Bon Appétit! A Process Evaluation of a Campus-Based Food Bank
The University of Ottawa Bon Appétit! food bank was established to protect students against food insecurity and hunger. The current study seeks to determine program outcomes through a review of services, initiatives, and activities offered to students. Surveys and semistructured interviews were used to collect information from the 3 levels of involvement: service recipients, program volunteers, and program coordinators. Results revealed adequate program satisfaction at all levels. However, insufficient communication of policy-related issues, poor dissemination of roles and responsibilities, and minimal documentation of best practices were also among the results found. Structural issues are discussed and recommendations are provided.
Food insecurity in university students receiving financial aid.
PURPOSE
To evaluate the adequacy of loans funding and the risk for food insecurity in students living away from home and receiving loans at the University of Alberta.


METHODS
A nutritious seven-day menu was developed. The menu was priced for skilled and unskilled shoppers at a grocery store near to campus and a discount-style grocery store further away.


RESULTS
The menu was more costly for males, unskilled shoppers and those students who shopped near to campus. The menu cost was as high as $296/month and often exceeded the $196 allocated by the Canada Student Loans Program for food each month.


CONCLUSIONS
Based on the findings from this study, students reliant on financial assistance likely have insufficient money for a nutritionally adequate diet and are at risk for food insecurity. Shopping skills and budgeting, while important, would be insufficient to alleviate food insecurity for many students who require financial aid. Increased funding for food in student loans is necessary.
Do healthy food baskets assess food security?
Developing indicators to measure the different facets of food security presents numerous conceptual and methodological challenges. This paper adopts an ecological framework to reflect on these issues through an examination of the Healthy Food Basket (HFB) tool. The HFB tool is used to measure food security conditions by determining the cost and availability of a group of foods in a shopping basket across a range of stores in different regions and neighbourhoods. The paper discusses the ability of the HFB tool to describe micro-, meso- and macro-level influences on food security and the use of the ecological model in developing complementary and alternative strategies for understanding and monitoring food security.