One year ago, the Carleton Food Collective was in the middle of a public battle to get its levy money, which the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) was holding in an effort to make the group more financially accountable.
In April 2014, the group failed to convince CUSA their updated financial documents were sufficient, so the Board of Governors refunded the approximately $2-per-student levy to students.
Much has changed since then. A year later, the collective’s membership approved their new constitution on Feb. 5, according to their website.
The constitution outlines the organization’s new mandate, membership, general assembly, use of cooking space, and elections processes, as well as the board membership responsibilities.
Wesley Petite, a board member of the Carleton Food Collective, said passing the constitution is part of their commitment to being a long-term operation.
“It was one of the best moments of my entire involvement with the Carleton Food Collective,” he said.
Petite said the collective has big plans going forward. They hope to collaborate with other student organizations such as the Carleton Vegetarian Society, the Carleton University Horticulture Club, and the International Student Services Office.
In February, the group held a discussion about genetically modified foods with farmers and academics speaking.
Petite added he wants to work with CUSA and avoid conflict. The collective also wants to continue working closely with the Carleton Graduate Students’ Association.
“We’re all ambitious student organizations and we work better together,” he said.
The collective owns and operates the Garden Spot, a free vegan meal service on campus, which furthers their mandate of promoting food security and sustainability.
Petite said they are currently serving twice a week and looking to increase the number of weekly servings. As well, the collective is looking to engage more volunteers and hold more events at its kitchen on Bell Street.
“It’s really just about engaging new people and getting new ideas on how we can remind people about the importance of healthy, sustainable eating,” he said.
Petite said the kitchen space can be used for student meetings, movie nights, studying, or general discussion, but the group does not have a place to cook and prep meals on campus.
The Carleton Food Collective used to be a branch of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group at Carleton (OPIRG-Carleton). The collective became independent to receive their own levy but still works closely with OPIRG.
Etienne Lefebvre, a Food Collective board member, said they used to set up and prep food in the Foot Patrol office before their period of inactivity but have since lost the location.
The collective was not active between 2011 and 2013 because there were not enough volunteers, he said. As such, CUSA felt the group was not doing enough to receive student money.
The organization only just got its funding back this year, according to Petite.
Folarin Odunayo, CUSA’s president, said the collective’s operations were inconsistent last year.
“CUSA was seeking assurances that the operations would resume and would be run effectively and be financially transparent to the student body,” he said.
Odunayo said the collective provided a full independent auditor’s report with a statement of financial position this year and have since received their levy.
He added CUSA was successful in keeping the Carleton Food Collective accountable.
Jennifer Kempster, a second-year humanities student, said she enjoys the Garden Spot’s free meals.
“It’s an amazing thing to have especially on days when you’re tired . . . You don’t want to go get food so it’s right there and it’s healthy,” she said. “I don’t think there’s anything bad you could say about that.”
