Dig Into World Food Day: The USC Tackles Food Insecurity at Western
Have you ever been craving a snack between classes at the UCC, taken one look at the line outside the Spoke, and left promptly? Me too.
For some students at Western, though, a long wait is not the only barrier to food access.
Food insecurity can look like anything from worrying about affording groceries to going days without food.
At Western, it’s often difficult to see how widespread this issue is. It seems like food is all around us, with a restaurant or café in many buildings across campus—it’s easy to forget that more than half of Canadian university students experience difficulty accessing food.
That’s why, on October 23, 2024, the USC hosted World Food Day.
World Food Day 2024
Running from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the UCC Atrium, World Food Day had three main goals: to combat the stigma around food insecurity, spread the word about support services on campus, and start conversations about food sustainability.
Mariana Batista, the Vice-President University Affairs for the USC, is working to raise awareness about student needs ranging from academics to wellness equity. For World Food Day, she focused her efforts on spotlighting the crisis of food access and affordability among students.
“It was more than just one day of awareness,” said Batista. “The event was there to help students recognize that access to affordable, nutritious meals is an ongoing challenge.”
Throughout the day, the USC ran a wide range of interactive and educational booths. As students walked through the UCC, they stopped by to grab free food, pamphlets with local restaurants providing student discounts, and rave cards with delicious recipes using simple ingredients available from Food Support Services (FSS).
USC Food Support Services
Food Support Services is a USC student service dedicated to relieving food insecurity among undergraduate students.
Throughout the school year, FSS is available to both support and serve students in need of food. You can find the food bank staff working tirelessly from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Thursday, in UCC Room 40F.
Responsible for overseeing FSS, Vice-President Student Services Daniel Klapper explained some changes being made to its operation.
This year, FSS adopted a hamper system, similar to most other food banks. The USC arrived at this decision after touring the London Food Bank for several hours.
Students are now able to customize an online form on the Food Support Services website, with one hamper lasting as long as 5 to 7 days.
“It’s basically like filling up a shopping cart,” said Klapper. “Once you submit the form, you can pick up your hamper from the UCC, or remotely from a locker which you’ll receive a code for.”
Advancing Food Insecurity Advocacy
Expanding on the benefits of the hamper system, Klapper described an improvement in data collection.
“We’re tracking and collecting more information from those who use the service,” he said. “More concrete data will help us advocate more strongly to Western to address food insecurity.”
According to Batista, the lack of data prevents the USC from expanding their food insecurity advocacy.
“Advocacy isn’t always taken seriously unless there are concrete numbers and data to back it up,” said Batista. “Issues like these are often brushed aside until it becomes impossible to ignore, a pattern we’ve witnessed repeatedly with other advocacy efforts.”
Batista explained that by hosting World Food Day, the USC would be able to collect data to support advocacy efforts.
“We want the university to understand the seriousness of the issue,” she said. “In addition to using programming to raise awareness, we’re collecting data on food affordability and insecurity to improve our advocacy in the future.”
How You Can Play a Role
Are you looking to help fight food insecurity at Western? You can start by taking just a few minutes to fill out our survey on food insecurity. Your response will help us identify student priorities to focus our attention on.
You can also make a donation to FSS! The food bank accepts monetary donations online, or food/toiletry donations dropped off in UCC Room 40F during opening hours.
The FSS website displays a list of most urgently needed items. Some examples include canned foods (beans, meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables), pasta, rice, cereal, and feminine hygiene products.
Stay up to speed with events and announcements from FSS on their Instagram, @uscfoodsupport.
With the success of World Food Day in the rearview, the USC is hopeful for the future of Western’s fight against food insecurity. You can rest assured that next year’s event won’t disappoint!
