Welcome!

The McGill Food Systems Project is a collaborative initiative between Students, Professors,  McGill Food and Dining Services, and the McGill Office of Sustainability.

Announcements

We are currently in the process of revamping our website, check back for frequent updates!

Regional Food Systems Across the Country

The McGill Food Systems Project is proud to be part of a national movement that is focusing on regional economies and food systems! Here’s an article by the Globe and Mail that focuses on McGill Food and Dining Service’s new partner Local Food Plus as a model for promoting an alternative, more sustainable food system!

Summer Happenings with MFSP

June is certainly busy here in Montreal! Between graduation ceremonies, weird weather patterns, summer courses (for those of us who are secretly much younger than their freshly-graduated MFSP counterparts) and exciting new partnerships with venues across campus and beyond, McGill Food Systems Project has its hands happily full with fresh and exciting projects.  Some food systems-related happenings in the McGill/Montreal community:

Equiterre, a Montreal-based organization that supports inciting both individuals and government to implement sustainable, environmentally-friendly choices and practices into daily life, has begun operating an exciting online resource for Quebec residents to help them locate the closest farms to their individual locations.  See http://www.equiterre.org/solution/repertoire-manger-local-au-quebec for more information: the site lists farmers’ markets, online markets, baskets/CSAs and institutions that support local farmers.

People’s Food Policy (Politique alimentaire populaire), an organization that aims to establish pan-Canadian food sovereignty institutionalized at the national level, is hosting a 5 à 7  to celebrate their inception and future projects.  For more information, see the above website and check out our calendar for event info.

McGill Farm Volunteering: Interested in working on one of the campus plots this summer? There are lots of excited options to choose from : learn some skills, gain some muscles and contribute to some awesome community initiatives. http://campuscropsmcgill.blogspot.com/,

http://mseg.weebly.com/volunteer.html,

http://www.santropolroulant.org/2009/E-garden.htm

 

McGill Food and Dining Services Partners with Local Food Plus

In May 2011, Local Food Plus and McGill Food and Dining Service signed a formal partnership aiming to further and develop a local sustainable food system at McGill. Since its September 2006 launch, Local Food Plus (LFP) has been certifying farms in Ontario, BC and the prairie provinces for local, sustainable production. Since then, LFP has become the leading certification standard for “local sustainable” throughout North America. According to their website, LFP’s mission is

“creating local sustainable food systems that reduce reliance on fossil fuels, create meaningful jobs, and foster the preservation of farmland – and farmers.”

Powered by its newly minted McGill partnership, Local Food Plus is completing its move into Québec and will begin certifying farms this summer. This means that come fall, McGill Food and Dining Services will be able to source products from Québec farms that are officially LFP certified! With this new relationship and the entrance of Local Food Plus into residence cafeterias, McGill students will become that much closer to the farms, farmers and certifiers that have come together–a partnership that was introduced and in large part, made possible by passionate students–to provide the local, sustainable food that they enjoy every day.

Paul Meldrum, Farm Director at the Macdonald Campus Farm, introduces Lori Stahlbrand, founder and president of Local Food Plus to the dairy farm at Mac Campus.

The Emerald Key and Catalyst Awards

The McGill Food Systems Project features in the McGill Office of Sustainability’s Emerald Key and Catalyst rewards.

Sarah Archibald, Emmanuelle Lapointe, David Morris, Oliver DeVolpi, Dana Lahey, Jonathan Glencross photo credit: Owen Egan

To recognize the significant efforts of individual students and staff to build a better and more sustainable McGill community, the Office of Sustainability instituted the following awards:

Emerald Key

Students have long led the movement toward sustainability at McGill. The Emerald Key is given out to a student who has made a meaningful and enduring contribution to the sustainability movement at McGill University.

Emerald Key 2011 Recipient: Jonathan Glencross

Catalyst Awards

The Catalyst Awards are given out to students, academic, administrative and support staff who have made a meaningful and enduring contribution to the sustainability movement at McGill University.

Catalyst Award for Staff Contribution to Sustainability 2011 Recipients: Emmanuelle Lapointe and Oliver DeVolpi

Catalyst Award for Student Collaboration with Administration 2011 Recipient: Sarah Archibald

Catalyst Award for Applied Student Research in Sustainability 2011 Recipient: Dana Lahey

Catalyst Award for Lessons Learned in Sustainability Efforts 2011 Recipient: David Morris

Congratulations to all recipients especially to Jonathan Glencross, Dana Lahey, Sarah Archibald and Oliver DeVolpi all of whom are active contributors and members to the McGill Food Systems Project.

For more information on the awards and the recipients either click on their names or see the Office of Sustainability’s Awards 2011 page.