Navigating adult life is a difficult task. Balancing a part-time job alongside academics has left me feeling anxious and withdrawn from my education. Assignments and readings become an afterthought because I’m stuck calculating whether or not I have the means to sustain myself financially.
Underneath the lights of Sidney Smith, my mind slips into peril as I wonder if I’ve worked enough hours this month to pay rent. My thoughts spiral, and I begin to put off buying groceries to save money. I’m hungry after class, and I spend a good amount of time staring at the food trucks lined up on St. George Street, wondering if I can spare the cost.
If I cave into hunger, I feel guilty for spending the money I don’t have. Whenever I’m tempted to get quick bites of burgers and fries on campus, I remember I’ve been avoiding the grocery store on the streetcar rides home, and I feel guilty. I take my bag off my shoulder, unlock my apartment door, open my barren fridge, and pace — hoping food will manifest itself while I anxiously avoid hunger. I can’t afford to feel hungry — or overly full.
I know I’m not the only one who feels like this: hungry, embarrassed, and waiting for some miraculous food God to drop a bag of fresh fruits and vegetables in my fridge. According to the collective hunger-relief organization Feed Ontario, over a million people visited food banks in Ontario between April 2023 and March 2024.
Some communities come together to provide for those in need. I remember all those toy and food drives in elementary school where you’d count cans for kids in need of a Christmas meal. But what happens when the kids who used to bring cans to school suddenly find themselves with yet another costly grocery store run?
Walking past the long lines outside my local food bank, I feel scared. Community resources can become overwhelmed by high demand if food scarcity is not addressed by the provincial government. There is a growing concern amongst Canadians about where our next meal will come from, but as people grow anxious and resources grow strained, the provincial government seems increasingly avoidant.
The statistics: What issue are we actually facing
In March 2023, there were over 1.9 million visits to food banks in that month, according to Food Banks Canada. In that year, the organization also found a 32 per cent increase in visits from 2022, and a staggering 78.5 per cent increase from 2019. From their survey data, the most common reasons contributing to food insecurity were the cost of food, cost of housing, low wages, and decreases in scheduled hours of work.
The COVID-19 pandemic played a major role in rising food insecurity since 2019. Delayed food supply, understaffed agricultural farms, and new regulations in food services all contributed to a destabilizing food industry during the pandemic. A destabilized food industry meant it was difficult to meet the demand, which was also in flux during this tumultuous time. Consequently, food insecurity and increased visits to food banks have been a climbing issue.
To many, this surge in food bank visits may seem unsurprising. In large cities like Toronto, the average cost of living often surpasses what a person can make in one month; a quick browse on the U of T Student Life website shows that current student housing options cost between $1,100 to $2,700 a month. Food and grocery costs are projected to cost around $340 a month.
Along with other expenses such as internet, water, and electrical utility bills, students face a cost of living far beyond what they can provide themselves while pursuing their studies.
Although government assistance programs exist — such as the Ontario Student Assistance Program — the loans students receive for tuition do not account for their monthly cost of living. For example, a student will be making $16.20 an hour in an average minimum-wage job as of October 1. If a student were to work 20 hours weekly for an entire month, they would take home around $1,300. If their rent is $1,100 and groceries cost $340, a student would be $110 shy of the income needed to sustain themselves. For the entire year, they’d have to take $1,320 out of their loan money just to meet rent and sustain themselves.
Digesting this information is overwhelming. For many students, starting university is their introduction to adulthood and responsibility — naturally accompanied by anxiety about making the right choices. However, students cannot be expected to adequately focus on their education under surmounting stress about their next meal or lack thereof.
How the UTSU can help
Staff and students from across campuses can go to the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) Food Bank: a service founded in 2001 to combat food insecurity year-round. The food bank seeks to support students with consistent access to food and asks clients to respect the confidentiality of other attendees.
The food bank requires you to have your TCard or a current timetable with you to prove that you are a registered student. Registration opens every Wednesday at 9:00 am, and the food bank runs on Fridays between 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. If you are not able to be present during the food bank’s operating hours, you may assign a trusted family or friend to attend on your behalf.
In an interview with The Varsity, UTSU Vice-President Public & University Affairs Avreet Jagdev confirmed that, as of August, the food bank can accommodate between 55 to 60 students weekly. She emphasized that the union is committed to accommodating the demand.
Jagdev also commented on the effects that Toronto’s rising living costs have on the student body. “The rising cost of living across our city and country is exacerbating financial pressures on students,” she said. “One way in which this rising cost of living has manifested is in the lack of affordable food options on campus.”
