U of T continuously fails to address food insecurity across its campuses, and this neglect cannot continue. 

In January 2025, Toronto declared a food insecurity emergency, following a 2024 Daily Bread Food Bank report that stated over one in 10 Torontonians relied on food banks between April 2023 and April 2024. Approximately 3.49 million people visited Toronto food banks between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, with 31 per cent being students.

Of course, this number is not attributed to students from one particular university or college in Toronto, but it is no less shocking or frustrating to learn. 

U of T’s hidden food crisis

Food insecurity can be defined as the “inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints,” but can also mean fear of running out of food and skipping meals as a result of financial anxiety, or a lack of education about how to maintain a balanced diet. The high cost of living in Toronto and the financial burden of tuition place students at a higher risk of experiencing food insecurity. 

Further inequities exist for international students who are likely to experience more severe food insecurity than students with Canadian citizenship or permanent status. According to a 2021 study on students at the University of Alberta, this can be attributed to factors such as higher tuition fees, greater difficulty finding employment, and lack of culturally appropriate foods.

I never associated student life at U of T with food insecurity until I began volunteering with MealCare Toronto in the fall of 2024. They are a non-profit, student-led organization that addresses food insecurity and food waste on campus by redirecting surplus food from local businesses. 

It was through my volunteer experience that I learned more about the food crisis on campus and recognized the spectrum of experiences with food insecurity amongst U of T students. 

How can universities help?

As students, we invest our time and money into academic institutions to help us achieve our personal and professional goals. But too often we forget the university’s responsibility for our personal well-being, including access to food, housing, and mental health. 

It’s hard to do anything on an empty stomach, never mind learning to navigate the challenges of being a university student. 

Immense feelings of social isolation also accompany the mental and physical health challenges of hunger. In my time volunteering at MealCare, I had the opportunity to connect with students and learn about their experiences with food insecurity. It was shocking to hear how similar their stories were. From commuters facing the challenges of carrying enough food to campus, to students relying on the UTSU Food Bank each week, I learned that student experiences with food insecurity exist on a spectrum. 

However, both acknowledgment of and action on this issue remain largely absent from the university’s agenda, leading me to the opinion that the university isn’t doing nearly enough to address the food crisis its students are facing. 

We know that the issue of food insecurity isn’t new. The university has provided funding for food before, when they set up an emergency food bank during the pandemic, but it seems that its efforts have been inadequate in recent years. Meanwhile, the demand to address food insecurity among students continues to grow on campus with a call to action from the U of T Food Coalition made earlier this year. In 2024, the UTSU food bank accommodated the needs of nearly 60 students a week, demonstrating the urgency of increased institutional support. 

Why is U of T silent? 

Based on a 2021 Governing Council report, Vice-President & Provost Trevor Young reported that food insecurity was a wider societal issue, not one specific to the university. This is as much of an acknowledgement of food insecurity from the university’s administration that I’ve been able to find, indicating to me that they have still not defined their role in this issue.

Students have turned to each other for care and support in the form of the countless grassroots programs and clubs that serve students with free food and services to help them survive. But as I learned when volunteering, these programs still have limitations regardless of student enthusiasm. 

Although I can only speak to the limitations faced by MealCare, I suspect they are similar across food programs. For instance, most of MealCare’s resources — whether it be donated food, food banks, or free meals — tend to be first-come, first-served, leaving many students still wanting security. It is when students are left relying on the limited institutional support that inequities arise, as these students are at a disadvantage compared to those who don’t have to worry about their next meal. 

As the emergency foodbank during the pandemic demonstrated, the university is capable of acknowledging this ongoing crisis, and must take steps to address it again. However, although funding is incredibly important to solving this issue, the university must first be responsible for assessing the food crisis and involving student voices in its plans for improvement. 

I believe that a key method for U of T to evaluate how to better support students is with an annual survey to identify how food insecurity is impacting them, and how to best address the issue on campus. Otherwise, students will continue to experience inequities partially created by the university’s current neglect of food insecurity. Students’ unprecedented and increasing hunger is not entirely a personal burden, but an absence and failure of current institutional policy. 

If our university is truly dedicated to supporting students, then it must recognize and take responsibility for threats to their well-being. With the existence of countless student-run organizations combating food insecurity, I can say with confidence that there is no shortage of students who want to take action on this issue — so please, let’s do it together, as U of T.