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Best Work – Formal Report : Analysis of Food Affordability and Visibility for University of British Columbia Students.

Task: The report is intended to investigate, analyze, and recommend action on a problem, an inefficiency, or a deficiency in a public setting (a workplace, a volunteer or a community organization). We have gathered information and provided an according-to solution.

PDF Link: Formal Report

 

Letter of Transmission

 

1234 Ash Street

Vancouver, BC V1B 3M4

 

March 16, 2022

 

Colin Moore

Director

AMS Student Life Director

1234 Possible Rd. Vancouver, BC A1A 2B2

 

 

Dear Mr. Moore,

 

Please see the attached report for “Analysis of Food Affordability and Visibility

For University of British Columbia Students”. In the report, we have enclosed possible solutions to better the quality of students’ lives by enhancing the food information disconnect between the students and meal options provided on campus.

 

The goal of this report is to introduce the possibility of developing the UBC Food Application for campus food visibility or partnering with food vendors on campus. I am certain that these two solutions will help students with the food affordability problem they have been facing.

 

Kindly let us know if you have any questions concerning the research at 647-965-1234 or kellykim030@hotmail.com.

 

Thank you.

Best,

Kelly Kim

 

Analysis of Food Affordability and Visibility

For University of British Columbia Students

 

 

 

 

For

Colin Moore

Director

AMS Student Life Director

Kelly Kim

English 301 Student

 

 

 

 

Read by

Jake Moh

Member of Jake’s Friends

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 26, 2022

 

Table of Contents

Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………….  4

  1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………… 5
  2. Background of Students of UBC …………………………………………………………… 5
  3. Overview of Problem and Purpose of the Report …………………………………………… 6
  4. Scope of Research ……………………………………………………………………………. 7
  5. Research Methods .…………………………………………………………………………… 7
  6. Data Collection ………………………………………………………………………………. 8
  7. Data Demographics…………………………………………………………………… 8
  8. Student Survey Investigation of Accessibility and Affordability for Food……………8
  9. Student Survey Investigation of Food Information Accessibility……………………. 10
  10. Proposed Solution 1– Development of Food Application……..……………………..12
  11. Proposed Solution 2 – Partnership with Food Vendors on Campus………………….13

III. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………….… 15

Appendix A: Survey Questions ………………………………………………………………….18

Appendix B: Interview Questions ……….……………………………………………………….19

Works Cited …………………………..……………………..…………………………………. 20

 

 

Figures

Figure 1: Maclean’s Post-Secondary Student Expenses ……………………………..………….. 9

Figure 2: UBC Food Price ………………………………………………………………………. 9

Figure 3: Food Information……………………………………………………………………….11

 

 

 

Abstract

 

Background: The assessment of UBC students’ accessibility to information on affordable meals on campus is based on the critical concern for students who rely on affordable meals to meet their monthly budget.

 

Objectives: If students have more accessible information about cheaper food options on campus, it will lead to improved student quality of life due to less distress from financial concerns, which would help students to focus on their studies and development. Although there may be a short-term cost of implementing solutions, these solutions are cost-effective solutions that will increase the quality of life of current and future students.

 

Recommendations: This report has two recommendations:

  • Development of centralized food application for UBC students and faculty
  • Partnership with Food Vendors on Campus by adding vendors to the Sustainable Food Access Fund Referendum.

 

 

Introduction

 

Background of Affordable Food Information Necessity in UBC

 

The University of British Columbia is located in Vancouver, one of the most expensive cities in Canada, according to the 2021 Mercer Cost of Living Survey ranking. Furthermore, January inflation reached 5.1% on annual basis, the highest it has been since September 1991, due to an increase in Gasoline prices (Statistics Canada, 2022). The cost of grocery prices has also taken a hit, rising 6.5% in January.

In addition to record-high inflation in January of 2022, on February 24th, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine leading to a huge increase in gasoline prices in Vancouver, resulting in the record-high gas price of $1.99 a litre. With the recent developments of high geopolitical risk, the energy market is “confused”, which brings growing concerns about the anticipated increase in future consumer goods and steeper inflation as a result.

Specifically, post-secondary students face pressure with increased expenditures with fixed expenses – tuition and compulsory fees, accommodations, and weekly groceries – and decreased income because of COVID. According to a 2020 poll conducted by CIBC, 7 out of 10 students admitted their income had been affected by the COVID-19.

