Foodbank usage has dropped from 1,500 visits per year in 2004, to a mere 100 since last May.
Foodbank manager Tara Tran said the move from a more central location on Earl Street to Macgillivray-Brown Hall (due to Queen’s Centre construction) could be to blame for the dramatic drop. When discussing the new location, Tran said, “It’s something you can’t control as much, so I’m going to target the stigma.” The truth is, the change of location is the only plausible explanation for such a rastic decline in visits to the Foodbank. Yes, stigma continues to exist around foodbank usage, and although that may explain a lack of visitors in general, it fails to explain such a drastic reduction in use from one year to the next, especially when considering that other Ontario universities aren’t seeing similar decreases. Any change in location merits extensive advertisement and promotion to make students aware of the move. Clearly, students aren’t aware. It also seems unlikely that the decline
has anything to do with changes to the anonymity of the service. If anything, the new location on Barrie Street is even more anonymous than before.
The new Food Locker Program, hopefully in place by the end of the month, was inspired by a similar program that has been successful at other universities. Although the locker service is a step in the ight direction, it doesn’t eliminate the need to better advertise the Foodbank’s new location. The Foodbank is important to many members of the student body and ignoring the issues causing its ecline will only decrease its use further. Something needs to be done immediately to ensure this vital
service continues to benefit those students who depend on it. There are numerous modes of
communication that can be used to get the word out such as the new updated AMS website, posters and also using the office ofthe AMS VP (operations) to send a mass e-mail out to students. Speaking of the AMS, if the Foodbank is unable (due perhaps to budget constraints) or unwilling to better promote their new location, the AMS should take responsibility and step in to do it for them.
VP (operations) Ian Black says, “Consistency and location, I think, will be advantageous over the next five years.” Now, where was that thinking when the AMS decided to switch the locations of the Greenroom and Tricolour Market after those services had only existed for a year? The construction of the Queen’s Centre is forcing both the AMS and the University to find transitional spaces for several ervices; and admittedly, getting stuck in the basement of Macgillivray-Brown Hall is kind of a raw deal for the Foodbank. That said, having a bad location doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tell anybody about it.
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