Volume 16, Issue 11 February 24 - March 10 2010 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Andrew Bailey MANAGING EDITOR Stephanie McCullough (Vacant) PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Tyler Clarke (Vacant) GENERAL OFFICE ASSISTANT Kali Flick COPY EDITOR Helen Hogeterp NEWS EDITOR Shelby Peterson ARTS EDITOR Vacant SPORTS EDITOR Andrew Bailey (Vacant) PHOTO EDITOR Aria Hannolyn Cheng AD MANAGER Vacant CLUBS EDITOR Vacant CONTRIBUTORS Tobi Elliott Haakon Sullivan Deadline for submissions for the next issue is... Wednesday March 3 2010 Over the Edge is the official inde- pendent publishing media of students at the University of Northern British Columbia. As such, it is our mandate to report on issues of interest to students in the Northern Region. We encourage all students, both on the main and re- gional campuses to submit to Over the Edge. Over the Edge is part of the Canadian University Press network of newspa- pers, otherwise known as CUP. CUP is an organization that is en- tirely owned by member papers, and provides such services as a news wire and advertising to Over the Edge. Over the Edge is published every second week during the fall and win- ter semesters. OFFICE LOCATION 6-350 MAILING ADDRESS - 3333 University Way Prince George, BC, V2N 4Z9 Phone (250) 960-5633 FAX (250) 960-5407 E-mail over-the-edge@unbc.ca Memo from the boss Hey all and welcome to another fantastic edition of Over the Edge. | hope you enjoyed your reading break and are now completely revitalized and ready to crush your schoolwork for the rest of the semes- ter. Or at least that you survived and loaded up on Tobi Elliott The Concordian MONTREAL (CUP) —As the cost of food continues to rise, many ur- banites are finding it increasingly difficult to access and afford nutritious food. At a bilingual panel held in Montreal in February, four panellists dis- cussed ways to alleviate local food insecurity — the inability to afford healthy groceries without compromising access to necessities like rent. Moderator Rotem Ayalon opened the debate by quoting from the book *In Defense of Food*: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” “But how,” Ayalon followed up, “can you follow the rules of thumb if you can’t afford the fruits and vegetables at your local grocery store?” Each panellist at the bilingual panel, organized by students of Con- cordia’s School of Public Affairs, had a chance to discuss ways to fight local food insecurity. Frédéric Paré of Montreal's Food Sovereignty Coalition said the only way food could be made more accessible, with lower prices, is if markets became state-regulated, and competition was eliminated from food pro- duction. “The social net is fracturing, even as people count on the market forces to regulate human problems,” said Paré. He said he believes ac- cessibility to food should be considered a human right, and defended at international policy and legislative levels. The effects of the rising cost of food are quite obvious at Canada's largest food bank, Moisson Montréal, said community liaison Zakary O. Rhissa. The organization, which helps around 115,000 people access food each month, has seen a 15 per cent increase in the amount of em- ployed people turning to them. But the problem isn’t always related to finances — sometimes food in- Over the Edge, February 24 - March 10 2010 Gatorade to get over the inevitably crippling hangover we’ve all had since Monday morning. Things are going outstanding here at the OTE office and for any of you interested in be- coming a part of our fantastic team simply look to the left hand side of this page for the po- sitions we have available. We hope you enjoy this newspaper as we spent our spring breaks diligently ensuring that the fine students of UNBC would be provided with an informative and entertaining news source. Many congrats to the UNBC T-Wolves Basketball teams, both of which finished off the BCCAA regular season in first place, all the best for the provincials! For those of you who are fans of the Olympics | hope whichever Country you are rooting for is doing well, as long as that country is Canada. For those of you opposed to the Olympics | hope whatever else has been on TV during this time has been excellent for you. That's all | got for this one. Reading Break is over and classes are back in session, which sucks eh. Go Canada Go, and good luck with the final stretch of the school year y’all. Much love for reading your friendly campus newspaper. Over the Edge AGM Thursday, March 18 noon Winter Garden Food provided Tyler Clarke, Production coordinator security is a matter of access. Rhissa said because city grocery stores are usually situated in pop- ulated urban cores, it means they’re often inaccessible to those using public transit instead of cars, creating “food deserts.” Some farmers are coming up with ways to help curb the access prob- lem. The owners of the East Hawkesbury, Ont.-based Ferme du Ruisseau have been living off the grid for four years. Michel Pépin and Sabrina Martinez’s 180-acre organic farm uses energy produced by sun and wind, and their two greenhouses are heated by a hand-crank generator that runs on used cooking oil from restaurants. Their vegetable farm provides supplies for restaurants and farmer's markets. Martinez said consumers can help by eating organically and locally. “If we have support from the community, we can have food security," she said. "If local farmers work together, and producers own the land, they can bring the total cost of food down.” Steve Aitchison, owner of the Montreal vegan restaurant Burritoville, started his business to “alleviate some of the insecurities out there.” Being near Concordia University, he serves mainly students, and as such, keeps his prices as low as possible. He meets the challenge by getting 95 per cent of his food locally. Aitchison said he thinks local farming is “truly the key” to addressing food insecurity. “It's understanding the seasons and cycles, and dimin- ishing our desire for foods that aren’t accessible.” Near the end of the debate, Rhissa asked Pépin why it’s cheaper to buy imported food that must be flown in. Pépin replied that local farmers compete with countries that produce a harvest two to three times per year thanks to warmer climates, genetically-modified seeds and heavy fertil- izers, while Canada is a cold climate and it costs more to heat and pro- duce the same amount.