Open Letter: UBC Must Fund Food Security
The University of British Columbia
To the UBC Leadership,
37% of UBC Vancouver students self-reported experience with food insecurity in 2019, and this number is only rising. We, the undersigned members of the UBC Community, refuse to remain silent while members of our community go hungry and the university continues to provide insufficient, precarious, and mismanaged food security funds. In response to the overwhelming need for sustained, community-centered support during record-breaking inflation, we demand that UBC commit to long term funding for food security.
We demand that UBC:
Permanently reinstate food security funding to $1.91 million annually (equivalent to 2021/22 levels) and increase allocation each year according to inflation and student enrollment.
Restructure the current governance model of distributing food security funding (currently under the top-down jurisdiction of UBC Wellbeing’s Food Security Initiative) to consist of a non-hierarchical consensus-based committee with paid representatives from each of the food security initiatives on campus, as well as open applications for at-large student and staff representatives.
Implement a tuition freeze, living wages for all employees, and sufficient affordable housing to address the root causes of food insecurity.
Develop funding pathways to provide fair compensation to students operating current and future food security initiatives.
By January 9th, 2023, reopen both Foood locations with paid positions for all staff, not relying on a volunteer-based model.
UBC already knows just how deeply hunger affects their student body. The University has commissioned multiple studies and investigations into food insecurity on campus, and even established a task force to report on immediate solutions. All their findings point to the same truth: the UBC community overwhelmingly struggles to access nutritious and affordable food. We see this starkly evident in skyrocketing food bank usage, in the appalling fact that 37% of UBC Vancouver students are food insecure, and in the staggering line-ups we see anytime UBC Sprouts hosts by-donation events or freshly stocks our community fridge. Despite UBC’s self-proclaimed dedication to reconciliation and equity, they perpetuate food insecurity which disproportionately affects Black, Indigenous, racialized, immigrant, low-income, houseless, and/or disabled UBC community members. UBC’s consistent lack of concern for food security is specifically failing these communities.
The food systems local to what is now known as UBC campus have been shattered by the effects of settler-colonialism and capitalism. The fact that UBC students pass through this campus hungry has everything to do with the way this land has been stolen, commodified, and turned into an asset base for an institution. As tuition, rent, and food prices alarmingly increase, wages continue to stagnate. We find ourselves pressed from all sides while our stomachs remain empty. How can students and staff commit ourselves to studying and bettering our shared world when we are worried about where our next meal will come from? UBC has the utmost responsibility to stop punishing poor members of their community, and show leadership in tackling this crisis and its root causes head on.
We propose here today a different way of relating to the food that fuels us, nurtures us, and brings us together every day. We fight for food that is always accessible, food production that fairly compensates workers, and food that is sustainable. We fight for a campus where no one is food insecure. This is not a pipe dream. At UBC Sprouts, we base our operations on these principles. In the past year, with funding from surplus tuition and student fees, we have put our energy towards realizing a world where everyone has a place to turn when they need food, no questions asked. Everyone who uses our services can do so with anonymity and dignity. We continue to give away free meals every day, host by-donation produce markets, and operate a free community fridge, freezer, and pantry to provide food 24/7. We meet the immediate needs of the community by providing tangible food, rather than stigmatizing free food, conducting extractive research studies, or only providing online resources. This work happens because of the labour of unpaid students, who are already vulnerable to the affordability crisis, and have had to fill the gaps in UBC’s food security programs. Student exploitation cannot be our university’s long-term solution to food insecurity.
What we do is not remotely enough for the scope of the crisis. No matter how much we provide, we are always outmatched by the demand for food on campus. Seeing our community fridge and pantry invariably empty within 2-3 hours of every restock is always bittersweet. It reminds us that our services are desperately necessary, and also that we do not have enough support to counter the hunger of the people using them. UBC needs to understand how dire the situation is. They must listen to students who are doing the work on the ground everyday, giving their unpaid time to make up for UBC’s failures to provide for their community. Instead of committing to the task, the University has corporatized food access and prioritized investments into resource extraction, weapons, multinational corporations and Israeli apartheid. We won’t let UBC prioritize these investments over its own students' well being. If funding is not sustained, food security initiatives across campus will continue to decrease in capacity or cease to operate, and more people will go hungry. But, if UBC chooses to put their $2 billion annual operating budget where their mouth is, they can make a nourished, food secure, thriving campus a reality. The university has the funds to ensure that no student goes hungry. They need to use them.
The UBC administration must answer for why they have ignored the Board of Governors’ already conservative food security funding directive--especially after citing this funding to justify an increase in student tuition. They now face the choice to either prioritize austerity and denial, or make a true, long-term commitment to food security on campus. Choosing to fund food security means taking a step towards building a sustainable, equitable, and just institution. Choosing not to fund food security means leaving members of our UBC community behind– and we will not accept this. We’re hungry. Hungry for food, hungry for change.
