This semesters presentations were really interesting, with continued and new innovations from last semester. I think because of the added challenge of contacting stakeholders most people chose to focus their projects locally.

A lot of the presentations focused on food banks, but all these groups seemed to focus on it from a different angle. Student food for change focused on donations to the SU food bank, and a program that gave you a discount on the bookstore with donations. Brain Food (or Team Cute-cumber) wants to have a campus cooking show that educates students on how to cook nutritional meal, specifically looking at food items from the SU food banks food hampers. Lil Veggies were another group focused on education fro nutritional meals, however not directly linked to the food bank, but still an educational innovation.And Nearby Nutrition who are looking at an using an interactive map to connect people with food distribution agencies, and actually started putting together a map with multiple resources to help those in need.

A couple innovations worked on a social change aspect. The first group 24 Fast, would essentially be a study on the effects of famine and hunger in university students. The other group, Food for Thought: An Awareness Week, looked into doing an awareness week  on campus in partnership with Humans of UCalgary to spread awareness and help break the stigma surrounding food insecurity.

Lastly, Up Above’s innovation was about indoor farming using aeroponics. This technique uses 96% less water than hydroponics, and the model they proposed would take up limited space at a reasonable price. This innovation tackles the issues of food insecurity and unavailability, by allowing you to grow fresh produce in your own home.

This global challenges has so many different dimensions and issues to tackle, and every innovations presented could help with the solution. The four main themes (including my groups innovation) were accessibility, education, agriculture, legislation. These four themes are some of the biggest factors in solving our challenge, and I hope that these groups will continue with their innovations.