Increasing community demand spurred the notice, said spokesperson
Photo via UVSS Food Bank and Free Store.
*Some names have been changed and identifying information omitted to protect the privacy of those interviewed.
As the cost of living continues to rise in Canada, more UVic students rely on the UVSS Food Bank and Free Store. But in a recent email, the UVSS requested that students from continuing studies, a key demographic of regular food bank users, no longer access the resource.
“While the food bank was not initially offered as a standard service to continuing [studies] students, they now account for over 50 per cent of our users,” stated the UVSS’s email to students in the continuing studies program. “Please access the food bank only if you are an active student genuinely struggling to meet your basic needs.”
According to a UVSS spokesperson, the objective of the email was to clarify that the food bank is for emergency support, and remind students in continuing studies that it is intended for use by undergraduate and graduate students — not to be a warning that services will be limited or restricted for continuing studies students in the near future. The spokesperson told the Martlet that they have no plans to actively restrict or limit services for continuing studies students.
Still, many students in the continuing studies program — typically adult learners in courses of study like degree programs, online courses, and career training — were offended by the content of the email.
“I feel [that it] was unnecessary,” said Arnold*, a student in the continuing studies program. “It shouldn’t have been sent to attack us and … humiliate us.”
Arnold wishes the UVSS would have informed continuing studies students about the food bank’s intended consumer base with more understanding, transparency, and context.
“We don’t know what’s … happening,” Arnold added. “What we know is that we are paying for the [UVSS] fees. We should be able to access the [food bank].”
The Food Bank and Free Store only served undergraduate students when it opened in 2000, before expanding to include graduate students in 2016. Since 2018, students in continuing studies have paid a UVSS fee that goes toward a bus pass and UVSS clubs — but this fee was never intended to give continuing studies students access to the food bank, said the UVSS spokesperson.
Also according to the spokesperson, the food bank, alongside many of the student society’s services, is based on self-declared status and an honour system, which “was open to misuse.”
Nevertheless, the UVSS emphasized that “students should not be blamed for any discrepancies.”
The food bank, which originally served a small group of undergraduate students, now serves a “diverse community of students and their families,” said the UVSS spokesperson — and they are struggling to keep up with the demand.
The food bank receives $2.25 from full-time students and $1.12 from part-time students per semester, through UVSS fees, to sustain the demands of their services. During the 2021-2022 school year, around 22 620 students were enrolled, whereas 22 020 students are currently enrolled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Even small fluctuations like this affect student services like the food bank, which rely on fees for their operations and face ever-increasing demand for their services.
In 2021, the Food Bank served 5 856 students, but 13 467 students in 2022 — an upward trend that has continued throughout the years.
“We expect this year to be our highest [year] ever,” said a UVSS spokesperson, “having already served approximately 13 462 [people].”
In 2023, the UVSS revised its purchasing strategy to meet increased demand, stating that the food bank would require an additional $200 000 reallocated from other operating funds. They still needed an extra $100 000 from the UVSS operating fund to fully address demand.
“We are doing our best to continue serving students, but the future remains uncertain,” said the UVSS spokesperson.
A UVic spokesperson stated that the UVSS Food Bank and Free Store is an essential resource for the UVic community, and that UVic has several initiatives in progress to tackle food insecurity and financial hardship.
A UVSS spokesperson said that the food bank receives no funding from the university.
Moving forward, the food bank will be implementing new protocols, such as verification of student status to ensure the users are currently UVic students. This will allow the UVSS to focus their resources on supporting the student community, as opposed to operating as a general community service, said the spokesperson.
Meanwhile, students like Arnold wonder what’s next.
“I feel like we are being attacked for accessing a program which is supposed to help everyone,” said Arnold.
“It is never our intent to turn away students who are in need,” said the UVSS spokesperson. “However, without financial support from UVic, we cannot continue operating our food bank at such a high capacity.”
