As living expenses and food insecurity exacerbates, The University of Guelph-Humber has announced a series of plans and nutritional programs to help campus members gain affordable access to a nutritional health.
Following a growing demand from its student body and alarming data around increasing food insecurity within Canadian households, the University of Guelph–Humber is making sure students in need are aware of its expanding list of resources.
Statistics Canada released a report in April stating 22.9 per cent of Canadians are battling food insecurity (CBC 2024). This figure equates to approximately nine million Canadians, double the population of Toronto and Montreal combined, Canada’s two largest cities.
With record high food bank usage in Toronto (CBC, 2024), it remains paramount for post-secondary students to be informed on the resources available to them on campus grounds.
In an email sent to students on October 28th, Guelph-Humber faculty outlined new and existing resources after receiving feedback from the Canadian Campus Well-Being Survey last fall.
Findings from the survey “Showed that about 35 per cent of our student population … experiences food insecurity” stated Guelph-Humber’s Head of Student Services, Susan Thomas, when asked about the school’s initiatives and battle against food insecurity.
The Food For Thought Program, a student-based initiative, was one of three key resources outlined through email. Created in 2023 by Nikki Martyn, Head of Early Childhood Studies after hearing from one student that her on-campus meal plan did not cover her dietary needs.
“I thought …why don’t we try to see what we can do to make it a little bit easier for people on campus (to access fresh food)” Martyn told Emerge Media when asked about the program’s creation. . “We did an open call and people brought in food ... there’s a lot of granola bars … fruit and … protein”. Food For Thought is available Mondays to Friday in room GH319.
The Food Security Program, offered by Guelph Humber’s Student Financial Services Department, was another key resource to combat nutritional insecurity outlined in Monday’s email. The program provides Guelph-Humber students with emergency funds and assistance to purchase food on campus.
Students can visit Student Financial Services at GH 112, where their team can “assess what their needs are and to determine how they can get support to access food on campus while they’re here” said Susan Thomas.
Additionally, the Ignite Soup bar, a resource offered by Ignite: Guelph-Humber and Humber Polytechnic’s Student Union, is another key resource available to students, but has not been mentioned in the mass email for unclear reasons.
The Ignite Soup bar is located on the Humber Polytechnic side. Operating out of both the Student Centre (KX202) and Room LX110, students can grab packaged soups daily anytime until supply runs out. According to Humber’s 2023 News report, the program was distributing 100 soups daily.
“It is a smaller community, there is an interconnectedness in where we can do things together... it’s a part of .. who we are.” said Guelph-Humber Vice Provost Melanie Spence Ariemma when asked about the role of Guelph-Humber’s incentives within the smaller student population. With a student body of only 4,700 (OUAC,2024), Guelph-Humber has approximately 10 times fewer attendees than neighboring York University.
Other postsecondary institutions in the GTA (General Toronto Area) have created their own campus food resources as Canada’s cost of living worsens, particularly for students. A 2022 study conducted by the National College Health Assessment found 39 per cent of post-secondary students suffer from food insecurity (NCHA 2022).
In addition to these resources, food security literacy has been incorporated into campus learning. Notably, within the Fall 2024 semester, Professor Sara Duni who teaches the “Food Studies” elective at Guelph-Humber, took her class to tour the “Learning Garden” within Humber’s Arboretum. There, students learned about food insecurity, urban agriculture and the Garden’s partnership to provide food banks in the area with produce they’ve grown.
Similarly, within the Early Childhood Studies program, students are expected to adapt to different reactions of food disparity among children in a learning environment. “We create a lived experience … where our students recognize what it feels like to learn full, or what it feels like to be hungry” explained Nikki Martyn.
Even outside of the classroom, Guelph-Humber students can take part in the school’s strides towards an equitable community: December 3rd, 2024, marks Humber’s Got Talent, a talent show in support of the Student Food Security Fund.
“We are a caring institution” stated Vice Provost Melanie Spence Ariemma who maintains her faith in GH’s community as the Fall semester starts to wind down, “it ties into what we value and what we believe as a community.”
