VIU students and community members will be able to access the Free Food Market every Monday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. (Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7FM)

Loaves & Fishes Community Food Bank is partnering with Vancouver Island University to open a new Free Food Market on campus, to help fight against food insecurity for students and the Nanaimo community.

As of this week, the new Free Food Market location is operating out of the VIU Windsor Plywood Trades Discovery Centre located at the bottom of campus.

VIU students and community members will be able to access the Free Food Market every Monday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

At the market, community members can choose food items that reflect their likes and needs rather than receive a pre-packed box of food. According to Loaves & Fishes this is designed to make the space feel more welcoming, to reduce barriers, and to allow community members to be able to access food with dignity.

Chris Yeast, manager of Student Affairs at VIU, told CHLY about why the University wanted to open a Free Food Market location on campus.

“We're used to seeing a certain level of need amongst students, and we were seeing it in a bit of a more dramatic way,” Yeast said.

He said VIU had recently done several research projects regarding food security for students and they found a significant need for increased access to food on campus.

“Things are getting more difficult for people,” he said. “We've seen the cost of living changing quite dramatically in the last couple of years, and that people are just having like across the board are having a way more difficult time, and so it felt like the right thing to do.”

Yeast said he hopes this new location will make it easier for students facing tough financial decisions during the school year.

“Students are often in a situation where they're making decisions about this week, ‘where are my finances going to go.’ Education has gotten more expensive, textbooks have gotten more expensive,” he said. “So hopefully for students who are having a tougher time, that this is alleviating some of that decision making, that they're able to come here, get some support, and then they don't need to make a decision about ‘how am I splitting my funds this week to make sure that I have food.’”

This is the 12th Free Food Market Loaves & Fishes has opened in Nanaimo with several others located in northern Vancouver Island.

Peter Sinclair, Executive Director of Loaves & Fishes Community Food Bank, said the market is open to the entire community.

“This market is open to anyone who could use food support,” Sinclair said. “So not just students of VIU, but anyone in the community who could use some help. We're here to serve you.”

The new VIU location uses a drop-in model. Sinclair recommends first time users visit the Loaves & Fishes website to get an idea on how the service works.

“We have two different types of free food markets: one that is drop-in, and the other one that is by appointment,” he said. “Both of them just require that you bring identification for yourself and anyone else in the household, and we can get you registered.”

He said there’s a huge need for the services Loaves & Fishes offers.

“Anything we can do to make food more accessible for people is a good thing to do,” he said. “So we are very encouraged that we're able to do this, and we're hopeful that it will be well received by the community.”

He said the market at VIU will be a permanent location, but they are in need of volunteers to help run the new location and other Free Food Markets in Nanaimo.

“We're always needing more volunteers. I was just speaking to one volunteer who's here today, and she's volunteering seven days a week because the shifts aren't getting filled, so she's committed and she's making it happen,” he said. “We're hoping that more people can step up so that maybe she could only work six days a week.”

The new Free Food Market location is now open every Monday on VIU’s Nanaimo campus in building 108. Free parking will be available in Lot U off Wakesiah Ave. from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. while the market is running. Those interested in volunteering with Loaves & Fishes can learn more on their website.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.

Newsroom Ethics • About our Newsroom • Report an Error • Corrections & Clarifications