With grocery costs so high, student food banks expect busy year

Western University student Kate Rowatt is a one-person case study on how the rising cost of living is hitting students a little harder this year.

"Housing prices have gone crazy," she said. "My brother is three years older than me and he's paying around $600 for rent and I'm paying just over $1,000 this year. So definitely a big increase, it's becoming a little unaffordable."

Those prices aren't for apartments. Both Rowatt and her brother rent a shared room in different houses close to campus.

Those rising costs, caused by a tight housing market and higher grocery prices, stand to take a toll on students this year.

Staff at student unions at London's two largest post-secondary schools Western University and Fanshawe College expect to see more traffic at student food banks this year.

With classes set to start next week, staff and volunteers who work at Western's Food Support Centre have the shelves stocked at their walk-in food bank.

WATCH | Western University has a food support centre for students:

Western University has a food support centre for students

1 year ago

Duration 0:43

Western University students in need are free to show up and take a bag of pasta or a can of soup right off the shelves at the USC Food Support Centre.

Students in need are free to show up and grab a bag of pasta or a can of chicken soup right off the shelves. Staff will also put together a hamper of food, enough to provide one hungry student with basic groceries for about a week.

Last year, more than 1,000 Western students used the walk-in service and there were more than 700 hamper requests.

"We've seen an almost 50 per cent increase in usage between last year and the prior year," said Bianca Gouveia, Western's University Students' Council vice-president of student services.

"And we're prepared for that number to grow again," she said. "The rising cost of living affects every realm of a student's life," she said.

Fanshawe hands out grocery cards

Fanshawe College's student union also operates a food bank for students, though theirs works a little differently.

It's called a Sharing Shop, a place where students in need can get grocery store gift cards a few times over the course of the school year to help fill the fridge.

The student union shifted away from a physical food bank space a few years ago due to space constraints in the new student building. Also, what they were stocking on the shelves wasn't always what students wanted to eat.

"We have students from different parts of the world and each student's food needs are not the same," said Stephin Sathya, president of the Fanshawe Students' Union.

"We've seen a large need for this now, especially with the grocery prices," he said.

Financial literacy help also offered

Sathya said the student union also helps by offering scores of part-time jobs for students as a way to help offset costs. Also, the student union offers sessions with advisors who can give students some free advice on how to budget and shop.

Sathya said helping students manage their credit is a particular need, especially for students who might have a credit card for the first time.

"Having a credit card is very important in Canada but it's not a thing in some other countries, so it's new for a lot of people," he said.

Sathya said Fanshawe also brings in financial experts each year to speak at seminars and take part in Q&A sessions to help students stay on top of their finances.