Affordable Nutrition on Campus: The U of G’s Food Market Tackles Student Food Insecurity

The U of G Campus Food Market is a weekly on-campus food market offering fresh fruit and vegetables at affordable prices. The market is a joint initiative of Arrell Food Institute, Community Engaged Scholarship Institute and the Sustainability Office.

Every item at the market is priced on a sliding scale, with the lowest price typically 30% below grocery stores.  Recent research found that 39 percent of U of G students struggled with food security. That includes 17 percent who could be classified as severely food-insecure and who may be regularly missing meals.  These students are more likely to report poor mental health.

Sam Laban is with the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute at the U of G, “Food insecurity is a problem for many universities across Canada,” he said. “Reduced access to healthy food has impacts on students’ health and well-being as well as their academic performance, so that is why we were motivated to seek solutions.” 

Thank you to the Perry Family, the PepsiCo Foundation, and the many other donors who are making a difference with their support of The Campus Food Market.