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I’m currently plugging away at finishing up a digital media studies degree at Vancouver Island University, which means I spend one night a week in the humanities building on campus. This fall, I noticed a new shelf on the second floor stocked with free food such as bread and cans of beans as well as items like toothpaste and deodorant for students who need it. 

I wondered why it started and who was stocking it, but it slipped to the backburner as the provincial election took over my reporting priorities.

I was on campus last week and spotted a poster for a free hot meal by a group called No Hunger at VIU and it reminded me to take a look at food insecurity on campus and what was being done about it.

What I found was that in the absence of an overall strategy to address student hunger, a patchwork of programs and initiatives are being run by the student union, the university’s student services department and individual students and faculty members.

The need to address student hunger and food insecurity on campus is obvious and backed up by recent data from Food Banks Canada that shows a growing proportion of food bank clients are post-secondary students.

The good news is that the university is working on both supporting the emergency services that students need now, such as the hot meal program, as well as starting a comprehensive research project on food security that will identify what supports students need and how to best address them. 

I’m sure this is a story that I will be following up on in the future.

‘It makes you feel not alone’: VIU meal program fights student hunger and loneliness

With food insecurity growing at Vancouver Island University, students and faculty are working to study the problem and respond.

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In other news

👉 Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog, a former NDP MLA, is hoping that Premier David Eby won’t forget about his promise to build a new hospital tower and cardiac cath lab now that the election is over. Pointing to the close race in the province, Krog told Black Press, “I suspect we will have more interest (from Victoria) than in the past. To put it crassly, municipalities can be bought and we look forward to being bought." 

👉  Nanaimo city council voted to change a bylaw regulating its public cemeteries that will allow war grave markers to be stood up, instead of having to be laid flat on the ground. CHLY spoke to local amateur historian and retired armed forces member Kevin Hills who pushed for this change. Nanaimo News Now also has a story on the issue.

👉 POCK! The sounds of pickleball echoed in Beban Park last week as the city opened eight new courts. CHLY has the story.  

👉 The City of Nanaimo is still working to count and validate forms submitted opposing the Alternative Approval Process for an update to the Public Works Yard. City staff told The Discourse today that the new policy that allowed electronic submission of the forms has added an extra layer of complexity and they need to ensure there are no duplicates. The Nanaimo News Bulletin has more on the process. 

👉  Vancouver Island University (VIU) is displaying a video memorial to honor fallen soldiers in the First and Second World Wars. The video shares stories of local soldiers and will be on display on six screens across the city as well as at the VIU welcome centre until Nov. 11. My Coast Now has the story.

Community photo

Noa Gibbs releases a salmon fry into the Nanaimo River at the Nanaimo River Hatchery’s annual Salmon Days fundraiser that drew hundreds of families on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2024. Photo by Mick Sweetman / The Discourse.

Have a photo you'd like to share? Send it to nanaimo@thediscourse.ca. We'd love to see the community through your lens.

See you around town,

— Mick, Shalu and The Discourse team

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