UBC Blueberry Fest
Better known for high-caliber post-secondary education, UBC is also known for creating excellent partnerships, some of which involve the agricultural community. One between UBC Food Services and the BC Blueberry Council, led to the annual UBC Blueberry Fest.
Held on and around the campus in mid-July, UBC Food Services takes on the lion’s share of the event’s organization, now in its fifth year.
UBC Food Services marketing coordinator, Juliana Campbell notes, “The UBC Blueberry Fest is created in partnership with BC Blueberry Council to promote the B.C. giant crop. It is an educational event as well as promotional.”
That education is as much about the delicious flexibility of blueberries as it is learning about local growers, what they do and how they do it.
“We have a grower from Abbotsford who brings berries out and sells them at the event,” Campbell says.
When asked why the grower, Westberry Farms, is such an obvious part of the event, Campbell responds, “Supporting local growers equals supporting the local economy, and eating and buying locally is both sustainable and delicious! It is UBC Food Services’ mandate to purchase locally to support our local farmers.”
Through activities like the UBC Blueberry Fest and the associated partnerships, UBC and the BC Blueberry Council say they are ensuring the benefits of blueberries and those who grow them is shared widely.
