Scholars are consistently making the world a better place through thoughtful research, observation, and application. Inspired by graduate students’ zeal for learning, we created our very first scholarship opportunity to cover one month’s housing costs for one graduate student traveling for educational purposes.

We are proud to announce Samantha Gambling as our recipient of the inaugural Sabbatical Homes Scholarship Opportunity! A graduate student of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia, Gambling is traveling to Dunedin, New Zealand, where she will be hosted by the Centre for Sustainability at the University of Otago (CSAFE). During her time there, she will be supplementing her Master’s research on supply management and food sovereignty in the British Columbia dairy industry.

Food sovereignty is broadly defined as the rights of citizens to define their own food systems using environmentally sound, socially and economically fair, and democratic practices. In Canada, one of the policies that supports food sovereignty is that of supply management, which was created in the 1960s to stabilize each province’s dairy industry – and subsequently each farmer’s income – by limiting trade and apportioning milk licenses. However, supply management is increasingly pressured by national and international bodies on the grounds of equity, efficiency, and potential for growth.

“The future of supply management, and thus food sovereignty, is threatened by a host of social-political tensions and challenges at many scales,” says Gambling. “New Zealand is an example of a country that eliminated government protection of dairy production and has subsequently become a major player in the global dairy market. Their free market and neo-cooperative dairy policy framework is often referenced by Canadian economists as a model for Canadian agricultural policies. However, the implications of these diverse dairy policies on food sovereignty have yet to be determined.”

During her time in New Zealand, Gambling will be interviewing dairy farmers to understand how a liberalized policy framework impacts sustainability and food sovereignty in the New Zealand dairy industry. By comparing New Zealand’s policy framework to that of the supply management system in British Columbia, she will support and augment many interviews and analyses conducted in Canada, giving her a wider perspective and a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

Through her research, Gambling hopes to promote just and sustainable agri-food systems in British Columbia, while also contributing research that works towards environmentally sustainable, socially just and economically viable global food systems. She also aims to foster the international relationship between the Centre for Sustainability at the University of Otago and the faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia.

We are inspired by Gambling’s research and hope the Sabbatical Homes Scholarship Opportunity helps her affect change in striving for environmentally sustainable, socially just, and economically viable global food systems.

Please click here to read about our group of finalists’ research projects and impending need for housing accommodations. As a member of Sabbatical Homes, you know that our philosophy is to run an equitable system that supports academic travel within the scholarly community. To that effect, if in any way you are able to help serve these impressive scholars of tomorrow, please do get in contact, as we would like to see them all succeed in their studies.

We are happy to announce that we will be making the Educational Travel Scholarship Opportunity available again for the summer of 2017. Please check the Sabbatical Homes Blog for further details as they are released.

We want to know what you think! Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Google +.