UBCO student organization continues to gather accolades for food waste reduction project

A UBCO student-run organization is continuing to garner praise for their food waste reduction project which offers students at the campus a chance to purchase "second-grade produce" and target the reportedly 58% of food wasted annually in Canada.

Enactus UBC Okanagan can add to their list of awards for their Project Roots initiative with the at the Enactus Canada National Exposition in Vancouver from May 7 to 9, following the regional exposition in Calgary from March 1 to 2.

Over the weekend they received the GRAMM Data Impact Award, along with a $2,500 project grant, for the best use of their data to improve their community impact in Kelowna.

In the same night, Enactus was awarded the 3M Best Project award for their use of the 3M project accelerator grant given to them as well as eight other Enactus teams.

Based off of their final impact report written to showcase the team's achievements and the effect of Project Roots, it was recognized by 3M as the Best Project.

The exposition would ultimately bring the team to a semi-finalist position in the National competition — identifying them as a top 20 team for the organization's second year in a row — and as a finalist for the Scotiabank Environmental Challenge, crowning Enactus UBCO as a top-seven team in the category.

Enactus UBC Okanagan was unable to advance to the top four of the 69 groups present in the National competition, but they were satisfied with their "top-notch" presentation.

"Although not all members of the Enactus UBC Okanagan team were able to attend, their efforts must be recognized as it was only with all the hard work and dedication members have put in that the team is able to succeed," a spokesperson for the group said.

"Regardless of awards and ranking, the Enactus UBC Okanagan team should be proud of their achievements because in the end we all win."

For more information on Enactus, click here.