In Australia, over 40% of tertiary and vocational students are facing food insecurity.
Food should be free, which is why Just Food Collective is working with the City of Melbourne to make sure it is.
Well Fed: A student food project
While the pandemic lockdowns may be over, the issue of student food insecurity remains. Students now face cost of living pressures on low incomes, in addition to high student fees (particularly for international students). With the cost of rent, food and fuel rapidly increasing over the past twelve months, students continue to struggle in accessing healthy and affordable food at a critical and formative time in their life when a nourishing diet is essential to their capacity to learn, focus, grow and develop.
Research has been conducted in Australia on student food insecurity at universities, and our research asks the additional question of what it is like for the vocational sector as a whole. Are vocational students suffering as much as university students? Our research suggests yes. What our research highlights is that this work must continue and it must be a long-term and integrated model if we are to solve this issue. Involving students in this conversation, like we have, means we can find the most impactful ways to reduce this systemic food system issue.
The City of Melbourne, where William Angliss Institute is situated, is committed to reducing food insecurity in their communities by 25% by 2025. In alignment with this target Just Food Collective is proud to introduce Well Fed: A student food project. Over the next two years, as a part of the Social Investment Partnerships Program and funded by the City of Melbourne, our project will embark on a series of activities, advocacy, and future planning to reduce student food insecurity in the City of Melbourne.
The Well Fed model is divided into
four components and key interventions:
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We supply students with free food that’s joyful, nourishing and delicious
In the first instalment we fed over 2,500 students delicious breakfasts, lunches and take-home grocery bags. This year we are starting our ‘Well Fed at The Wharf’ series - a three-course free dinner with prizes, take home groceries, recipes and bonding games.
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We hire student interns and induct volunteers to create a network of friends who gain work experience
Last instalment we hired one student intern , along with hiring recently graduated students for one off events to gain work experience. We also created a lovely network of volunteers. We will be doing the same again this year!
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We raise awareness of student food security through state-wide advocacy efforts
We are close to releasing a petition to call on the Victorian Government to invest more time and money into solving the systemic causes of student food insecurity. We believe in collective impact, and without all stakeholders working together some students will never get to reach their full potential.
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We create educational tools for students and teachers to learn cooking, eating and growing skills
Last instalment we worked with a non-diet approach nutritionist and a green-thumb JFC member to develop and run free mindful living workshops, which will be extend in the coming instalments. ‘cheap and delicious’ recipe’ competitions and take-home recipes cards.
Learn more…
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Just Food Collective members are from a wide range of professions and backgrounds. Some of us are students, some chefs, and some researchers. We partnered with the University of Tasmania’s Sandy Murray to understand how we could investigate the levels of food insecurity at our own university. We worked with the University of Melbourne’s Sara Guest to write the final report, including the recommendations which were informed by their work, A working toolkit for addressing food insecurity at Australian universities.
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We are in the process of developing an advocacy network to campaign for more funding of student food security response. If you work at a university, are a student, or are a part of a student union, we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at hello@justfood.org.au.
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Just Food Collective volunteers lead the Fed Up! project last year in their spare time. For the next two years the Well Fed project will be funded by the City of Melbourne as a part of the Council’s Social Investment Partnership Program funding.
