Demand for Food Pantry skyrockets as students struggle with rising costs of living

Demand for the University of Canberra’s Food Pantry has soared in recent months, with students often queueing outside the doors before the pantry opens for the day.

The number of students using the food pantry in the UCX Student Lounge in the first semester was more than 70 per cent higher than the same period last year, according to Andrew Giumelli, associate director of student experience at UCX.

“We regularly have people lining up 20 minutes before we open so they can be first through the door,” he said, “obviously showing that they really need it.”

Rising living costs are making it more difficult for students and young people to be able to afford the bare essentials. According to the rental affordability index published by SGS Economics & Planning, the average student sharehouse in the ACT spent 40 per cent of their income on rent in 2022, making it the most unaffordable area in Australia for students to live.

This figure has been steadily increasing in recent years – the average Canberra student sharehouse was spending 37 per cent of their income on rent in 2021, and 33 per cent in 2017.

Against this backdrop, it’s little surprise that demand for the food pantry has grown steadily since it first opened more than three years ago.

“It’s been increasing year on year since we started in 2020,” Andrew said. “This year so far we’ve had 1796 individual students access the pantry – that’s from mid-January to now – and they visited 8452 times.”

With about 16,000 students at UC in total, that equates to just over 10 per cent of the entire student population.

All UC students are eligible to use the food pantry and receive 15 points a week to spend how they like there. Items are allocated a point value according to their cost and size. The majority of items are perishables in order to avoid waste.

As a result of the rising demand, UCX increased the number of points available to students to help them get some extra support.

“We increased the number of points last year [from 10 to 15] … so that was one way we could just get a little bit more to students quite easily,” Andrew said.

Since last September, UCX has also had to limit the number of times students can visit the food pantry to once a week to ease congestion, but Andrew said they had made an effort to ensure stock was consistent so students could get what they need in one visit.

“With growing demand, we were finding some students were coming in multiple times a week and it was just sort of getting too busy,” he explained. “So we needed a way to slow that down and make sure all students are able to access it.”

Alongside this, the food pantry is working with partners to provide fresh fruit and vegetables, which are not included in the points system and are free to take.

“Since [2020] we’ve really expanded the range that we provide and we’ve partnered with OzHarvest and Second Bite to be able to offer recovered fresh produce from the local supermarkets,” Andrew said.

The pantry supplies toiletries and hygiene items, which are always free, but students are asked to only take what they need to ensure there is enough to go around.

The food pantry also offers students a free breakfast on Tuesday mornings; a ‘repair cafe’ where students can learn how to fix old clothes; and a market stall from Allan’s Farm Fresh Produce on Thursdays.

The food pantry has benefitted from donations from both organisations and members of the public, ranging from church groups and the Multicultural Association of Canberra to individual growers who happened to have something to share.

“One guy had a large stockpile of honey and donated that for students,” Andrew said.

The UCX Food Pantry relies on the support of its volunteers, which are responsible for serving students and managing the pantry’s general upkeep.

“Volunteers are a big part of what we do and we really appreciate all their contribution,” Andrew said. “They help us keep those shelves stocked at all times, and keep the pantry running effectively.

“Giving an hour of your time is all that we ask.”

The food pantry is also working on corporate programs where sponsors and corporate donors can get involved.

“So that might be a kind of team building activity where they can make a contribution to the pantry then come and volunteer as a group,” Andrew said.

It is currently working alongside UC’s Student Empowerment Fund to develop these programs and offer them to groups across the ACT.

To find out more about the UCX food pantry and how you can get involved, visit its website.