"We're concerned": U of A Campus Food Bank struggling to keep up with increase demand

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The University of Alberta’s food bank is anticipating an even greater demand for its service in the new school year after reporting an exponential increase in the past five years.

Campus Food Bank, while located on the University of Alberta’s main campus, does not receive funding from the institution and is currently grappling with sustaining services as the cost of food continues to increase.

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Food bank executive director Erin O’Neil said in the past five years demand at the campus food bank has increased more than 600 per cent. She said the food bank spends about $15,000 per month on groceries.

“We’re concerned about this year,” O’Neil said.

“We’re also concerned about the long term, because there doesn’t seem to be anything in the works at any level of government or the university to offer more material support to students before expanding the numbers that are going to be here.”

The University of Alberta plans to increase enrolment from 44,000 students to 60,000 by 2030. O’Neil worries about what that will mean for food insecurity and the strain it will cause their organization.

In the 2023-2024 school year, the service supported around 3,000 individuals in 1,900 households.

O’Neil said the food bank conducts an annual survey among its clients. Last year the top three reasons more people use the CFB boiled down to increased rent, increased tuition and not getting enough income from their job.

In previous years, the food bank would serve a variety of students, often split evenly between international and domestic students. Now, it is seeing 70 per cent international students and 30 per cent domestic students.

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“These are folks who (are) more systemically put in a position of poverty because they’re not able to work as much, or they’re in positions where they have come to Canada and all of a sudden the cost of living is higher than they expected, and they have nowhere to go,” O’Neil said.

The majority of international clients are living on less than $35,000 a year according to the survey.

The campus food bank switched to a grocery-store model two years ago, from a hamper-basket program. Clients can come to the grocery store every two weeks to shop for themselves with a grocery list, with guidance for different items depending on how many people are in their family.

O’Neil said the food bank supports families of up to eight people.

As more clients look to the food bank for support, the organization has already made cuts to some programming, including pausing cooking classes for the year to manage costs.

For the past three years the food bank has more than doubled its annual budget to $700,000 from $300,000, but O’Neil said it still doesn’t cover the increase in costs. She said she is uncertain if the food bank will be able to expand services further to meet the continual demand.

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During the 2024-2025 school year, Campus Food Bank plans to consult, research and explore options for its long-term viability.

ctran@postmedia.com
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