About the Food Resource Centre

The object of the LUSU Food Resource Centre is to eliminate student hunger at Lakehead University. Although it is important to have emergency resources available (such as The Pantry) we must also move beyond charitable approaches and advocate for larger change, which is why we have the three following levels of support:

1. Emergency Food Reponse: The Food Resource Centre provides emergency food support through The Pantry; which is a safe, stigma-free environment that provides students with culturally-diverse, nutritional, dietary accommodating foods including both non-perishables and fresh options.
2. Student Engagement and Community-Based Responses:  We want to empower students to get involved, through educational workshops, volunteer, and leadership opportunities. We will also have programs such as the People’s potato (which offers free hot lunches to students) and the Good Food Box (a community program which provides people with fresh fruits and vegetables). We are also working on developing The Garden which will provide students with fresh fruits and vegetables grown right at Lakehead University. 
3. Advocacy: Student food insecurity is a nationwide issue. Meal Exchange (2022) found that in the Fall of 2021 56.8% of post-secondary students across Canada were food insecure. Previous research also links food insecurity to poverty. Given this, The FRC will work to address the problems in the university food system by advocating for accessible, affordable, culturally-diverse, nutritious and sustainable foods on campus. We will also bring awareness to and advocate on the larger issues tied to food insecurity (high costs of living, tuition rates, etc.). We believe that food is a basic human right. We also understand the importance of incorporating food sovereignty and Indigenous food sovereignty approaches to the solution of food insecurity.