Food Systems Regeneration: IVEY HBA Student…

Food Systems Regeneration: IVEY HBA Student Experience at Growing Chefs! Ontario

On September 27th, we welcomed Ivey Business School for an immersive, full-day event that delved into the many facets of sustainable food systems.

Posted on: Oct 1, 2024

On Friday, September 27^th, we welcomed Ivey Business School students and faculty for a full day event that explored many aspects of the food system including production, economic development, policy, education and culture.

From culinary workshops and garden tours to policy discussions, students experienced first-hand the interconnectedness of food production, education, and innovation, working toward a more equitable, resilient, and eco-friendly food system. We are excited to continue working with Ivey Business School students during the school year to continue to deepen our community connections and conversations about food system regeneration.

Throughout the day, students participated in four stations, each with a focus on regenerative food systems; here’s a run down of the day.

In the Kitchen- Students worked alongside the Growing Chefs! Ontario team to learn how we approach designing, delivering and evaluating food literacy programs. Students helped to prepare recipes from our Cultural Diversity Snack Program which is delivered in partnership with the Ontario Student Nutrition Program. The dishes included:

Daakwa from Nigeria
Barazek from Syria
Methi Mathri from India

Tour of The Grove Agri-Business Incubation Hub - Students toured The Grove, learning about this innovative agri-business incubation project. At Lunch, students sampled products from various tenants including s’mores ice cream from Havens Creamery, dulce de leche churro croquettes from Frittos & Co, and fritters from The Fritter Shop, with coffee from Cafézia.

For lunch students had the opportunity to have the same meals offered in our Beet Café hot lunch program.

In the Gardens - Students toured the Grove gardens, learning about Growing Chefs! Garden Education programs, our relationship with The Wormery, and helped to plant, harvest, process and package ingredients for our community food box program: Learn to Grow, Grow to Give. Students sampled cucamelons and learned the important role of praying mantis in controlling pests in the gardens.

Break-out Discussions with Middlesex London Food Policy Council - Participants reviewed the Executive Summary of the Middlesex London Food Systems Assessment (FSA) and brainstormed potential action items in order to forward the 13 recommendations outlined in the report. In this breakout session, the outcomes were shared with MLFPC for consideration as they work to create their 3 year action plan out of the FSA for a food secure community.

This full-day event provided full-circle food systems lessons and provided actionable strategies to build a healthy, safe, equitable, ecologically responsible and economically viable food system. We are so grateful for the opportunity to share in this exciting day with Ivey Business School students and faculty to grow our relationship with regenerative food systems as a community.