Food insecurity is prevalent and according to Statistics Canada, 10.4% of 20-34-year-olds are food insecure compared to 7.8% of the general population (Statistics Canada, 2013).

As a result, with a limited budget for food, students relying on government loans or allowances from parents, are concerned about whether they will fully pursue their current degree without a full-time job. When looking for food on campus, they increasingly seek affordable food options that will fit their budget.

Overview of Problem and Purpose of Report

Beyond tuitions fees, after rent and groceries, food on campus takes third place in the average annual cost of post-secondary students, based on 23,348 students surveyed for the Maclean’s study. Figure 1 shows that apart from rent, grocery spending and food on campus account for 19.1% of all expenses. According to the 2018 University of British Columbia tuition consultation report, it was reported 90% of all respondents experience “a great deal of financial stress” with the top three financial stress attributable to housing, (82%), textbooks (63%) and food (61%).

Research on the topic of food insecurity has been conducted for post-secondary students and was determined that the group experiences food insecurity. University students particularly suffer because of their limited earning potential, high tuition fees, and lack of financial support from parents. (Farahbakhsh et al., 2015). With high financial stress, 27% of UBC students become food insecure (Nguyen, 2019) which resulted in them compromising their food quality.

As such, the purpose of this report is to raise awareness about the limited and hidden affordable food options for University of British Columbia students and to provide short-term and long-term recommendations to address these affordability issues at UBC.

 

Scope of Research

The scope of the report is focused on international and domestic students at the University of British Columbia Vancouver Campus.  Given such restraints, the two objectives will be investigated:

  • The food affordability issue of UBS students by identifying the gap between students’ financial needs and the current campus food price range. How do they experience it, and how does it affect their daily lives?
  • Determine accessibility and visibility of affordable food options on campus and develop recommendations to address students’ challenges.

 

Research Methods

The primary data collection took place in the form of surveys distributed to University of British Columbia Students in an online format from March 8th to 14th, 2022. The survey was conducted anonymously through Google Survey. Throughout the research, objectivity was kept as the survey questions were carefully crafted to not include any personal bias.

Another form of primary data collection was an interview form. Rather than a group interview where the opinions of the mass may persuade one another, an individual one-on-one interview technique was utilized to eliminate any bias. To recruit the sample from the target population, I asked in a group chat with 80 members of Bachelor of computer science students if there was an interest in an interview without disclosing the topic of the research. One person volunteered, and she was invited to answer the survey questions in more detail to improve our understanding of food affordability and visibility situation for post-secondary students. The interview lasted 15 minutes and the questions were both quantitative questions from the survey with an additional three qualitative questions.

After the primary research was completed and the results were analyzed, secondary research was continued to analyze the scholarly articles and publicly available data accessed through the Google search engine. To identify the objectivity of online journals, data sets, and research, publications were carefully selected by verifying that the research was completed less than a decade ago and by checking reliable authorship.

 

Data Collection

Data Demographics

University of British Columbia students have completed the survey. Out of 20 students, 80% were domestic students and 20% were international students. 80% of the students were pursuing their second bachelor’s degrees and 20% of the students were in their first undergraduate degree.

Additionally, an individual interviewed was a domestic student pursuing her second degree in computer science.

 

Student Survey Investigation of Accessibility and Affordability for Food

Beyond tuitions fees, after rent and groceries, food on campus takes third place in the average annual cost of post-secondary students, based on 23,348 students surveyed for the Maclean’s study. Figure 1 shows that apart from rent, grocery spending and food on campus account for 19.1% of all expenses.

To understand the definition of “affordable meals” for students, it was important to understand the financial budget of students. Figure 2 shows the budget per meal that students have the “ability to pay” versus the price paid. So how much are students available to pay? According to the survey, the average budget paid per meal on campus is $10.4. In contrast, the average food price paid is $11.25, about 8% higher than the average student budget.

 

During the interview, when asked the same questions, she mentioned she usually expects around $9 for a meal but she ends up paying around $12 realistically. The interviewee added, “the campus meals are more expensive than what I can afford and the food costs at UBC are concerning for me.” From the results in a discrepancy between the budget and paid price, and the interview discussion, it was deduced that UBC students currently experience on campus a lack of affordability.

Furthermore, according to the survey, when the question – “Purchasing budget-friendly food on campus is: 1) Easy and convenient. 2) Sometimes difficult and inconvenient. 3) Always difficult and inconvenient.” – was asked, 75% of the students answered that it is sometimes difficult and inconvenient, whereas the remaining 25% answered that it is always difficult and inconvenient.

