Status: COMPLETED May 2013
The University is blessed by the fact that it has a Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences within close proximity (35 Km) to its major downtown campus which houses and feeds nearly 3000 students on a daily basis for eight months of the year. The amount of food that is being produced and the potential for more production in the future is staggering. There are many financial, social and health benefits that this project brings to the University administrators and its student population.
For the past two years, the McGill feeding McGill initiative has delivered more than 50,000 pounds of fruit and vegetables to our Chefs downtown, plans are to increase our production again this year. This fall, the Campus Farm will be delivering eggs and animal products on a weekly basis. To do all this in an efficient manner, we are in need of a vehicle that can accommodate the volume of food we envision delivering. So far we have been using the Plant Science farm truck, which is open backed and not large enough. During the busy fall season, this vehicle was making two trips a day; this is both a waste of time and fuel. A proper commercial van with enough capacity is needed for delivery during inclement weather in summer and fall and to guard against freezing temperatures in the winter.
If you would like to learn more about this project or reach the individuals involved, please contact the krista.houser [at] mcgill.ca (SPF Administration Team).