Sustainable food
An area of high interest among students is sustainable and healthy food options. Among the movement for sustainable food, nationally there is an emphasis on organic, Fairtrade, cruelty-free meat and eggs, and sustainable seafood with a particular emphasis on the procurement of food that is healthy and local.
Food nourishes individuals and brings together communities. Food affects our relationships, environments, health, cultures, economies and sense of self. Simply put, food connects us all.
UNB is working on several different initiatives to increase access to healthy sustainable food options.
Free Food Planters (FFPs)
UNB aims to engage our campus community in personal and social change through sustainable urban agriculture. UNB Sustainability has established sustainable (self-watering) free food planters around the Fredericton campus. Food from our planters is available to anyone on campus.
These planters provide access to free food without any judgment to its users. Any excess food in the future will be distributed through our campus food bag program, our campus farmers market or donated to our local food bank.
The garden planters are a practical learning laboratory, where participants gain full exposure to the process of growing food as well as exposure to different types of food used by other cultures on campus. Find the locations of the Free Food Planters on the campus sustainability maps.
Fredericton campus community garden
The construction of the UNB Fredericton Community Garden was finished in the late summer of 2017. During the garden’s pilot growing year in 2018, all the garden plots were filled by renters who had the opportunity to practice their green thumb in one of the 50 4’x8’ plots. Located behind Neville Homestead, the garden is accessible to students, faculty and staff. A paved area and raised garden beds also provide accessibility for the physically impaired. The garden is open from dawn until dusk. All are welcome to visit and see what is growing!
The garden has been a facilitator of partnerships and initiatives across campus and Fredericton. Whether that be the Artzone group creating four beautiful murals for the garden, partnering with the Ville Cooperative on the northside to compost organic waste from campus, or supplying produce to the Cellar Pub and Campus Market, the garden has shown to be a sustainability hub at UNB Fredericton.
The creation of the garden would not have been possible without the Campus Food Strategy Group as well as contributions from the Environmental Trust fund, the UNB Student Union, and UNB Sustainability and Facilities Management.
The UNBSU Food group also has food programs.
