Studying on empty

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A new survey of campus 12 food banks across Canada found 60 per cent of respondents unable to sufficiently feed themselves aside from what the food bank provides.

Olivia Piercey

Student hunger in Canada is a serious problem. More research is needed

Nov. 22, 2024 | 1:09 p.m. | Updated on Dec 04, 2024

By Olivia Piercey

6 min read

Before Yas Jawad moved to Wolfville to study at Acadia University, he had never been hungry.

But when he started school, he struggled.

He lived in the residence furthest from meal hall — all the way at the bottom of a hill. In winter, he had difficulty trudging uphill, through the snow after studying.

A lot of the time, he didn’t make it before it closed at 10 p.m. He needed to buy groceries, but couldn’t afford it.

So he did something he never expected he’d have to do — he signed up for an appointment at the Wolfville Area Food Bank.

Now, he is the co-ordinator of the Acadia Food Cupboard, giving food to up to 60 hungry students every week.

Jawad’s student dilemma is not unique and it is not new. A 2021 study by Meal Exchange, a Toronto charity that operated from 1993-2022, found that 56.8 per cent of postsecondary students in Canada face food insecurity — this means they are unable to meet their nutrition needs, or worry about their ability to meet them.

Student organizers across the country say food bank use is rapidly increasing. Unfortunately, they say, the severity of students’ hunger is not believed – not by potential donors and not by the general public.

New numbers

Food bank volunteer Priya Patel conducted a survey earlier this year of 12 campus food banks across Canada. She did this to give advocates evidence and to help each food bank meet the needs of its students.

Patel finished her masters in epidemiology at the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health in the spring.

While working part-time at the university’s food bank, she wanted to investigate the experiences of university food bank users nationwide. The survey received almost 800 responses.

Across the country, 60 per cent of respondents reported that, aside from what the campus food banks provide, they are unable to feed themselves. Thirty-two per cent reported accessing other food banks.

This is a problem, said Patel. “We’re meant to supplement. Not provide.”

The largest group of food bank users is international students, who were 67 per cent of respondents. The report said 48 per cent of respondents said their campus food bank “never or rarely” carried cultural foods.

Figures like these help campus food banks feed students. For one thing, they might help get funding. Potential donors need evidence of demand to open their wallets.

Patel provided each participating university with statistics on its clients.

This information was helpful for Mauricio Munoz, a biochemistry student in the final year of his degree at the University of Manitoba. He works part time as co-ordinator of the campus food bank.

Without a fridge or freezer, the University of Manitoba Student Food Bank mainly provides non-perishables. The survey allowed Munoz to better meet the needs of students.

“It really helped us a lot,” he said. The food bank swapped canned beans and chickpeas for dry goods. It also increased its vegetarian and vegan options.

Now campus food banks are armed with client data. But this data doesn’t paint a complete picture. For one thing, there’s more people who are hungry who don’t use the food banks.

Facing stigma

Stigma is one of the main barriers preventing hungry students from getting help.

Mitch Archibald, who works for Student Housing Nova Scotia, led a 2023 study at the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University that researched campus food banks across the Maritimes.

The study found the largest barrier to seeking support for hungry students is “discomfort.” Students don’t think their hunger is a legitimate reason to seek help. Surely someone else is more in need, right?

Archibald’s report, co-written with Dalhousie Faculty of Management professor Sylvain Charlebois, says nearly 40 per cent of moderately to severely food insecure students did not think of themselves as food insecure enough to access their campus food bank.

Understanding how many students face food insecurity, he said, could destigmatize food bank use. “It’s like, ‘Okay, everyone’s struggling.’ ”

Perceptions on the eating habits of students are misunderstood. Erin O’Neil, executive director of the Campus Food Bank at the University of Alberta, said members of the public do not understand food insecurity goes beyond students eating ramen and Kraft Dinner during exam season.

“The idea of the starving student is a very romanticized idea,” said O’Neil. “That people are making sacrifices to get this great education and then be really rich after.”

This, she said, is not accurate: larger, systemic issues prevent students from getting enough nourishment.

It is increasingly more expensive to be a student in Canada. According to Statistics Canada, the average price of undergraduate tuition is more than $7,000 — 11 per cent more expensive today than in 2019. For international students it’s more than five times higher: more than $40,000 a year.

But food prices are rising even more rapidly. According to 2023 StatsCan data, the cost of food has increased 22.7 per cent since 2019 — a larger increase than the hike in housing costs.

Every year, Food Banks Canada, a national NGO, conducts a survey called the HungerCount to find out who is using food banks in this country. Campus food banks are usually not included. Students, being a transient population, rarely register their organizations, so their food banks are not official.

“I think there’s some interesting work to be done,” said Kirstin Beardsley, the CEO of Food Banks Canada, which is based in Mississauga, Ont. “They’ve been such a small subset of the overall number of food banks that are part of the sample.”

Since 2022, Food Banks Canada has used data on student hunger from the 2021 Meal Exchange report.

Now, Beardsley said, there are “probably enough” campus food banks across the country that separate research could be conducted just on them.

Missing pieces

Campus food banks, like all food banks, are meant for emergencies. But food insecurity is so common they are no longer used only for emergencies — they are relied on for a chronic need.

Yas Jawad works hard at the Acadia Food Cupboard to get food in bellies. He collaborates with other student societies and throws social theme nights to make getting help less daunting and more cheerful.

Jawad hopes more students can avoid any shame in asking for free food. In fact, he refuses to call the Acadia Food Cupboard a food bank. He says the term might discourage students from using it.

He said he believes students are more likely to access other kinds of support, like social, drop-in, free meal services, because they don’t carry the same stigma as food banks.

It’s the difference between going somewhere that has free food, taking your friends and making a night of it, or making an appointment at a food bank, by yourself, for yourself. That can be intimidating.

Jawad says his most popular initiative is a weekly free meal program called Food Sharing Acadia. It’s an opportunity to chat and hang out with friends over a free lunch or dinner. No appointment is required, and students show up in herds. Over 300 students attend every week. The food supply is usually devoured, with no leftovers.

It is so popular, Jawad and his colleagues set up a meeting with Acadia’s president. Feeding hundreds of students every week was getting expensive — and they needed more money. Jawad said counting the number of meals provided helped make their point and they secured $1,000. But he said he thinks some students are still hesitant to get help.

“I understand first-hand how shameful the experience is,” said Jawad. He is all too familiar with misguided perceptions.

“‘How can you be food insecure while attending a university?’”