The link between dietary restrictions and food insecurity

A survey conducted in 2019 of approximately 3,900 undergraduate students at the University of Alberta showed a strong correlation between dietary requirements and food insecurity. These requirements included halal, vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and more. The survey was conducted by the U of A Students’ Union (UASU).

According to Erin O’Neil, executive director of the Campus Food Bank (CFB), students with dietary restrictions (SWDR) are at a higher risk of experiencing food insecurity. This is due to the higher cost of specialty dietary foods, less access to these foods, and contamination concerns, she said. Largely, O’Neil said the CFB can’t budget for specialty dietary foods due to the cost.

“Food security isn’t just access to food. It’s access to food that you need and want,” O’Neil said. 

Report finds dietary requirements increased food insecurity rates from 30 to 40-45 per cent

According to the UASU’s report on the survey, “virtually any dietary requirement increases food insecurity rates from [approximately] 30 per cent to [approximately] 40–45 per cent.”

Out of all the groups studied, vegan and gluten-free students had the highest rates of moderate to severe food insecurity at 52 and 44–46 per cent respectively. Vegetarian students were the largest group of students observing a dietary restriction at 2,800 students. 

The standardized Household Food Security Survey Model (HFSSM) adult scale was used for the survey. This scale uses qualitative measurements and traditionally asks participants 18 questions. The UASU survey asked ten questions, such as if participants sometimes or frequently skipped meals. If the participant didn’t give affirmative answers, they would be designated as food secure. Depending on how many of the questions the participants answered in the affirmative, they were designated mildly, moderately, or severely food insecure.  

According to Madi Corry, the programs director at the CFB, “currently about a third of our clients eat halal.” Halal meat is one of the most requested items on the Rutherford Library Community Pantry’s website. Corry also noted that the CFB deals with clients who have food allergies fairly often. The UASU survey also found that around 40 per cent of students with severe allergies experienced moderate to severe food insecurity. 

According to the survey results, “based on the number of affected students, there is likely an unmet, food-security-linked demand for affordable vegan, gluten-free, and halal options.” 

Multiple factors contribute to food insecurity for SWDR, CFB executive director and nutritionist explain

As O’Neil mentioned, the higher cost of specialty dietary foods is a barrier to food access for SWDR. For example, according to Celiac Canada, gluten-free products are at least 74 per cent and up to 518 per cent more expensive than gluten-containing equivalents. The 2024 State of Celiac Canada Health Survey found that 24 per cent of respondents visited a food bank since receiving their celiac diagnosis, due to the cost of food. 

Economic burdens aren’t the only roadblock to accessing dietary specific food. O’Neil explained that those with dietary restrictions may have to travel farther to access affordable options. If they are unable to do so, this limits the variety of food they have access to.

According to O’Neil, the U of A’s North Campus is regarded as a food desert. Food deserts are areas where people have easier access to unhealthy food over healthy food. In food deserts, local grocery stores are often more expensive than similar grocers outside of the food desert. Additionally, those grocers can often lack the same selection and quality. O’Neil mentioned that Safeway and H-Mart, both of which are a walkable distance from North Campus, “have higher prices than the other identical stores in the city.”

There are multiple contributing factors to food deserts, such as a lack of access to cars and inadequate public transportation. As well, lower employment rates are a factor and students are less likely to hold paid employment. While these factors can affect all students, SWDR deal with an extra set of challenges.

According to Heidi Bates, vegan and vegetarian students face a unique challenge in food security access. Bates is a nutritionist in the U of A’s faculty of agricultural, life, and environmental studies (ALES). 

“You can eat really well as a vegan or vegetarian person. But you need to really know how to cook,” Bates said. Often many vegans and vegetarians are the first in their families to choose this lifestyle, she added.  As a result, although vegan proteins such as beans, legumes, and peas are some of the cheapest on the market, many people are not taught how to cook them in straight-forward ways. Or, importantly, in ways that taste good to them.

Contamination risks can also be an issue for many people with dietary restrictions. O’Neil pointed out that many of the eateries on campus aren’t explicit about their halal or vegan status. So, people with those restrictions may not be comfortable eating there. This reduces the amount of places they are able to eat at. It also means they may not be able to eat at places that may be more cost efficient, such as some fast food chains. 

