Lead differently, work differently

UBC Food Services teams respond to changing community needs during COVID-19 and beyond

Food services staff at work

This is part five in a series recognizing faculty and staff who are supporting UBC’s transition back to campus. In this update, we showcase the efforts of our colleagues behind UBC’s Food Services teams.

When UBC was faced with navigating COVID-19 during the spring of 2020, the UBC Food Services teams were suddenly in a position where they needed to consider how food outlets would continue to operate.

In addition to responding to public health guidance, they also had to rethink how they delivered some of their services. Through these challenges, positive change emerged in the form of innovation.

Colin Moore, Director of Food Services at UBC Vancouver, reached out to colleagues in different departments to respond to the changing needs of the UBC community. “In the food business, safety is paramount,” Colin explains. “The pandemic urged us to lead differently, work differently.”

From challenge to creativity and innovation

Image
Fooood
Fooood, a collaboration with the Food Security Initiative, aims to address food insecurity for students on campus. Image credits: Jessy Stolz.

For many faculty and staff, their work shifted to a remote setting in March 2020. For the staff in Food Services, working from home was not an option; they worked on the frontline, supporting those who were still living, working and studying on campus.

It was during this time, when the Vancouver campus was much quieter than usual, that Colin started to notice a constant flow of vehicles delivering single meals to students.

“Everyone wanted food delivery,” says Colin. “Even now when it’s slow, there are over 1,500 individual meals delivered daily through UberEats, Fantuan, and SkiptheDishes. So we launched our own business called UBC Eats, to make meals on campus and deliver them to students on campus.

UBC Eats was launched in spring 2021, a subscription meal delivery service for food made fresh on campus and delivered to the customer’s residence. The main aim of the program is to offer food that is local, sustainable, affordable and convenient. There are monthly and weekly plans on offer, and students who are part of UBC's Meal Plan can use their credit or UBC Card towards purchases.

UBC's first-ever 24-hour autonomous market will be opening at the end of September. Avenue C Market will be located at Walter Gage Residence, where customers can select, scan and pay for fresh food – or frozen food, groceries, hot and cold beverages – at any time of day or night.

Fooood, a collaboration with the Food Security Initiative, aims to address food insecurity for students on campus. Two locations – at the Woodward Instructional Resource Centre and Earth and Ocean Sciences building – will offer balanced meals made fresh for $3, to ensure that wholesome meals are not only available, but accessible to students experiencing food insecurity on campus.

New UBC Okanagan Executive Chef Brad Vigue creates fresh food options. Image credits: Natalie Huhn.

Taking a fresh approach at UBC Okanagan

The concept of local, fresh food can also be seen at UBC Okanagan. Natalie Huhn, Food Services Manager at UBC Okanagan, has contributed to many firsts at the UBCO campus. Over her 28-year career, she has watched the campus go from Okanagan University College to UBC Okanagan, and helped transition the university food system from pre-packaged food suppliers to almost everything made fresh on campus.

“We have a new Executive Chef, Brad Vigue, who is coming over from the Vancouver campus, and we’re really excited for new changes to the menu.” Natalie explains, “We want to offer fresh food that is inclusive of everyone coming to campus, so all our food locations will have plenty of options.”

UBC Okanagan is also launching an All-You-Care-to-Eat dining experience for first year students this fall. Students who are part of the All Access Meal Plan may eat anything being served and as much as they care to eat. This meal plan will be later implemented at UBC Vancouver in 2022. 

"We want to offer fresh food that is inclusive of everyone coming to campus, so all our food locations will have plenty of options."

Natalie Huhn, Food Services Manager, UBC Okanagan
Food Services teams at UBC Okanagan are getting ready for full house. Image credits: Paul Joseph.

Feeding the minds of our community

Come September, all UBC Food Services are open for business: dining rooms, kitchens, cafes, convenience stores, and catering.

As students begin arriving for Jump Start and Move In Day, UBC Food Services teams will continue to support our community, whether it is serving self-isolation meal plans for arriving international students, engaging with parents or catering events. Colin anticipates that food outlets will serve upwards of 30,000 people on the first day of Winter Session.

“We are connected to the mandate, the strategy, the vision and mission of the university in a very hardwired way,” he adds. “Our values around wellbeing, sustainability, inclusion, and Indigeneity guide how we do business. And in many aspects, we lead the university in those values and strategies – through food.”

 

Written by Alpha Lam, UBC Internal Communications
August 2021

“Our values around wellbeing, sustainability, inclusion, and Indigeneity guide how we do business. And in many aspects, we lead the university in those values and strategies – through food.”

Colin Moore, Director of Food Services, UBC Vancouver

More information

Find out what’s open at UBC Vancouver and learn more about:

  • UBC Eats – a subscription meal delivery service for food that is made fresh on campus and delivered to residences in a hybrid vehicle
  • Fooood – a collaboration with the Food Security Initiative, ensuring wholesome meals are accessible to students

Find out what’s open at UBC Okanagan and learn more about:

  • Pritchard, a new dining hall that features all-you-care-to-eat

 

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