As food insecurity remains a critical issue among university students, groups like the U of T Food Coalition are working to address the issue.

U of T Food Coalition is a student-led advocacy group that aims to advance food justice, support local food production, and create anti-capitalist campus food spaces. They are currently working toward making these goals a reality through initiatives such as their weekly free meal program and educational conferences. 

The Varsity interviewed students and members of the group to spotlight U of T Food Coalition’s efforts. 

Understanding food insecurity

Food insecurity manifests in different ways for different people. Many factors can cause food insecurity, including financial hardship, geographic barriers, and systemic inequalities. 

According to Statistics Canada’s Canadian Income Survey, the number of people experiencing food insecurity is steadily rising, as 8.7 million Canadians, including 2.1 million children, across the provinces lived in food-insecure households in 2023 — a 26 per cent increase from 2022. 

As a whole, racialized people, immigrant families, single-parent families, and post-secondary students are among the most at-risk groups for experiencing food insecurity.

Targeted action

A U of T spokesperson noted in a statement to The Varsity that the university has “one of the most generous student financial aid programs in Canada, offering $330 million in student financial support.” However, the university has no official initiative specifically targeting food insecurity. 

So, instead, various student-run resources such as the U of T Food Coalition and the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) Food Bank are available to assist students facing food insecurity. 

Since 2001, the UTSU has run its Food Bank to address food insecurity at UTSG. It offers free food, year-round for all U of T students in need of food.

The U of T Food Coalition is funded by both the UTSU and the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU), and hosts its programs every Friday.

In the long-term, the coalition aims to create a student-led café that operates outside of U of T’s current food system and “build a strong voice of UofT campus people and groups organized through food who can influence change from a bottom-up approach.”

Third-year environmental studies and public policy student Marie Kinderman recalled finding the food coalition’s lunch leftovers in the UTSU’s fridge once after her afternoon class. 

“It was convenient and food that I enjoy,” she wrote in a message to The Varsity.

Emily Chang, a fourth-year student studying computer science, wrote to The Varsity about using the food coalitions’ programs. “I’ve been using the [programs] for a couple of weeks now. Being a student, it’s definitely been an extremely useful resource to save money while still getting a healthy meal.” 

Chang also introduced the programs to Regis Zhao, a fourth-year student studying engineering science. “It’s a great way to save money without resorting to junk food,” he wrote to The Varsity. 

A need for institutional support

However, there is only so much that can be done by students, as U of T Food Coalition’s co-founder Michael Lawler told The Varsity in an interview.

Lawler — a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography & Planning — said the university “has to actively acknowledge that their students are poor and that their students are food insecure.”

“You also have to have targeted action,” Lawler explained. “That could be financial aid, that could be funding initiatives such as ours. It could be opening up a food hamper on campus.”

The coalition started out of the 2023 zero-waste cafe. Students came together to envision the coalition as a way to create an alternative food space on campus and to generate programming that addressed our respective concerns. 

Chang and Zhao commented on how the university could make it easier for students to find the available resources on campus. 

Zhao wrote, “There’s lots of opportunities for free/affordable food on campus. [T]hey’re just hard to find[,] so you need to know where to look.”

“I believe that U of T has adequate resources if you know where to look for them. I think better marketing would definitely be helpful as it has taken [me] until my last year to discover what is available,” Chang wrote.

By leveraging its resources, Lawler believes U of T has both the capacity and responsibility to address student food insecurity in meaningful ways. “They’re an enormous employer. They operate their own ecosystem… We would like the university to engage with food as part of the ecosystem that they’ve developed.”

U of T Food Services includes a culinary team of campus chefs and provides food and beverages through catering, event, and conference services across each campus. In the past, students have criticized the Food Services at U of T for its high prices, limited nutritious food options, and dining hall conditions. 

Kinderman shared the sentiment, writing “Many outlets of student-run food assistance have popped up[,] and they’re growing and are very popular. [I]f the University wants to equally contribute to solving the problem, they should lower the cost of their meals by wasting less food and pooling resources with these food pop-ups.”

Conversely, the organization’s co-founder Stephanie Chartrand, a PhD student studying adult education and community development, emphasized the equally valuable role of student initiative through actions such as protesting and volunteering.

She told The Varsity in an interview, “I challenge students who may not be facing food insecurity [to] help their fellow students out in doing this organizing work.” Students interested in volunteering for the U of T Food Coalition can sign up to receive volunteer emails using the link in their Instagram bio.

“I also think there needs to be a lot more direct action in terms of organizing. We saw this with the [UofT Occupy for Palestine] encampment,” she added. “I think there was a lot of pressure put on the university, and when we have direct action, it demonstrates to the institution [that] there are enough students and people who are experiencing something… it [amplifies] their voices for the institution to listen.”

Notably, U of T students were able to pool together over $15,000 worth of leftover student funds to create a makeshift food bank in 2022.

In the statement to The Varsity, the U of T spokesperson added, “We strongly encourage any student who is experiencing financial challenges, including food insecurity, to contact their registrar’s office to explore the comprehensive range of resources and supports that are available to them.” 

They included the U of T Advanced Planning for Students (UTAPS) program, Undergraduate Grants, and the School of Graduate Studies Emergency Grants. 

When asked if the university is aware of student concerns about food insecurity, they did not respond.

With files from James Bullanoff.