Candace Iron, a Liberal Studies professor and program coordinator with the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said the food bank was a part of student appreciation month as faculty devised a plan to address student needs.
“We thought giving away food would be one way to show to show our students that we appreciate them, and we appreciate that they’re busy and they’re running from class to home to work to taking care of families,” Iron said.
She said they started offering food once a week and would stagger the dates both here and at the Lakeshore campus where students would come to get free snacks or a bowl of Ramen.
Iron said students would tell her they appreciated the meal or the snack because they were experiencing food insecurity.
“Life is expensive,” she said. “They are paying rent. They’re dealing with paying for transit and then buying food.
“For a lot of students was sort of something that they were having trouble managing,” Iron said.
Iron said with the support of John Stilla, the senior dean at FLAS, they were able to extend the food giveaways until the end of the last school year’s winter semester and developed it into a grab-and-go food bank.
“The Grab ‘n Go is supported by the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences so our senior dean very generously has given me some funds that I can put towards it,” she said. “It’s also supported by donations from faculty staff.”
According to the 2024 Ontario Pre-Budget Submission by Feed Report Canada, one in five food bank visitors reported they have no money or less after paying housing costs alone.
The report said while every Ontarian is feeling the pressure of the rising cost of living, it is those already living in an economically precarious position who turn to food banks to survive and deserve particular focus and assistance.
Iron said they must restock the cart three to four times a day because it will be gone even though students are so conservative about what they take.
She said she wants to keep things sustainable for now and would love to see it expand.
“Would I love to see something expand, sure. I think there is a need for that,” Iron said. “Do I know how we’ll do it, not at the moment, but there are a number of us working on food insecurity or issues of food security more specifically at Humber.”
The next Grab 'n Go Food Bank is scheduled on Wednesday, Oct. 2. Other scheduled dates are Oct. 10, Oct. 18, Oct. 21 and Oct. 29.
She said she believes that expanding the effort needs to be a collaborative effort from people working on issues of food security and coming up with something that’s sustainable.
“We just have to wait and see where if we’re able to do it and where it leads, but for now at least we have something, which is always better than nothing,” Iron said.
She said anyone who wants to donate anything to the food bank is most welcome to just stop by the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences and drop anything off at the front desk.
It will make its way to her office and be put to good use.
Isabella Vergara, IGNITE’s new student advocate, previously a brand ambassador, is involved with dealing with food insecurity at Humber.
“From IGNITE, we understand that this is a really big issue that unfortunately a lot of students have to go through,” Vergara said.
She said being an international student she had the opportunity to interact with many students dealing and struggling with food insecurity.
“We have taken a lot of steps to fight this issue and try to generate a positive impact to [on] the students,” Vergara said.
She said IGNITE has several initiatives, including the soup bar where students can grab hot or frozen soups.
Vergara said just last year the soup bar helped students save $40,000, which she described as impressive.
“In my advocacy, I tried to be really involved with Humber’s campus food selection, we have a meeting with the whole committee, and we vote,” she said.
Vergara said they always push for affordable and healthy options for students because sometimes the prices are too high for them.
She said every collaboration the student government has with other Humber departments follows a process.
“It’s not like things happen just randomly,” Vergara said. “Everything’s a process, it all starts with that first email, someone reaching out to us or us reaching other departments to work together on this project.”
She said she doesn’t know if a local food bank is being planned.
“There are (IGNITE) management decisions that need to be considered and IGNITE always operates at least one year in advance,” Vergara said. “We really try to raise our voice during these committees because we know how important it is to advocate and be involved with food insecurity.”
She said IGNITE is open to the idea of collaborating with faculties and departments to deal with food insecurity.
“We also welcome student feedback in that sense,” she said. “I think for now with the initiatives we are taking ... has been working and we hope to continue supporting students any way we can. We’ll see what happens in the future.
“I know from the Humber side, there are a lot of things that can be done as well,” she said.
Vergara said students should not be dealing with food insecurity, nor should they be worried about things like trying their best to stay in classes.
She said she hopes there is more involvement from Humber and can collaborate with other departments in the future and do more for students.
