Nature’s Path Cofounders Arran and Ratana Stephens just donated $2 million to the UBC Farm. Several years ago when the UBC Farm was at risk of being turned into condos, the Stephens' were part of the community that saved the farm.
The donation, which is a personal gift from the Stephens’, is their commitment to helping further the farm’s vision of providing an example for sustainable agriculture as well as doing research on organic farming methods.
The $2 million will go towards the construction of a building on the farm that will have offices, classrooms and labs from several faculties including Science, Land and Food Systems, and Forestry.
“Sixty classes come out here a year from UBC,” said Hannah Wittman, UBC Professor and Academic Director of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems. “We have no classroom, we have no laboratory, we have no space for teaching to happen.”
Additionally, the AMS Brewery, which was passed as part of last January’s referendum, will be inside the new building on the farm.
It has been difficult for the research that the farm is doing about organic farming to happen efficiently without the infrastructure.
According to Wittman, a large problem for farmers is lack of access to knowledge about organic farming methods. The UBC Farm strives to be an example for sustainable agriculture both through its actual practices and the hands-on teaching it provides to UBC students and the greater community of Vancouver.
“We need to increase the scope of our research as well as share our solutions on a regional and global level,” said Wittman. Having a building would “beef up the academic instruction as well as the research.”
“We’re really excited to discover what a large group of committed scientists, farmers and students there are at UBC who are invested in sustainable food research and share our vision for an organic future,” said Justine Sanford, the marketing and communications specialist at Nature’s Path. “The UBC Farm is really giving a voice to organic agriculture in academia.”
Nature’s Path is a Vancouver-based organic food company that markets itself as a sustainable and environmentally responsible food producer.
“We’re always looking for ways to advance the cause of people and the planet,” said Sanford. The Stephens’ donation is an important resource to help the farm achieve its full potential for inspiring a more environmentally conscious and responsible food industry.