Squeezed finances and outreach programs are responsible for a 148 per cent increase over the last two years in the number of students using the on-campus food bank, according to Carleton’s Food Centre co-ordinators.
This trend is reflected in students’ use of food banks across the country. Food Banks Canada’s “Hunger Count,” an annual report on Canadian’s food bank usage, usually lumps students in with youth or adults.
This year, post-secondary students got their own category, and account for four per cent of overall users. According to national statistics from March 2011, that means over 34,040 students accessed food banks in just one month.
Carleton’s Food Centre co-ordinators Tabitha McDonald and Sarah McCue said the increased use of the Food Centre has been noticeable.
“This semester we’ve seen our shelves a little more bare than usual,” McCue said. “Low-paying jobs, insufficient student loans, and high rent as well as other fixed costs like tuition are the highest reasons that people are coming in.”
“I don’t think that you should have to choose between eating and getting an education,” McDonald said, in response to critics who have questioned how students can afford tuition but not food.
Even if it does not come down to that choice, lack of food options has a direct impact on grades and health, according to McCue.
“If you have to worry every day about where your next meal is coming from, or have to live off the ramen noodles and cans of tomato soup or Kraft dinner, you’re not going to be able to give as much to your studies,” McCue said.
Ottawa Food Bank supplies the Food Centre, meaning the biggest challenge is not getting the food, but making sure it is accessible to the students who need it.
“Partially I think [the increase] can be attributed to the amount of outreach and public face that we’ve been getting as a centre. We have been making leaps and bounds in trying to be as open a centre as possible so people feel welcome,” McDonald said.
According to McDonald, over 200 people came out for the Trick or Eat Halloween can drive, during which volunteers collected canned foods for the Ottawa Food Bank. The centre is launching a new “I Care About Hunger” campaign, and have increased their usage of social media.
This all contributes to the dialogue on campus around food security, which McDonald said is the first step in solving the problem.
“I think that we have a lot of work ahead of us to ensure people understand that food security is an issue that’s faced by students,” she said.
“In the meantime, we have to serve the five to 10 people who come through every day.”
