UNBC students have won a province-wide competition for their innovative Eco-Living Kitchen (ELK) project which aims to tackle food security and sustainability issues in the region.
The students formed ELK in response to a call from the Fraser Basin Council (FBC) for youth between the ages of 16 -30 to create climate solutions.
They began meeting and discussing solutions even as they attended online classes in the fall of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
With the help of partners like Recycling and Environmental Action Planning Society (REAPS), the David Douglas Botanical Garden Society and Prince George Public Interest Research Group (PG PIRG), the students decided to put together meal kits and run a series of accompanying online workshops.
Launched in April 2021, ELK Kits provided locally-sourced, low-waste options for the kitchen to 75 Prince George residents free of charge, thanks to funding from FBC.
The follow-up workshop series, hosted in May and June of 2021, featured eight workshops designed to shift people’s behaviour toward waste management and reduction by providing hard and soft skills for around the home.
Each workshop focused on a different aspect of sustainability, including composting, sustainable shopping, gardening, canning, and cooking with scraps.
“We attracted people who had their own kitchen, as youth aren’t always the ones making decisions around food,” said UNBC student and co-organizer Helga Holler-Busch, a Bachelor of Science major in Forest Ecology and Management with a minor in Soil Science.
“We had adults, students, and Elders who followed food through all steps of the process from northern B.C., Canada, the United States, and Australia. It was interesting to hear their different perspectives.”
Based on their success, ELK entered the Nourishing Innovation Initiative: Campus Nutrition and Food Security Contest.
They were among eight teams who each put forward a solution to address food security on one of four University campuses - British Columbia Institute of Technology, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver Island University, and the University of Northern British Columbia.
ELK was the only team from UNBC and won the largest prize out of four finalists from across the province for the Community Cooking on Campus initiative.
“It’s really important to represent UNBC and the north, and to bring up challenges around food security in that context,” said Holler-Busch. “It’s exciting that UNBC’s campus has put sustainability in the forefront so we can help students connect to their values."
One Friday a month, ELK also organizes Community Cooking on Campus events in the Agora Dining Hall in partnership with UNBC Food Services and PG PIRG’s Good Food Box initiative.
These events focus on culturally diverse, sustainable, and economical meals.
More sessions are planned for the Winter semester, March 18 featuring cuisine for the Persian new year and April 1 featuring a plant-based open fire meal.
“This is just one very small step that we can take. I like to say ‘one raindrop raises the sea.’ We have to inspire youth that we can do these things,” added Holler-Busch.
“We see so much potential and really want people to see the power of their individual choices and actions… if we get enough action ELK is hoping to see a bigger change.”