In 2023, UTSU published a Food Insecurity Report on information about post-COVID food insecurity among post-secondary institutions in Canada. The report documented the popular consensus among students that the food on campus is unaffordable. In a 2021 survey by the Canadian charity Meal Exchange that the report refers to, 55 per cent of university students from 13 universities across Canada require access to low-cost food options, and 32.4 per cent are willing to skip meals to make ends meet.
Jagdev also said that the purpose of the union’s food bank is to counterbalance the unaffordable food options in and around campus. The UTSU Food Bank is one of the 207 programs across Toronto that partner up with the Daily Bread Food Bank organization to distribute food to those in need. As a member of Daily Bread, the UTSU Food Bank receives additional donations from the organization on top of the donations they receive directly.
Students facing the anxiety and vulnerability of food insecurity do have options within the U of T community. While there are other community outreach programs operating throughout Toronto that seek to combat food insecurity, the provincial government fails to address the issue.
What is Ontario doing?
Food Banks Canada puts out an annual Poverty Report Card, which grades each province on their initiatives to combat food insecurity for Canadians. As of 2024, Ontario holds a “D” grade.
The organization’s data reveals that 45.7 per cent of Ontarians spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing alone, and that 47.1 per cent of Ontarians feel they are financially worse off than the year prior. The data also suggests poverty reduction is not at the top of the provincial government’s list of priorities, with little expansion in social services and community aid so far. Instead of directly addressing poverty with policy changes, the Ontario government puts a bandaid on food insecurity with increased public funding for food charities, rather than directly addressing provincial food and living costs.
Food Banks Canada reports that “while the Ontario government made early and modest progress toward supporting struggling households with the introduction of its Low-Income Workers Tax Credit (LIFT) in 2018, it has not treated poverty reduction as a major priority.”
The current poverty rate in the province stands at 10.9 per cent. The cost of food has increased 4.1 per cent from 2022 to 2023. With little to no updates on any adequate strategy to combat poverty and food insecurity in Canada, many are left to their own ambition to create community change.
The people fight back
Mutual aid efforts seek to rely on collaboration to provide access to goods and services within the community. In response to the mounting pressure on Toronto food banks, one emerging mutual aid initiative — Community Fridges TO — seeks to place and maintain outdoor fridges throughout the city. So far, they have established fridges in seven locations: the Annex, Roncesvalles, Leslieville, Queen West, East York, and two in Baldwin Village.
Working within their own neighbourhoods, volunteers provide neighbours with the option to both donate and receive donations from the fridges. The goal is to maintain food accessibility at all times and reduce the city’s food wastage. The service grants anonymity to its participants and everyone is welcome to give and take at their own discretion. Community Fridges TO’s motto reads, “Take what you need, leave what you can.”
Although efforts of mutual aid are a testament to the resilience within the communities, the emergence of such organizations represents the growing insecurity among Canadians since the onset of COVID-19. Initiatives like Community Fridges TO are a reaction to the lack of action from elected officials and the government.
Tell ‘em how you really feel
Canadians are tired of struggling and many are taking matters into their own hands when it comes to enacting positive change within their neighbourhoods. Communities forming inside and outside the student body represent the need for collective action.
As of writing, the Ontario government has no detailed plans to directly tackle food insecurity — but people do. Despite the anxieties I feel surrounding my own financial struggles, the prospect of community allegiance to tackle food insecurity comforts me. The first time I heard of Community Fridges TO was when they were collecting donations at my local farmer’s market. Although we should not rely on food banks and mutual aid organizations as permanent solutions to Canada’s food crisis, they are a powerful force and show what can be accomplished through community outreach.
We are being called to care for one another and collectively strive for a better future. While governments change and society’s circumstances may improve, the opportunity to participate and help your community is a constant force that pushes us onward.
Next time I’m crouched on a park bench, eating a hotdog, and wondering whether I should’ve spent the seven dollars on it, I know to remember I’m not alone. I know I don’t have to be ashamed about the difficulty I face in sustaining myself. I know I’m not the only student working part-time and crossing my fingers I’ll have enough to cover rent. I’m not the only student whose mind wanders in lectures as to how I’ll be able to afford dinner. And I’m not the only student who feels an immense amount of indignity and is willing to do something about it.
It’s important that even through all the stress of being a student, you have the ability to take the time to make sure your body is nourished. If you’re reading this and you’ve got the time and resources, donate to your local food bank or the one at the UTSU Student Commons. Drop by the Community Fridges TO in the Annex on Lowther Avenue. Give what you can, take what you need and remember: there is nothing to be ashamed of, you’re not the only one.
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