Campus Food Bank at the University of Alberta is seeing higher than ever before demand

The shelves at the Campus Food Bank at the University of Alberta are stocked right up from a recent food drive event. But that won’t last long.

“In the last three years, the amount of food we have given out has doubled, then tripled, and then quadrupled,” said Erin O’Neil, Executive Director of the U of A’s Campus Food Bank.

Students like Mariana Feijoo are feeling the pinch due to the rising cost of living- especially grocery prices, all on top of tuition increases. She started turning to the food bank 6 months ago.

“I’m doing a full-time internship but it’s unpaid, and I’m working three part-time jobs on top of that, and I feel like I’m always trying to decide how often I go for groceries, and I stretch that out as much as possible,” explained Mariana Feijoo an international student at the University of Alberta.

When Feijoo first arrived in Edmonton in 2017 from Mexico, each grocery bill would easily be less than $100. Now, she’s paying more than that for each trip to the store, needing to food bank to help her get through each month.

“And that started putting significant pressure on my grocery budget so it became difficult to afford tuition, rent, and just regular life things, as well as groceries at the same time,” said Feijoo.

READ MORE: University of Alberta Campus Food Bank donation drive

The Campus Food Bank says they’ve seen a sharp increase in the number of students needing food hampers. Previously serving no more than about 200 students per month, they are now regularly surpassing 1,000 clients.

The food bank says International students make up about 70 per cent of their clients. O’Neil says rent, tuition, and grocery costs are the big three reasons why people need help.

“And when they arrive in Canada, they are only required to prove they have $10 thousand in their bank account above their tuition fees. Right now, that’s nowhere near enough to meet living expenses,” said O’Neil.

The opposition NDP calling on Alberta’s Government to address the backlog in processing student loan applications and to cap tuition fees- as a way to support struggling post-secondary students

“On top of basic necessities, the rising cost of tuition, additional fees, the lack of affordable housing options has put some students in a position where they have to compromise their dreams of attaining a good post-secondary education,” said Rhiannon Hoyle, Alberta NDP critic for Advanced Education.

In response, Alberta’s Minister of Advanced Education says they have taken action to help make post-secondary education more affordable including a 2 per cent tuition cap for domestic students at most institutions for next school year.

“We also have a wide range of student aid programs, including loans, grants, bursaries, awards, and scholarships – all of which can be used to support living costs. Postsecondary institutions in Alberta have the ability to allocate funding towards programs addressing student affordability, including campus food banks,” said the Province in a statement.

Just last week, they announced $10 million for food banks across the province to help struggling Albertans put nutritious food on their tables.

“I think there definitely needs to be some sort of relief or support for groceries, what annoys me the most is it keeps going up, it’s not even stable,” said Feijoo.