Welcome to Food for Thought, the show where we dive into one of the biggest issues affecting UBC students today – food insecurity. In 2024, 51% of the 4,148 AMS Academic Experience Survey respondents reported feelings of worry that they would not be able to afford adequate groceries as students.

As the Government of Canada defines it, “food insecurity is the inability to acquire or consume an adequate diet quality or sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways, or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so.” The page also adds that “household food insecurity is often linked with the household's financial ability to access adequate food.”

.In this podcast, we will be discussing the issue of food insecurity at the University of British Columbia, and the many different impactful ways on how UBC students are fighting hunger on campus.

Throughout our episodes, we will be joined by student advocates and volunteers who have contributed to the student-led movement against campus food insecurity. This includes folks from Campus Nutrition, Sprouts Cafe, and our student union, the Alma Mater Society.

While the university experience is often depicted as a time of socializing and growth, for many students, food insecurity is a very real struggle. The UBC Food Hub reports that food insecurity has significant impacts on mental, physical and social wellbeing and educational attainment. Arlin Cuncic (Sun-sik) of verywellmind writes that the “signs of food insecurity include skipping meals; reducing portion sizes at meal times; having to choose between paying for food and other basic needs such as rent or electricity; relying on food pantries, soup kitchens, and free meal programs; and being unable to afford a balanced diet.”

This multi-segmented, one-episode podcast is hosted by Joyce Park, Janae Lam, and Ian Caguiat and was produced for JRNL 200: Journalism Here & Now (Fall 2024).

This segment's cover was retrieved from the Food at UBC Vancouver page, showing gourmet salads available at Harvest Market, a UBC-operated grocery market on campus.