Colouring Outside The Lines

Wes ReganSFU, RADIUS Launch

Changemakers Showcase March 25th 2013

About Wes

I’m all about change, baby…

And of course, proud SFU alumnus

Why I want to change our food systemGrowing up in the arctic, food security and food access (affordability, quality) was a challenge and it’s worsening today for many communities.

Moving down to the Okanagan after several years in the north I saw farmland and orchards transformed by suburban and recreational development. Both experiences really got me thinking about food, and about communities and about how we plan for both.

Eventually ended up here of course

And it changed my life

SFU Co-op is where I met this strange fellow, and we fell in love (with aquaponics and urban farming that is)

While working a co-op term I was given the task of researching the potential local economic impact of “green collar jobs” and more specifically urban agriculture in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

This is where I met Nick Hermes, co-founder of Urban Stream.

BSc, Chemical Engineering, UBC

which I try not to hold against him

We saw the same problem but from different angles

A wasteful, exploitative, carbon intensive industrial food system with a litany of negative externalities that still can’t get healthy food into everyone’s hands….

How can we create a more resilient and transparent food system for an increasingly urbanized and food insecure world?

Micro-Farms

Nutrient Solution

Our Micro-Farm systems employ BiomimicryClosing the food-waste loop

10

1 .5 MT/yr

450 MT/yr

18 MT/yr

Aquaponic System

Growing Medium2 MT/yr

HNR™ Bioreactor

1 MT/yr

Organic Waste

A peek inside the Micro-Farm

Smells like Cascadian Cedar and fresh herbs…

Where does colouring outside the lines come into all of this?

• Regulatory barriers -permits, approved uses, we don’t exist

• Financing an unproven concept • Growing food in a way that challenges

cultural norms• Collaboration, partnerships and support

Strathcona BIA Resource ParkOctober 2011- June 2012

• Development and Building Permit (City of Vancouver)• Composting Facility License (Metro Vancouver)• Organic Matter Recycling Regulation (Ministry of Environment)

We discovered that there’s a lot of room for social innovation in the food system and food economy

And a lot of innovators currently working in this space

2011 Vancouver Urban Farming Forum, SFU Woodwards

Lenders and financiers trying to learn how to colour outside the lines too

The year ahead for USI

Something I believe

• Solid and innovative business thinking combined with a passion to address the social, economic and environmental challenges we face will create the most successful and game-changing businesses of this century

• Cultural norms must be challenged • Outdated Institutional frameworks will bend,

break and rearrange under this pressure• Have courage, change is good!

www.urbanstream.cawes@urbanstream.ca

THANK YOU!

SEE YOU TOMORROW AT THE HiVE 5:30 (social purpose business networking event)