Adventures in Beer!

Local Beers at the Thirsty Moose

I was going to talk about work mostly but it seems like this week has been focused on beer! Currently I am tasting local beers (everyday this week) at the Thirsty Moose Pub  and eating delicious Meatless Monday options! Get in here!

This week my food obsession was complemented by some amazing local events that I was lucky to be apart of. Wednesday, Angela and I attended a wine and cheese night at Home Sweet Home as part of Feast PG. I also helped out at Mead Dating at Nancy O's on Thursday and had a blast sampling local beers and meeting singles ;). This week at UNBC is Good Food Week! Which is an event I helped organize to showcase the great food options we have on campus and get people involved and interested in food. Check out UNBC- Campus Food Stategy Group for more information and to follow our week. It has really been a great week for drinking locally and I have felt amazing support by being included in of all these great events.

Wine & Cheese Night at Home Sweet Home

Now to talk about work: I personally feel that your work should be a reflection of your values, which is a big part of a lot of the work I do on campus at UNBC.  I work as the local foods coordinator with PGPIRG, working on local food initiatives on campus and putting together the monthly good food box that sources ingredients from as local as possible. Another job I have on campus is working with the Campus Food Systems Project, which is a national project headed by Meal Exchange and the Sierra Youth Coalition. We work on food procurement, supply chain issues and food security issues on campus including organizing Good Food Week. Part of that role and one of my passions is my work with the University Farmers Market which I am co-chair of this year. All of this work puts me in a place to not only work on local food initiatives but allows me to make connections and learn about the food system in Prince George. All around, I seem to be obsessed with food through my work and life.

Mead Dating at Nancy O's

Thanks to helpful comments and feedback from followers, parts of my life that I had not previously considered have now become more localized, including my work! My side gig as a barista at Second Cup, a Canadian coffee chain where I worked for about a year before I started this project, had to be sacrificed for its integrity. Working for a coffee company that I would not even feel comfortable purchasing from just made no sense to me. Though they do source coffee with the rain forest alliance certification Second Cup only has one fair trade coffee and no organic options. They also manufacture a lot of their goods from all over the world and do not represent the type of business practice I can support. Incidentally I found out that the campus coffee shop was hiring and they served locally roasted, fair trade and organic coffee and they compost, can you say upgrade?

Cheers to a week full of local beer and good food!

Melanie


"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day."  -Frank Sinatra