The Campus Collaborative for Student Food Security aims to help students facing food insecurity with a variety of initiatives open to all students throughout the year.
In recent years, Canadian students have been using extreme cost cutting measures to curb expenses. For example, the The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations reported that up to 40 per cent of students say they are skipping meals due to economic instability. In light of economic uncertainty, Brock offers food security initiatives to relieve students from financial burdens.
The Campus Collaborative for Student Food Security (Campus Collaborative) is an initiative between Brock University Students’ Union (BUSU), the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) and Brock University that begun in 2020. It has been operating under a new name, Campus Collaborative, since August of this year.
The Brock Press interviewed Kristen Smith —one of the brains behind Campus Collaborative’s operation and Manager of off-campus and community experience at one of the Collaborative’s Initiatives, the Brock Food4U program.
According to Smith, the Brock Food4U program “encompasses all programming facilitated by the members of the Campus Collaborative […] some examples are the monthly Pay-What-You-Can Pop-Up Produce Markets, Community Cook Alongs (monthly), Brock Dining Services’ Free Food Giveaway (weekly), Hadiya’dagenhahs Pantry (on-going), Black Student Success Centre’s You First Program (monthly), Brock International’s Food Pantry (on-going), Student Wellness and Accessibility Food Centre Food Pantry (on-going) and Burlington Campus Food Security Initiatives (on-going).”
These initiatives come on-top of other campus food initiatives. Notably, BUSU offers the grab and go breakfast, with hot breakfast programs recently mentioned in the previous BUSU meeting and GSA/BUSU Emergency Grocery Card Service.
These events are open to all Brock students and are focused through several organizations. According to Smith, the purpose of the program is to “support students who are experiencing food insecurity by providing access to affordable, sustainable and healthy food options.”
The date, location and time of various events can be found through ExperienceBU under the Brock Food4U organization.
In addition to providing physical food resources, the Campus Collaborative aids in food education on preparation. When attending a Brock Pop-Up Market, students will occasionally come across recipe cards that detail what meals can be made with the available ingredients.
Smith welcomes students who are interested in supporting the food initiative, saying that “all members of the Brock community are invited to contribute to our food security programming.”
The Campus Collaborative meets monthly. Members tend to support initiatives in various ways, with the most visible being event staffing.
Students or individuals who wish to donate can do so at pop-up markets or directly through Brock University for Tax receptable donations.
According to Smith, the Campus Collaborative is also “trying a new initiative of donations of kitchen items to be available at each market for students to pick up for free.” This initiative “prevents useful items from going to landfills.”
Smith encourages students to contact her if they have any “food security concerns or ideas for new student programming.” Smith is happy to “bring agenda items forward […] based on student feedback.”
Students interested in joining the Campus Collaborative may contact Smith by email at kristen.smith@brocku.ca or phone at 905-688-5550 ext. 3845.