History

Timeline of the Progress Towards Food Sustainability at McGill
March 2008	Rethink Conference A yearly gathering of students, professors and administrators who aim to provide the McGill community with information on environmental initiatives on campus as well as an opportunity to provide suggestions on other projects to be addressed.
August 2008	Farmers’ Market After months of meetings and preparation, McGill officially inaugurates its Farmers’ Market the first on campus Farmers’ Market in Québec. (a concrete initiative developed from the 2008 Rethink Conference)
Summer 2008	University United Dana Lahey, cofounder of McGill’s Farmers’ Market begins research on the benefits of applied student research, mandated by SSMU environmental commission. The final report will be entitled “University United.[pdf]”
November 2008	Director of Sustainability McGill hires a Director of Sustainability to work on energy efficiency and waste management all the while informing the McGill community about the university’s commitments to reducing its ecological foot print. (see link https://www.mcgill.ca/reporter/40/10/fortune/)
Fall 2008	McGill Food Systems Project Creation of the McGill Food Systems Project (MFSP) . The newly formed student group meets with McGill Food and Dining Services and the Director of Sustainability to create a vision that could benefit all three parties.
February 2009	Inauguration of the McGill Office of Sustainability Although not directly involved in food issues at the time, the Office becomes a meeting place to encourage students and administrators to develop projects contributing to increased campus sustainability.
May-August 2009	Farm to Plate Report Five full time student researchers from the McGill Food Systems Project investigate and document McGill's current food supply chain and food purchasing decision-making process. Results of this research are published in the "Farm to Plate Report.[pdf ]"
July 2009	MFDS Restructured The McGill Food and Dining Services unit is restructured. The new management opens their doors to student initiatives on sustainability issues and revamps the quality of the food offered in residence dining halls.
September 2009	Local Food Day Inauguration of Local Food Day events! Check out our Local Food Day section for more details!
September 2009	McGill feeding McGill The McGill Food and Dining Services officially partnered with our own Macdonald Campus to produce the majority of the fresh produce served in the residence cafeterias during the fall season.
Fall 2009	Applied Student Research Start of the first applied student researches (Geog 302 & Envr 401) guided by the MFSP, in close consultation with the Dining Services. Many other student researches have followed since. Check out our Applied Student Research section for more details!
March 2010	Sustainability Projects Fund Implementation of the Sustainability Project Fund (SPF) allowing financial support for green campus initiatives to flourish. A new Sustainability Fund Coordinator position is created reporting to the Director of Sustainability. This person is also mandated to help guide future applied student researches. This position represents a shift in McGill's strategies for sustainability, from improving the University's utilities and operations to integrating community and student-based projects.
May-August 2010	Local Food Plus Four full time MFSP coordinators establish two new student applied research courses for Fall 2010 and new partnerships with important future allies: Minister of fisheries and agriculture of Québec (MAPAQ) & Local Food Plus (LFP)
August 2010	New Food System Administrator position A concrete and well awaited result from the Geog 302 student research project.
Winter 2010	Contract allocation A MFSP member sits on the selection committee in charge of renewing McGill’s contract for food service provision.
Summer 2012-Fall 2014	Constructive consumerism project The Constructive Consumerism Project is an ASR project that was carried out in three phases between Summer 2012 and Fall 2014. The purpose of this project was to examine the food choice process of residence students at McGill University, and to assess what barriers and incentives can change diners’ current behavior.
Fall 2013	McGill Food and Dining Green-House Gas Audit Following the Fall 2012 ENVR 401 energy assessment of BMH and RVC, McGill Food and Dining Services decided to launch a full-scale green-house audit of four residence cafeterias. The audit was initiated by the director of MFDS, Mathieu Laperle, and McGill's energy manager, Jerome Conraud, who hired 6 part-time students to complete the research. Two MFSP members worked on the audit as project coordinator and food auditor. The audit includes an assessment of energy, food, water, and waste within the cafeterias.

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