Resources on campus to get low cost, delicious food/groceries!
Written by Jeeyanshi Gupta, Sustainability Committee Member
Food insecurity is a very real concern not only in lower income countries, but here at UBC as well. 43% of UBC students were concerned about running out of food at least once per year (AMS, 2021), not only affecting their health and well-being, but also academic progress, mental health and other areas of life. Students at UBC come from varied social and economic classes, and may face financial barriers, which could affect their ability to afford nutritious meals. Addressing food insecurity is crucial to ensuring that all students have equal opportunities to succeed in their education without the burden of hunger. While the housing crisis looms over our heads, here are a list of resources in UBC that could help make food more affordable and accessible to all!
AMS food bank
The AMS food bank is a food relief service for UBC students. Sort of like a pantry, they offer both perishable and non-perishable items, for student in need. Along with other necessary resources like personal hygiene products, cleaning supplies and more. Numerous generous sponsors provide funding to run this! There is no registration process, all you require is a student card, and all UBC students can use the food bank up to 16 times per semester.
Location: Life Building
Sprouts
Sprouts is a student run organization at UBC and is completely volunteer based. They aim to make food healthy, affordable and sustainably produced. Sprouts prioritizes food security, community needs, local, organic, and fair-trade foods and so much more. They believe the best food comes with the active understanding and involvement of knowing where the food comes from and how. They run a café every day, and have a community fridge which is open all day for people to access.
Location: Basement of the Life Building
Food hub market
The Food Hub Market is a grocery store on campus that provides a wide range of lost cost everyday groceries, in a welcoming community. They sell items such as canned goods, fresh fruit, breads, dairy and more. It started as a 9-week collaborative pilot project with UBC Well-being and has continued on. They promote social connection, cultural diversity, and access to affordable food at UBC.
Location: Main floor of the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS)
Agora café
Agora Café is another student run, non-profit organization on UBC’s campus that provides affordable, accessible, healthy and organic food choices for students and faculty. They started by getting funding from the ‘Sustainable Food Access Fund’, which was created to increase the affordability of food outlets on campus. Their philosophy is largely based on the teaching of the Land and Food Systems Faculty, who encourage organic agriculture and the interconnection of food systems and people’s health/wellbeing. In 2023, over 200 volunteers supported agora and helped tackle the food insecurity at UBC!
Location: Basement of the Macmillan Building (2357 Main Mall)
Acadia food hub
The Acadia Food Hub is in collaboration with the Greater Vancouver Food Bank and Origin Church, and they aim to provide food and baby supply assistance to the UBC community. They have low-cost stock of everyday grocery items needed for UBC students and faculty.
Location: Acadia Park Residence Commonsblock
Meal share initiative
This is a UBC initiative which aims to address the lack of financial access to healthy food for many students, thereby adding to increased stress levels, impact on wellbeing and additional challenges to daily life. There are multiple ways to use the meal share program, depending on your need. For example, a 10-swipe card provides 10 visits to any of the three dining halls on campus, which has unlimited food during each visit. $200 can be added to your UBC card Value Plan or as an electronic grocery store gift card. Therefore, this is a great option for financially troubled times.