{"id":24430,"date":"2023-10-18T09:00:16","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T16:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=24430"},"modified":"2023-10-12T13:11:43","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T20:11:43","slug":"open-space-camosun-should-take-food-hub-initiative-more-seriously","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2023\/10\/18\/open-space-camosun-should-take-food-hub-initiative-more-seriously\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Space<\/em>: Camosun should take food-hub initiative more seriously"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arguing for the establishment of a food hub on Camosun\u2019s Interurban campus isn\u2019t easy, and the project doesn\u2019t seem to be logistically viable at first glance. The initiative involves a food and beverage processing space for local businesses to use before their products go to marketplace. A recent feasibility study conducted by Greenchain Consulting put a $7.2-million price tag on the project, with an initial 12,000 square foot space requirement, with room for growth. Although there is enthusiasm for the project on the part of the District of Saanich and the college\u2019s administration, the cost and space required for the initiative are prohibitive.<\/p>\n

However, I would argue that the benefits to the student body of the Interurban campus should be motivation enough for the college to consider the initiative more seriously. The concern over cost could be mitigated by making use of the resources the Interurban student body has to offer. Business students could be enlisted to seek out funding from the private sector as well as possibly taking over the project\u2019s administrative requirements. Trades students could help with establishing the infrastructure the project requires, and the hands-on educational benefits to the Culinary Arts students in the processing of local food products are obvious.<\/p>\n

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This story originally appeared in our October 18, 2023 issue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Interurban\u2019s image could also be motivation for Camosun\u2019s administration to make the space available in the campus\u2019 master plan. The food-hub initiative is progressive in directly connecting the people of the campus to the local food system, and it strengthens values the college already holds around food security. It celebrates Indigenous food systems, and it would result in the college taking a progressive role in the community.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve spoken to several students on campus from a variety of disciplines and the consensus is that a food-hub program would be in line with their values and basic needs. Along with a connection to the local food system, it could provide Interurban\u2019s students with a means of purchasing locally sourced food from the convenience of their campus.<\/p>\n

The busy lives of students doesn\u2019t necessarily allow for trips to the farmer\u2019s market, so having access to a source of local products would be pretty valuable to many of them. Also, the volunteer aspect the project would most likely require could also be beneficial to students in a holistic sense, connecting them to the geography of the campus\u2019 location.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although there\u2019s enthusiasm for the project from the student body and college administration, I think that the hold-up on making the project a reality at Interurban is a matter of priority and shows a lack of vision as to what a modern progressive campus should look like.<\/p>\n

The college\u2019s administration may hold values like food security and celebration of Indigenous roots of the territory on paper, but if they choose not to take the opportunity to integrate these values into the college\u2019s infrastructure, what does that say about Interurban\u2019s image? Is the Interurban campus simply a certificate and diploma mill, or could it be an institution that enables greater educational needs? Are we giving enough credibility to students to allow them to actualize values like food security on their own terms?<\/p>\n

I find that there\u2019s an unhealthy attitude toward the current business-as-usual approach to the food system on campus, and although it may be lucrative, it may not be serving students\u2019 higher educational needs. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arguing for the establishment of a food hub on Camosun\u2019s Interurban campus isn\u2019t easy, and the project doesn\u2019t seem to be logistically viable at first glance. The initiative involves a food and beverage processing space for local businesses to use before their products go to marketplace. A recent feasibility study conducted by Greenchain Consulting put […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24415,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,297],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-views","category-october-18-2023"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24430"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24431,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24430\/revisions\/24431"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}