Sponsored by
To:
The University of British Columbia
From:
[Your Name]
To the UBC Leadership,
37% of UBC Vancouver students self-reported experience with food insecurity in 2019, and this number is only rising. We, the undersigned members of the UBC Community, refuse to remain silent while members of our community go hungry and the university continues to provide insufficient, precarious, and mismanaged food security funds. In response to the overwhelming need for sustained, community-centered support during record-breaking inflation, we demand that UBC commit to long term funding for food security.
We demand that UBC:
Permanently reinstate food security funding to $1.91 million annually (equivalent to 2021/22 levels) and increase allocation each year according to inflation and student enrollment.
Restructure the current governance model of distributing food security funding (currently under the top-down jurisdiction of UBC Wellbeing’s Food Security Initiative) to consist of a non-hierarchical consensus-based committee with paid representatives from each of the food security initiatives on campus, as well as open applications for at-large student and staff representatives.
Implement a tuition freeze, living wages for all employees, and sufficient affordable housing to address the root causes of food insecurity.
Develop funding pathways to provide fair compensation to students operating current and future food security initiatives.
By January 9th, 2023, reopen both Foood locations with paid positions for all staff, not relying on a volunteer-based model.
UBC already knows just how deeply hunger affects their student body. The University has commissioned multiple studies and investigations into food insecurity on campus, and even established a task force to report on immediate solutions. All their findings point to the same truth: the UBC community overwhelmingly struggles to access nutritious and affordable food. We see this starkly evident in skyrocketing food bank usage, in the appalling fact that 37% of UBC Vancouver students are food insecure, and in the staggering line-ups we see anytime UBC Sprouts hosts by-donation events or freshly stocks our community fridge. Despite UBC’s self-proclaimed dedication to reconciliation and equity, they perpetuate food insecurity which disproportionately affects Black, Indigenous, racialized, immigrant, low-income, houseless, and/or disabled UBC community members. UBC’s consistent lack of concern for food security is specifically failing these communities.
The food systems local to what is now known as UBC campus have been shattered by the effects of settler-colonialism and capitalism. The fact that UBC students pass through this campus hungry has everything to do with the way this land has been stolen, commodified, and turned into an asset base for an institution. As tuition, rent, and food prices alarmingly increase, wages continue to stagnate. We find ourselves pressed from all sides while our stomachs remain empty. How can students and staff commit ourselves to studying and bettering our shared world when we are worried about where our next meal will come from? UBC has the utmost responsibility to stop punishing poor members of their community, and show leadership in tackling this crisis and its root causes head on.
We propose here today a different way of relating to the food that fuels us, nurtures us, and brings us together every day. We fight for food that is always accessible, food production that fairly compensates workers, and food that is sustainable. We fight for a campus where no one is food insecure. This is not a pipe dream. At UBC Sprouts, we base our operations on these principles. In the past year, with funding from surplus tuition and student fees, we have put our energy towards realizing a world where everyone has a place to turn when they need food, no questions asked. Everyone who uses our services can do so with anonymity and dignity. We continue to give away free meals every day, host by-donation produce markets, and operate a free community fridge, freezer, and pantry to provide food 24/7. We meet the immediate needs of the community by providing tangible food, rather than stigmatizing free food, conducting extractive research studies, or only providing online resources. This work happens because of the labour of unpaid students, who are already vulnerable to the affordability crisis, and have had to fill the gaps in UBC’s food security programs. Student exploitation cannot be our university’s long-term solution to food insecurity.
What we do is not remotely enough for the scope of the crisis. No matter how much we provide, we are always outmatched by the demand for food on campus. Seeing our community fridge and pantry invariably empty within 2-3 hours of every restock is always bittersweet. It reminds us that our services are desperately necessary, and also that we do not have enough support to counter the hunger of the people using them. UBC needs to understand how dire the situation is. They must listen to students who are doing the work on the ground everyday, giving their unpaid time to make up for UBC’s failures to provide for their community. Instead of committing to the task, the University has corporatized food access and prioritized investments into resource extraction, weapons, multinational corporations and Israeli apartheid. We won’t let UBC prioritize these investments over its own students' well being. If funding is not sustained, food security initiatives across campus will continue to decrease in capacity or cease to operate, and more people will go hungry. But, if UBC chooses to put their $2 billion annual operating budget where their mouth is, they can make a nourished, food secure, thriving campus a reality. The university has the funds to ensure that no student goes hungry. They need to use them.
The UBC administration must answer for why they have ignored the Board of Governors’ already conservative food security funding directive--especially after citing this funding to justify an increase in student tuition. They now face the choice to either prioritize austerity and denial, or make a true, long-term commitment to food security on campus. Choosing to fund food security means taking a step towards building a sustainable, equitable, and just institution. Choosing not to fund food security means leaving members of our UBC community behind– and we will not accept this. We’re hungry. Hungry for food, hungry for change.
Signed,