Food Security Closer To Home

Vancouver Island Community Research Alliance local food project

Is our food system robust enough to support Vancouver Island in the event of a major earthquake? During the coming decades, will our food system adapt to climate change and how will local farmers respond to the changing energy economy?

A new research project, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and led by the University of Victoria with the four partner institutions of the Vancouver Island Community Research Alliance (VICRA), is responding to threats to our food security and is mapping a food production plan for the Island.

VICRA is engaging major stakeholders as a means to build more sustainable and secure food systems through this collaborative research project. The project principal investigators, UVic historian Dr. John Lutz, currently acting director of UVic’s Office of Community-Based Research (OCBR), and Canada Research Chair Dr. Aleck Ostry in the Department of Geography at UVic, are working with a steering committee made up of academic, community and government representatives. The project also provides a unique training opportunity for post-secondary students in community-based research methods. Fifteen students, from each of the five VICRA partners, were awarded internships to assist with the collection and dissemination of information.

“Everything is in flux,” says Lutz. “Rising fuel and fertilizer prices are going to make local and organically grown products much more competitive at the same time as climate change is having dramatic effects on the growing environment throughout North America. This project will help people on Vancouver Island predict and prepare for these changes.”

“The challenges are immense,” says Ostry, “but the strength of the university/community partnerships around food security, the motivation of individuals, citizens, and students, and the commitment of communities on Vancouver Island are ensuring that people are working together effectively on the island to improve food security.”

In April and May 2011, the preliminary research results of the strategy teams will be shared during public events located at UVic, Vancouver Island University and North Island College, respectively. For more information about these events, visit www.uvic.ca/ocbr.

VICRA was established in April 2009 with a formal agreement among the five publically funded Vancouver Island post-secondary institutions—UVic, Camosun College, Vancouver Island University, Royal Roads University and North Island College—to come together in mobilizing research and knowledge to help local communities. The OCBR has taken a lead role from the concept stage.
 

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