UBCO Enactus Okanagan group moving on to national competition for prize-winning project

The UBCO Enactus group formed just over a year ago and is already going coast to coast to compete in the Enactus Canada National Exposition in Toronto, Ont. from May 14 to 16.

The National competition follows a rewarding win for UBCO's Enactus Team, claiming victory in the regional competition held in Calgary from March 6 to 7. UBCO's Enactus Team presented Project Roots, one of their two ongoing initiatives, for the Scotiabank EcoLiving Green challenge and will make another short 5-minute presentation of the project for the same category at the National championships.

Project Roots is Enactus’ spotlight initiative, becoming a near-instant success and leading Enactus Okanagan to garner a Hellman’s Best Project Solution prize and Top Rookie Team in Canada in 2017.

The project soft-launched on April 5, 2017, with Erkki Annala, current President of Enactus Okanagan and 2nd-year nursing student, focused on solving the problem of food insecurity at UBCO - a problem which affected 42% of students according to a Voice4 survey conducted on campus.

"More and more often students are growing hungry or they can't afford to eat properly and they're eating garbage which is ultimately affecting their mental and physical health as well as how well they do with academics," explained Annala.

"If you don't fuel your body right you're not going to think properly, you're not going to have that ability to do what you need to do because diet is a major component."

Additionally, the project tackles a larger problem of food waste by using “second-grade produce” and targeting the 40% of food wasted annually in Canada as a resource - a problem which calculates approximately $30 billion loss in revenue, states Enactus Okanagan.

So far, the group has sold 4,452.37 lbs of produce, saved $8,170 in potential losses, 900,723.23 litres of water saved and made $6,260 in revenue, though the non-profit organization does not keep the revenue earned.

“We're taking what was previously seen as waste and turning into a viable revenue stream where farmers can now actually sell what they previously used to let rot in the fields or ship out to landfills," explained Annala, stating that good food is being thrown away, often for simple cosmetic issues.

With their progressive project, the group of students will be battling against 7 other schools participating in the Scotiabank EcoLiving Green challenge at the Enactus Canada National Exposition.

Annala was happy that UBCO's Enactus Team was recognized for their project and able to move onto nationals. As a new group making their way onto the scene in early 2017, Annala is hoping to at least make their way to the semi-finals with their use of typically wasted food capturing both food insecurity and wasted produce.

"Because we're using second-grade produce, this is something that other teams aren't doing this, they're just focusing on getting food to people, but they're not looking at the waste," explained Annala.

At Nationals in Toronto, the group will make a 5-minute presentation on Project Roots, as well as a longer 17-minute presentation on their entire Enactus organization which includes both Project Roots and Inventathon (described by Enactus as a 24-hour business incubator).

Annala said they have some plans to expand their idea outside of the Kelowna campus and target the larger community - ultimately creating a project that can be replicated on a larger, global scale - but will wait until after their National presentations before announcing their prospective plans.