Photo credit: The Martlet Website

Katie McFarland, the Administration and Services manager for the UVSS speaks on how the reinstatement of the Food bank and Free store- the Student Hamper program came to fruition after a multitude of student requests.

“We had several students reach out specifically about the food hamper program or the food bank and asked me when we were reopening. So we kind of put together this model that allowed for physical distancing.” said McFarland.

McFarland states that during the period after the program was restarted, she has witnessed a rise in use by international families. “We’ve had the most international families come through since this program started. And I know our numbers have always been high with international students, but especially with CERB being inaccessible, and generally having financial hardship, especially if you're not a domestic student. We've definitely seen an increase since COVID.” Said McFarland.

An article published in the Martlet - UVic’s student led newspaper, in spring of last year stated that 40 percent of the people who use the service are international students while only 18 percent of the student body is international.

Dipayan Nag-Director of International Student Relations, says that while international students are affected, the struggle for food stability applies to all students. “There's so many students, especially in this time who were having this difficulty. There are people who reached out to me and other members of the board as well. It has been a known fact. And I think this is one of the information that is presented by the food bank themselves that international students do use the food bank, disproportionately more. Of course, there are many factors tied to this, one being the heightened fee. But it wasn't a specific issue for international students, but our student community as a whole.” Said Nag.

Stigma Surrounding Food Bank

Apart from heightened tuition rates and difficulties accessing government support, Nag considers the stigma surrounding using a service like the food bank a potential reason for the disproportionate use by international students. “Some people have certain misconceptions that international students are well off. All of them, drive good cars live in a good place. That's not true always. And this is one of the evidence that we see international students using the service more because there is stigma associated around it, which it shouldn't be, however it sort of matters that it still is.” said Nag.

Nag credits advertising the service as one way to combat this stigma. Nag said, “it as any societal change, it takes a long time. But having this kind of light  push on people's back or getting them to notice this is I think will be small, incremental changes bring out that the eradication of that stigma of the food bank, one of the things that they do is advertise, really, though, that their services are confidential. And I think that helps a lot.”

How the Program Started

The food bank, which was created in 2004 as the emergency food access for students and later merged with the Free store relies on donations from the community in conjunction with sponsors to fill their shelves. Because of health restrictions due to COVID-19, that drop off system has become less reliable.

McFarland states that the program is currently receiving donations from the campus community garden, cobs bread as well as monetary donations and support from student fees. However, with reduced traffic on campus, student donations have decreased.

Moving forward, UVic has announced that the spring term will be mostly online. With uncertainty in regards to how long social distancing mandates will last, McFarland expressed a desire to keep serving the student body through this program . “I think we're looking at trying to do kind of a mix of the old style and this hamper program, we're currently trying to work on a way to have folks be able to come down to the food bank space and pick up their food hamper. And it's just not a very big space. So it's a bit hard to physical distance in there. So I anticipate kind of running a hybrid program for the remainder of the fall and the spring as well.” Said McFarland.