Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/987827
To support innovative, game-changing projects like this, contact Kristin in Donor Services at 604.629.5186 or visit vancouverfoundation.ca/give To support innovative, game-changing projects like this, contact Kristin in Donor Services 1 9 4 3 - 2 0 1 8 | V A N C O U V E R F O U N D A T I O N . C A | 2 5 Fostering student pride in their campuses and celebrating transparency in the food supply chain. Meal Exchange that nourishes your body, but the producers, consumers, and communities who are aected by its production and sale "from seed to plate." It's produce and products that treat humans, animals, and the earth with equal respect. "We live on a planet that's constantly being mired with environmental damage and degradation. I think that at this moment, concepts like sustainability and food security are being shown on a public stage," says Sidhu. "These conversations aren't just happening in classrooms, they're being thought about every day." Meal Exchange hopes that with a framework like the Good Food Challenge, an actual tangible infrastructure will be able to turn that universal concern into action. Vancouver Foundation's grants totalling $273,000 enabled Sidhu and the other volunteers working on the Good Food Challenge to create materials to educate and to advocate. A publicly accessible tool called the Good Food Calculator was developed to help everyone – from the university president to a ‹rst- year arts student – assess the ethics of ingredients. Essentially, it's an auditing tool that goes far beyond supermarket labels, providing in-depth de‹nitions of each product (with explanations of how it's community-based, fairly produced, ecologically sound, and humane) and oering a purchase- tracking system for institutions. Meal Exchange is currently collecting signatures that will be presented to university presidents across B.C., urging them to take the Campus Commitment, and the network of information that the Good Food Calculator is building is empowering all interested citizens to take action in their own choices, both on and o campus. "Food sustainability isn't something you would expect a place like Canada to suer from, but the reality is it's a very real issue for a lot of people, and campuses especially can be a great catalyst for change," says Sidhu. "Students are a body of society that are engaged and have the power to aect the way we progress, and I think Vancouverites in general really pride themselves on being stewards of the environment. We can spearhead change that ripples across Canada. We can really change the conversation." Challenge