University of Guelph

• Their work will change the way we grow fresh produce both in Canada and around the globe.
• Projects were chosen for their visionary concepts, practical plans for adoption and scaling, and their commitment to fostering collaboration.
• Represented in the competition are farmers, producers, engineers, agronomists, horticulturalists, AI specialists, and environmental scientists—to name a few.
• Stay updated on the teams’ journeys, the Challenge and news and insights on the latest and greatest in Canadian agriculture at https://homegrownchallenge.ca/ .

• People’s physical and mental health were severely impacted by the sudden changes forced by the emergent global crisis.
• Although global movements and organizations are dedicated to supporting universities’ work in health promotion, and many universities have committed to doing so, our research indicates that campuses struggle to promote health in a meaningful way.

Health promotion in universities

• The movement to see universities promoting health was initially championed by the UK Healthy Universities Network.
• 5 ways university students and faculty hope for better

  The framework was developed at the 2015 International Conference on Health Promoting Universities and Colleges held in Kelowna, B.C.

Health in all aspects of campus culture

• The Okanagan Charter calls for embedding health into all aspects of campus culture and leading health promotion action and collaboration.
• The Canadian Health Promoting Campuses Network assists Canadian campuses in the adoption of the charter.
• All of these national networks are connected up to the International Health Promoting Universities and campuses.

Challenges with implementation

• As the Okanagan Charter nears its 10th anniversary, questions remain about its limited adoption, its challenges with implementation and the progress made towards its calls to action.
• Our research project, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, examined the adoption, implementation and evaluation of the charter at the first 10 Canadian campuses who signed onto the charter in 2016 and 2017: University of British Columbia, University of Saskatchewan, Simon Fraser University, University of Guelph, Mount Royal University, King’s University College, University of Lethbridge, Western University, University of Calgary and Memorial University.

Implementation left to a few people

• The research uncovered that many of the first signatory campuses were struggling with taking action on many of their Charter commitments.
• In many cases, after executive leadership signed the charter, the implementation was left to a few people working with few resources to design initiatives and follow progress.

Evaluation absent

• Evaluation and assessment frameworks were especially absent at most campuses.
• That finding has lead to our renewed concern: how are universities evaluating progress against broader health goals?

Well-resourced approaches

• Universities need to work towards engaged leadership, deliberate actions, innovative and well-resourced approaches, networked opportunities and meaningful measures of progress.
• If university leaders say that this work matters, that means they must elevate the profile of health and well-being on campus.
• Some identifiable next steps can be: 1) Embed well-being in institutional strategic plans.
• 3) Give stewards of the work resources, both financial and human, for relevant activities and initiatives.

• Metavo has also been known to support metabolic health by helping with food cravings, and energy slumps, enabling proactive health management, allowing consumers to activate their metabolism naturally - the key to metabolic health.
• Poor metabolic health reveals itself through weight gain, stress, higher blood sugar, decreased energy, and other health-related issues.
• "Metabolic health is central to overall health and emerging research has shown how AvoB can support mitochondria health at the cellular level to support metabolic health, which can have significant physiological benefits."
• The Metavo/Harris Poll study found that 72% of North Americans are interested in taking supplements to support their metabolic health.

• The World Heath Organization (WHO) has declared the end of the global emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Although COVID-19 remains a danger for many, especially with the possibility of new variants, experts are urging that we move forward to prepare for the next pandemic.
• But the pandemic also created the circumstances for a type of global, national and local solidarity that has rarely been seen before.

Caremongering

• A study led by researchers at McMaster University on caremongering Facebook groups found that the majority of posts were to request or offer materials like personal protective equipment, food and clothes or services like picking up groceries and prescriptions.
• There was also a lot of information-sharing about COVID-19, community updates, inspiration and advice.

Pandemic unveiled systemic issues

• Disasters like the pandemic provide an opportunity to examine the exception in order to understand the rule and to expose the unequal social structures that are often hidden in everyday life.
• A University of Guelph study found that in 2020, as the reality of the pandemic set in, discussions in caremonger groups turned towards difficult topics of social justice, inequality and colonization.
• One group organizer who took part in the study shared that she felt COVID-19 unveiled the challenges faced by marginalized people.

A more equitable post-pandemic world

• As the global emergency ends, we need to ask ourselves how a post-pandemic world could be more equitable, just and nurturing.
• The pandemic allowed people to connect with strangers in their neighbourhoods and country through the development of community good will across different geographies.
• Pandemic travel restrictions also produced some positive environmental effects around the world.
• As we reflect on the last three years, let us seize the opportunity to use the experience to create a more equitable, just and nurturing post-pandemic world.