UBC has announced the breakdown of a $425,000 allocation towards food security initiatives on the Vancouver campus, increasing funding from this year over last to student-run initiatives, but not matching the 2021/22 allocations to larger university-run initiatives.
At the September 26 Board of Governors meeting, then President Santa Ono announced $500,000 of extra funding for food security to be split between the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses.
This one-time funding reduces the financial gap between last year's and this year’s budget allocation to food security, which cut UBC funding to the AMS food bank in half.
The allocations are a product of consultation between UBC, AMS and GSS leadership.
Here are the specific allocations.
University-led initiative funding largely lower than 2021/22
In the 2021/22 academic year, UBC allocated $325,000 and $525,000 to the Food Hub Market, an at-cost grocery store, and Meal Share, a by-application resource which gives students once per term grocery store gift cards and meal plan swipes, respectively. In the 2022/23 academic school year, UBC allocated $127,000 and $260,000, respectively. This year’s funding, including the President’s Office one-time allocation, is less than half of what these organizations received last year.
The Acadia Park Food Hub, a community food pantry received and overall $55,000, more funding than last year. Operation of Acadia Park was taken over by UBC this year, and was previously run by the AMS.
In a statement from Andrew Parr, associate vice president of Student Housing and Community Services, he noted that “food insecurity initiatives was not reduced during this fiscal year.”
He outlined that the 2021/22 figures are a reflection of “one-time funding” in recognition of the “extraordinary circumstances” students were in due to the pandemic.
Currently, he reported that the administration is pursuing a “long-term plan for addressing affordability” in the form of the Student Affordability Task Force. This task force report includes a “$100 million fundraising initiative to support need-based aid and food security.”
This year’s funding can be broken down into two categories: UBC’s projected funding in the 2022/23 budget, and the one-time allocation.
The light green below illustrates the new funding. The new funding reflects the university’s “immediate and ongoing commitment to supporting students,” explained Parr.
Notably, no funds were allocated towards Fooood, a university-run affordable food outlet which will remain closed this year due to high operating costs.
Student organization funding increases
As opposed to the university food security initiatives, the funding for student organizations has increased in comparison to the previous academic year.
Dana Turdy, vice-president academic and university affairs, told The Ubyssey that food security advocacy has been a priority for the AMS.
As for the allocated amounts for the AMS Food Bank, she said, “there could always be more funding.” However, with the current university’s budgetary restraints, she believes that this allocation “will go a long way.”
One of the main things that the AMS will implement with this new Food Bank funding is “more of a variety of food items,” said Turdy. With this year’s summer demand for the food bank almost doubling, Turdy said that the funding can help secure key staples such as “eggs, milk and rice.”
The increase in funding for this year’s AMS Food Bank is largely due to the one-time allocation. $145,000 of the collective $170,000 in funding is from the one-time allocation.
Despite this, Turdy reported that the AMS is advocating for long-term funding for next year’s budget and that they “hope to see a continued level of funding in future years.”
With the recent Sprouts walkout for food security funding from UBC amid record-breaking inflation rates, Turdy said, “it really just shows a lot of frustrations that students are experiencing right now.”
This past year, the AMS Food Bank saw a 600-visit spike between February and March. Visits to the Food Bank continue to increase exponentially.
In the recent AMS academic experience survey, Turdy reported that “40 per cent of undergraduate students reported feeling [food] insecure.”
“I don’t think we’ve ever seen this problem so severe before, and it’s definitely not something we take lightly.”