UBC Faculty of Land and Food Systems

The Faculty of Land and Food Systems (LFS) (formerly Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, formerly Faculty of Agriculture) is one of the three founding Faculties at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada.

The Faculty's administrative home is the H.R. MacMillan Building, with other programs housed across the UBC Point Grey campus, and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.

The Faculty's academic and research programs focus on the relationships between land, food, and natural resource use, both at a local level, and within a global context. The Faculty is also home to the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, the only remaining working farm in the City of Vancouver. Research by faculty and students covers a breadth of subjects, including soil, water and air use, food security, nutrition, food safety, food economics, agriculture, viticulture, animal welfare, food microbiology and aquaculture.

The Faculty awards a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) for all undergraduate programs, and Master of Science (M.Sc.), Master of Food Science (MFS), Master of Food and Resource Economics (MFRE), and Doctorate (Ph.D.) at the graduate level.

History

In 1914, Dr. Leonard S. Klinck, Professor of Cereal Husbandry at Macdonald College, McGill University, was appointed as UBC's first Dean of Agriculture. During UBC's first two sessions Dr. Klinck taught a general course in agriculture, which was open to 3rd and 4th year Arts students. In 1915 the University opened in temporary headquarters at the former McGill University College of British Columbia facilities adjacent to Vancouver General Hospital. There were three faculties; Arts and Science, Applied Science, and Agriculture. Total student enrolment was 379 and full- and part-time faculty totalled 34. The first students in Agriculture were enrolled in 1917/18. By then the Faculty of Agriculture consisted of four departments: Agronomy, Animal Husbandry, Horticulture and Poultry Husbandry.

In 1969, under Dean Michael Shaw, the Faculty of Agriculture became the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, to reflect its strong emphasis on science in its teaching and research programs.

In 2005, under Dean Moura Quayle, the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences became the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, to better reflect its focus on sustainability and interdisciplinary research, including food and resource economics, food science, human nutrition, and animal, soil, and plant sciences.

Undergraduate Programs

• Applied Biology (formerly Agroecology)
  • Applied Animal Biology
  • Applied Plant and Soil Sciences
  • Food and the Environment
• Food, Nutrition and Health
  • Dietetics
  • Food Market Analysis
  • Food Science
  • Nutritional Sciences
  • Food and Nutritional Sciences
  • Food, Nutrition and Health
• Global Resource Systems

Graduate Programs

• Applied Animal Biology
• Food and Resource Economics (Professional)
• Food Science (both Professional and research-based programs)
• Human Nutrition
• Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems
• Land and Water Systems (Professional)
• Plant Science
• Soil Science

Research Centres and Groups

• Animal Welfare Program
• Biometeorology and Soil Science Group
• Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm
• Food and Resource Economics Group
• Food Science Research Group
• Human Nutrition Group
• Centre for Aquaculture & Environmental Research (CAER)
• Dairy Education & Research Centre
• Wine Research Centre