food production significantly contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions.
- Institutional efforts like UBC's can effectively reduce food system emissions.
- Student involvement through programs like SEEDS is vital for research and innovation.
- Clear labeling empowers consumers to make climate-friendly food choices.
- Community-based projects such as green roofs can integrate food production with sustainability.
What the video covers
- Food is the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions after the US and China.
- UBC has set ambitious goals to reduce emissions from its food systems by 50%.
- The university uses its campus as a living lab to demonstrate best practices in sustainability.
- The SEEDS Program engages students in research on food-related emissions and environmental impacts.
- The Climate-Friendly Food Labeling Project helps consumers identify lower-emission food options.
- A community garden and green roof at the Student Nest building produce food for campus use.
- UBC's initiatives serve as models for other institutions and companies to adopt at scale.
- Consumers are encouraged to adopt plant-forward diets, plan meals to reduce waste, and promote engagement with sustainable food choices.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
If you were to calculate the impact associated with greenhouse gas emissions, food would be the third largest emitter behind the US and China.
Speaker A
(gentle upbeat music continues) (birds chirping) UBC has set these super ambitious goals to reduce emissions by 50% in our food systems.
Speaker A
UBC is like a small city. It contains our institutional campus, but it also is surrounded by neighborhoods.
Speaker A
So we use the campus as a living lab to actually exemplify best practices and use that as a transformational impact across municipalities in Canada.
Speaker A
The SEEDS Program is a great opportunity to deploy the campus as a living lab model.
Speaker A
Students can be involved in research projects to understand the greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental impact associated with food growing, production, and consumption.
Speaker A
We have a number of programs that are in place right now, one of which is the Climate-Friendly Food Labeling Project.
Speaker A
It gives the consumer information about making better choices. If you see this Happy Globe on a food menu item, it's a signal that that food item has less emissions associated with it.
Speaker A
In the design of the Student Nest building, there was a research design to come up with a community garden.
Speaker A
So students, through the research program at SEEDS, helped to design a green roof that actually produces food that is then used by the restaurants and commercial entities and the students themselves within the Student Nest.
Speaker A
Other companies and other institutions can learn directly from UBC. They can see the successes and deploy those successes at scale to their organizations.
Speaker A
(gentle upbeat music continues) As consumers, the big things that we can do is think about a plant-forward diet, meal planning so that you can consume food that you need rather than creating waste.
Speaker A
The other thing that you can do is just tell your friends to get involved.
Speaker A
Get engaged with the decisions that you make personally on a day-to-day basis. So get involved.
Speaker A
(gentle upbeat music fades)
Topics:carbon footprintfood sustainabilitygreenhouse gas emissionsUBCSEEDS Programclimate-friendly foodplant-forward dietcommunity gardenfood labelingsustainable food systems
