AMPUS NEWS _ oroxcsmvwers

THE DAILY VOICE, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012 3

Spring arrives in the LS

Urban farm event raises awareness of modern agriculture

By DENNIS PAGE

help raise awareness about

health and environmental issues

surrounding the food we eat, the

Langara Students’ Union held

the Urban Farming Festival at the col-
lege on Tuesday.

The event — which featured informa-
tion workshops, guests speakers, live
music and free food - informed stu-
dents on how to get started growing
their own food without a garden. It also
shed light on some negative aspects of
the modern agriculture and food indus-
try.

“Lots of the meat that we eat is
pumped full of hormones and antibiot-
ics that can have a negative effect on
our body,” said environmental studies
student Surya Carmichael. “Buying or-

ganic food and growing your own food
you have a relationship with your food,
it becomes fun. It’s not just grabbing
something off the shelf and eating it be-
cause you're hungry.”

Without the benefit of a nationally
recognized labeling system and to help
avoid the confusion of claims made by
various food vendors, Carmichael said
speaking with farmers directly at mar-
kets is the best way to find out if their
food is organic. At the event, a large
billboard was on display that listed
food production companies, like Kraft,
Nestle and Kellogg’s, that should be
avoided because they support Monsan-
to, the leading manufacturer of geneti-
cally engineered products.

“They use ingredients that are
grown by genetic engineers,” said Nao-
ko Shiratori who organized the event.

Spring arrives in the LSU with the

Urban Farming Festival (above).
Naoko Shiratori, who organized

the event, poses for a shot during

her busy afternoon (right).

DENNIS PAGE photos

“That means when you purchase them
you are contributing to the non-sus-
tainable way of farming.”

For over 20 years, leading food com-
panies have been modifying products
that they sell to the public, according to
Shiratori. They have worked against
initiatives that would require more
stringent labelling, she added.

“They are not telling us the truth,
they are hiding something,” said Shira-
tori, who pointed out that in the Euro-
pean Union, strict labelling laws are
required, but that is not the case in
North America. “We are not vocal
enough to ask for regulations. In other
countries, people are demanding ‘we
want to know what’s in our food,” said
Shiratori.

“We want the information to be
open, to be public.”

College introduces
new online platform

Continued from page 1

still be available on the Desire2Learn
platform.

“It’s a very intuitive product,” said
Elder. “It still has discussions and con-
tent and you [still] upload assignments.
Many of those features work in very
similar ways.”

Courses being offered this summer
will still be completed through the-
Blackboard program. For those stu-
dents who are worried about mastering
a new program, there will be work-
shops hosted in the new school year.

“[There] will be face-to-face orienta-
tions familiarizing students with the
product,” said Elder. “They will be of-
fered starting in early September.”

There are close to 70 post-secondary
institutions worldwide that currently
use the Desire2Learn product, includ-
ing B.C. schools like Camosun College-
and BCIT.

Summer courses focus on eco-issues

Environmental Institute
is offering six credits for
three new enviro courses

By AGUSTINA COCCARO

tute is offering three new courses

this summer that focus on the
technical and social issues surround-
ing global energy use.

Eco-conscious students will have the
opportunity to receive six university
transfer credits in six weeks while
studying the effects of global climate
change.

Physics professor Robin Macqueen
is teaming up with history professor
Craig Keating to offer students two
new courses: Environmental History
and the physics-based Energy and the

Ti Langara Environmental Insti-

Environment.

“In the physics course we will be
looking at energy
use of traditional
sources such as oil
and natural gas,”
Macqueen _ said.
“Also we look at
the alternatives

like solar, wind

and the other

sources we need to GRAIG KEATING
transition to, Langara history
whether we like it  ’S#ructor

or not.”

“Students need
a balanced perspective that not only is
climate change a technical problem but
also a cultural one,” said Keating. “ We
need to rethink some fundamental
ideas of our society and how we live, to
get through this problem.”

The third course that is being of-
fered through the program is a semi-
nar that will include films, guest speak-
ers and  fieldtrips focusing on
environmental issues in Vancouver.

“We have access to some interesting
sites like the solar
[thermal systems]
at the North Van-
couver Library
and we're going to
arrange a tour of
the Grouse Moun-
tain Wind = Tur-
bine,” said Mac-

een. “It will be a ROBIN MACQUEEN
q ve ti d Langara physics
very exciting and 5) emetor

rewarding part of
the package.”

Registration for the Langara Envi-
ronment Institute is now open. The
program runs from May 7 to June 21.

66

Students
need a
balanced
perspective
... We need
to rethink
some fun-
damental
ideas of
our society

CRAIG KEATING,
history instructor