Some CFB programs have had issues with contamination risks too. For celiacs, exposure to even a small amount of gluten can result in serious health consequences. Proper cleaning can mitigate the risk, but even a bread crumb could be problematic. When the CFB used to hold cooking classes, the risk of cross-contamination presented a challenge for celiac students, Corry explained.

“For someone with a really sensitive gluten allergy, our cookware that was being used for other classes that were non-gluten-free [could] be a risk.” 

The CFB is the main resource for students facing food insecurity on campus. The organization provides a variety of supports to help tackle food insecurity, such the Grocery Bus. The Grocery Bus runs twice a month from September to April and once a month from May to August. It is completely free.

For students, many grocery stores are not accessible from bus routes or without a car. The Grocery Bus aims to address the physical barriers restricting students’ ability to access varied foods. The route takes students to Superstore, Walmart, T&T Supermarket, and some specialty stores like halal meat shops.

“[We’re] trying to give as many options as possible. Most of those stores would have a halal or gluten-free option. There’s not gonna be everything everyone needs, but … at least there’s some options,” Corry said. 

Buying specialty products is a challenge for the CFB due to the rising cost of food, O’Neil explains

The CFB used to have more expansive programs aimed at tackling some of the more diverse root causes of food insecurity, Corry explained. The cooking class taught students cooking and meal prep skills to make healthy food on a budget, for example. But, these classes had to be put on hiatus. According to Corry, the CFB is currently focusing its funds on food spending and food providing programs.

For the 2023–24 academic year, the CFB reported a deficit of $80,653.

“We’re anticipating — if we meet all demand — another similar deficit this year,” O’Neil said. According to O’Neil, the cost of food has increased by tenfold in the past five years. While she’s proud that the organization hasn’t made any reactionary changes or cut any programs, O’Neil said the organization’s spending is going to have to be cut from somewhere. 

Due to this deficit and the increased costs, O’Neil said the CFB has to prioritize efficiency. She explained that in order to maximize its budget, the CFB purchases pallets of food at a time, such as chickpeas. However, the CFB cannot justify purchasing a palette of gluten-free food that wouldn’t be used as quickly.

At the time of the interview, the CFB did have a small wheelie shelf filled with gluten-free food. As well, there was gluten-free bread in the freezer. According to Corry, this was a rare occurrence due to the Trick or TrEAT food drive event that occurred on October 26, 2024. 

O’Neil said the CFB is looking into finding sponsors for more expensive items, like halal meat, gluten-free, and vegan items. 

However, O’Neil said that “to change the situation, we’re going to need more than money for food.” The CFB has been raising awareness about the root causes of food insecurity. The CFB and its national partners, including Community Food Centres Canada (CFCC) and Food Banks Canada have been advocating for a more robust Groceries and Essentials Benefit. 

O’Neil also mentioned increasing funding for universities as important. Between 2020–23, the U of A saw its provincial funding cut by $222 million. As a result, the university has tried to address gaps in funding partially through annual tuition increases.

“Repairing the social safety net is the only way that we’re going to get to a point in the future where our clients aren’t having to come to us every two weeks because this is their life,” O’Neil said. “It’s not like we’re just helping them through a short-term crisis, which is what food banks were originally supposed to do.”

Nutritionist advocates for nutrition education programs to learn how to cook on a budget

According to Bates, “food banks are not really a strategy for healthy eating.”

“Even the people that work at food banks will tell you that. I mean, their mandate is really emergency food provision.”

Bates advocates for students to take charge of their nutritional journeys. She recommends that people learn from how people in North America dealt with the Great Depression and the war years, by growing their own food and learning how to cook. She encourages “students to do what you can to take charge of that. Learning how to cook and learning how to cook with a range of ingredients.”

She also advocates for nutrition education programs, to help students and non-students learn how to cook on a budget, especially those with unique dietary needs. Bates supervises Speaking of Healthy Eating, a student-led program from the U of A’s nutrition and food science program. The program provides workshops and social media material to students with the goal of educating them about healthy nutrition, meal planning, how to eat healthy during exam season, and how to get proper nutrients as a vegetarian. 

“I don’t believe for a second that the U of A is short of people that can offer insights and great information. We can support each other as a community.”