How N.S. university food banks are adapting to keep up with high demand

The people who run food banks at universities across Nova Scotia are noticing more students turning to them for help each year, and some have had to make significant changes to keep up with the rising demand. 

After paying for housing and tuition, many students don't have much left over to afford other necessities. As the cost of groceries in this province remains high, they're finding it increasingly difficult to make their dollars stretch, according to food bank managers at Acadia, Mount Saint Vincent and St. Francis Xavier universities. 

Yas Jawad, co-ordinator of the Acadia University food cupboard in Wolfville, N.S., said about 1,200 students used the service by the end of last school year in April. Given the way things are going since classes resumed in September, Jawad estimates that number will jump to about 2,000 students by April 2025. 

That represents about half of Acadia's student population.

To keep up, Jawad said they've had to restructure many aspects of the food cupboard. 

Some changes included introducing limits on specific items to make supplies last longer, acquiring a fridge to offer produce, dairy and other perishable products, and hiring a part-time manager to oversee the operations. Moreover, he said, their group's status changed from an "internal organization," similar to a club, to an official, more permanent service offered by the student union. 

Jawad added there are also now 52 student volunteers who work in the space to ensure the food cupboard can remain open seven days a week. 

"I think that just goes to show that demand is very, very high and it's just increasing as time goes on," said Jawad. "While having a resource like this on campus or in any kind of post-secondary institution is great, it's really only a Band-Aid solution right now." 

At Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, food bank manager Devora Goldberg is seeing similar trends and having to make similar adjustments. 

She too has had to place limits on certain items, but she's also had to limit the number of times students can visit the food bank — from twice per week to once — in order to help as many students as possible. 

Goldberg said she's also having to go grocery shopping at least once a week this year to supplement weekly contributions from Feed Nova Scotia. 

"Feed Nova Scotia will come and restock for us on Fridays, and then the food is gone after a couple of hours," said Goldberg. 

She said the changes she's had to make to operations so far this school year have helped reach at least 20 per cent more students than the previous year. 

"This just allows us to stretch the dollars even further and allows people to have more on their tables," said Goldberg. 

At St. F.X. in Antigonish, food bank manager Brooklynn Companion said they've had to reduce their hours because their items weren't lasting long enough. 

Companion said about 70 students come through each day.

To keep up with these numbers, they've recently renovated their food bank area. They now have a designated space to prepare food, including an area to separate bulk items into individual servings. 

They've also expanded food services to several other buildings across campus to increase accessibility. 

"I go to the library and people get so excited because they know that the food at the library is going to be restocked by the 'food bank girl.'" 

Jawad, Goldberg and Companion each confirmed the need is only growing year over year, and they know they have to continue finding ways to adapt and expand their services. 

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