Building Food Justice: From Campus to Community
At a recent dialogue on food justice and sovereignty, a number of young speakers from the Campus Food Bank at the University of Alberta, Food Justice Now based out of the University of Calgary, National Farmers Union and Young Agrarians — shared stories of resilience and calls for community action and the urgent need to reimagine our food systems. At the opening the session, food dignity was framed as “peace of mind”, because that’s exactly what food represents — not just sustenance, but stability. A full belly means a calmer mind. It means students can study and feel supported, parents can rest, and communities can breathe and grow to thrive.
Campus Food Bank: Fighting Stigma and Building Dignity
Founded in the 1980s after an overwhelming response to a one-day student food drive, the University of Alberta Campus Food Bank became the first non-profit food bank on a university campus in Canada. The Campus Food Bank is unique to other university food banks in that it is incorporated and operates independently from the university giving it flexibility to innovate and form partnerships beyond institutional limits — but this also means it receives minimal direct support from the university itself.
Since 2019, food bank usage has increased by 600%, driven by rising costs, delayed student aid, and growing tuition for international students. The food bank now serves in a single week what it once did in an entire month.
In response, the organization has evolved to a grocery model — allowing clients to choose their own food instead of receiving pre-packaged hampers, fostering dignity and reducing waste. Partnerships with groups like Prairie Urban Farm and WECAN Food Basket Society help connect students to fresh produce, growing and collective purchasing opportunities. Through a recent Local Food Infrastructure Grant, they’re working to build a greenhouse to extend the growing season and deepen ties to local agriculture and connections to the land.
The Campus Food Bank reminded us that food banks are meant to be bandaid solutions to systemic inequities — poverty, unaffordable tuition, delayed aid, and a food system designed to benefit corporations more than communities. “Grocery stores give us their waste,” one speaker noted, “but that doesn’t solve why people need food banks in the first place. Food banks fill gaps in broken systems, but they don’t fix those systems,” emphasizing the need to address root causes.
Food Justice Now: Student Activism and Dignity at the University of Calgary
Representing Food Justice Now — a volunteer-run student organization at the University of Calgary — the former president shared how their group began in 2021 by serving 150 free meals a month to students. What started as an act of care has grown into advocacy to address institutional barriers to food security for students.
They described the reality many students face: packed schedules, limited healthy options, dietary restrictions, and unaffordable campus food. But beyond hunger, they emphasized the loss of dignity in how universities often address food insecurity — from eligibility-based food banks to token “value meals” that stigmatize those who need them.
Food Justice Now’s efforts to provide hot meals, grocery vouchers, and partnerships with organizations like Fresh Routes highlight the potential for student-led mutual aid. Yet resources are becoming a constant struggle: “In 2021, our groceries cost $70–100 a month. By 2025, that same food costs $200.”
Institutional resistance — including competition clauses that ban free food in cafeterias — reveals a deeper issue: the commercialization of basic needs. “Students shouldn’t have to choose between dignity and a meal,” they said. One day, they were even removed from a student fair for giving out meals. “It’s not just hunger,” one speaker said. “It’s being told that feeding each other is bad for business.” Their advocacy calls for dignified food access, collaborative planning between student bodies, and expanded funding for student food initiatives.
Young Agrarians & the National Farmers Union: Reclaiming Food Sovereignty & Connecting to Land
Rounding out the conversation, speakers from Young Agrarians and the National Farmers Union (NFU), connected student struggles to the broader movement for agroecology and food sovereignty across Canada.
Since 2012, Young Agrarians have built a vibrant network for new farmers — most of whom didn’t grow up on farms. Through paid apprenticeships, business bootcamps, and mentorship programs, they empower young people to grow food, build community, and reconnect to land. Collaborations like the Treaty Land Sharing Network offer Indigenous people safe access to private lands for hunting, gathering, and ceremony — advancing reconciliation through land-based practice.
The NFU’s framework of agroecology calls for a holistic transformation of food systems. It’s about more than farming techniques — it’s about confronting the political, economic, and colonial structures that shape who eats and who doesn’t. NFU and Young Agrarians are movements that see food not as a commodity, but as a relationship between people, land, and history.
Key priorities they spoke of include:
Reducing reliance on global supply chains and imported agricultural inputs and strengthening local food infrastructure and fair distribution systems, including advocating for land access and Indigenous leadership in agroecology.
Recognizing and centering youth and women in leadership. One powerful statement highlighted that transformation happens in collective spaces. When youth see themselves as part of something bigger, that’s where true food sovereignty begins.
Supporting intergenerational, peer-to-peer farming mentorships.
Building local self-sufficiency and transparent farm-to-table relationships.
Recognizing that food is political — rooted in land, power, and history. As one speaker summarized: “Food is political. It’s about power, access, and belonging. True food sovereignty happens when youth and communities take back the systems that feed them.”
Their work demonstrates that food security cannot be achieved through charity alone — it requires transforming ownership, governance, and production systems.
Building Bridges and Taking Action
The dialogue ended with a spirit of collaboration and the question “How do we stay connected?” Participants discussed shared challenges — from student hunger to disconnected food systems — and brainstormed pathways forward:
Knowledge sharing between campuses to replicate successful models like U of A’s grocery-style food bank.
Partnerships with farmers to redirect surplus food from compost to campus pantries.
Advocacy for policy change — ensuring public funds support sustainable local community-led food systems instead of corporate subsidies.
Empowering youth leadership in food justice movements across urban and rural communities.
Because when we feed one another with care and courage, we’re doing more than filling plates. We’re planting seeds of justice.
Pathways forward for Community - Calls to Action
Support your local campus food and mutual aid initiatives. Volunteer, donate, or advocate for institutional support and policy change to embed food security into student support frameworks.
Build relationships with and support local farmers. Seek out CSAs, farmers markets, and cooperatives that prioritize fair, local food. This will strengthen connections and resource sharing between local farmers, food banks and student groups while providing access to fresh, local food and reducing food waste.
Challenge stigma around food insecurity. Talk openly about food justice as a shared issue, not an individual failure. Breaking stigmas is a first step towards solidarity. Education is also key to expanding food literacy and awareness.
Advocate for policies that fund food education and local food infrastructure, not corporate profits. Educational institutions should prioritize collaboration and dignified, nutritious, and affordable student food access on campuses; remove vendor restrictions that block free or community-led food programs, and partner with student and community organizations for sustainable food initiatives.
Join the movement. Connect with groups like Young Agrarians, Food Justice Now, or your local food sovereignty networks to turn awareness into action. Support land access networks and youth mentorship training initiatives.
Food justice is not a single act — it’s a collective transformation. From university campuses to rural farms, every meal shared and every system challenged brings us one step closer to a fair, sustainable, and dignified food future for all.
This session was hosted by the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights (JHC), as part of the Food Security and Food Justice Ecosystem of Edmonton (FSFJE) project, funded by the City of Edmonton’s Community Safety and Well-Being grant. We also wish to acknowledge and thank the University of Alberta Campus Food Bank for their assistance in organizing this session, as well as the Speakers who joined us from Food Justice Now, Young Agrarians, and National Farmers Union.