| dc.description.abstract | Our group surveyed and interviewed undergraduate students living off-campus who attend classes on the Studley campus at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. As a group, we developed questions based on a mixture of priorly done research and personal experience to analyze how food insecurity affects other students. Our research question was the following:
1) How does food insecurity affect off-campus undergraduate students who attend Dalhousie’s Studley campus?
2) Is there a higher level of understanding on the issue of food insecurity from Dalhousie students who are completing a green degree as opposed to those who are not?
We chose to address not only the issue of food insecurity in relation to all students who participated but as well questioned if prior knowledge taught in sustainability or environmental science-based stems of academia had provided students with adequate knowledge to help them address or prevent their individual issues surrounding food insecurity. Some indications that food insecurity was a present issue on campus that we found after surveying 115 undergraduate students were that 95% of students saw a rise in groceries in recent months. Looking into where students shop for their groceries the trend mainly showed that the Atlantic Superstore was the primary retail location. 62 respondents identified using the Atlantic Superstore as their primary grocery store, while only 29 used Sobeys, and 13 students used Walmart. The rise in cost, and a clear indication that there are only three main sources for groceries, the rise in cost was seen to affect mental health in students with over 30 students both agreeing or somewhat agreeing food insecurity played a role in this. The trend also carried into physical health with 46 students agreeing and 31 students somewhat agreeing their physical health has been negatively affected by food insecurity.
Furthermore, we analyzed how food insecurity was being mitigated by the Dalhousie Government, or student-run initiatives that are helping combat the issue of food insecurity. Our survey results concluded that the most known and used asset on campus is the Loaded Ladle which provides students with free meals at a specific time during the week. Students also saw use in the Dalhousie Food Bank and student garden, but these initiates were used more infrequently. Moving forward, Dalhousie could help these previously mentioned initiatives find more resources to provide more help to students. This could be done through funding specific programs, this has already started to be seen with ESS dinners, or more promotions as many students are also unaware of the help or are unaware if they are eligible. These helpful practices such as the Loaded Ladle help provide students with a healthy meal, as well as give
students a chance to give back to the community which is an overall sustainable practice to help mitigate food insecurity. | en_US |