The interviewee also hinted that there is difficulty in finding affordable foods on campus. “We need to find a quick and easy meal between classes but usually the affordable options have a huge queue so we resort to skipping or just going for higher-priced but more accessible options. Tim Hortons always has a long line.”

This response touched not only on the accessibility issue for affordable meals at UBC but also shows that students “skipped lunch”, therefore compromising their health to meet their financial situations. According to a survey conducted by Cengage, 43% of American college students interviewed skipped their meals to pay for their textbooks (2018). Moreover, the survey conducted by Meal Exchange has shown that 39% of Canadian students who have food insecurity established the top three factors that make their financial budget difficult to keep being the food costs, housing costs and tuition fees (2016).

 

Student Survey Investigation of Food Information Accessibility

Another round of questions was asked to see if there was a disconnect between students’ knowledge of the availability of affordable budget meals on campus versus the actual budget meals that are offered. What if there is an abundance of affordable meals offered on campus, but students were just short of knowledge?

When the student interviewee was asked where she ate the most she answered, “I usually eat at Tim Hortons because it is cheap and more accessible. There are always long lines though.” The answer indicated that students not only consider price but also accessibility and convenience. Next question was, “What app do you use to find food on campus?” and she stated either Yelp or word of mouth.

 

Consistent with her response as indicated in Figure 3, the research tool used by students were Yelp, Google Map and word-of-mouth in order. The Yelp app and Google Map are phone applications that list the restaurants according to distance and different price points according to search criteria, along with the reviews. Surprisingly, the survey results showed a high number of students relying on word of mouth for the search for new restaurants on campus.

Upon further research, the shortfall of the apps was identified. The menu choices and their prices were not updated for small items or budget-friendly options that students seek. For example, it only indicated broad $ signs of how expensive the overall restaurant’s meals were but did not indicate which menu items there were and which affordable options there are in order. As a result, students need to click on individual restaurants to view the menu options. The difficulty in navigating these apps has led to students relying on either word of mouth or resorting to the same selections every day. It also led students to believe that there are not many choices on campus.

According to research done by the University of British Columbia, budget meals are provided by the university. UBC has a three-tier pricing system in place run by the UBC Food Services to help students budget their food spending. These cafes offer meals ranging from $5 to $15 to make more budget-friendly meals. There are cafes such as Agora and Sprouts that offer below-average food prices. Agora offers $6.75 combo meals with sandwiches priced at $4.50.

Although below-average budget-friendly meal options are offered, are students aware of these options? The survey showed that the students use word-of-mouth and yelp as their main mode of the search when finding food options. Unfortunately, the student budget-friendly option, Agora, is not listed on Yelp.  The seasonal items that were common in small cafes were not listed; therefore, there was limited information for students who search the meals on app platforms. Hence, due to the disconnect in the information that is accessible by students and the meal options available on campus, students feel that there are not many options on campus to fulfill their needs.

Proposed Solution 1 – Development of Food Application

Based on our findings, our action-based recommendation is to develop an Android or iOS Food Application for UBC.

Unlike the current app platforms that exist like Yelp or Google, the idea centers around helping students to identify food options according to individual menu price points instead of restaurant price points. If all the individual items, that are for example $4.75 per sandwich can be filtered by individual menu price, students will be able to find affordable meal options more easily rather than looking through individual restaurants one by one. Also, there need to be more active involvement by restaurants in updating their menu items so that information about restaurants’ affordable lines can be more accessible to students in the new app platform.

Typically, the development of a food application costs per feature included in the app. The average ordering of the software will cost $12,000. However, UBC also can host hackathons for undergraduate or graduate students to develop food applications. As an actionable item of the university, these are the proposals:

  • First, contact the Computer Science Department to run a hackathon to develop a food app for the university.
  • Second, the hackathon winner would be prized for the development of the software and a set of students would be hired to upkeep the software.
  • To see the app tested and deployed amongst students, UBC AMS (i.e. Cole Evans – President of MAS) can partner with the UBC Computer Science department (i.e. Steve Wolfman – Director of Bachelor of Computer Science) to elucidate this idea.
  • Third, UBC should receive feedback for the app for further steps to better the application platform.

In the coming two years, the collaboration between students and the university will lead to the successful development of a food application that can be widely used to foster food retail growth in UBC and help with the improvement of food affordability for students by bridging the information gap.

 

Proposed Solution 2 – Partnership with Food Vendors on Campus

According to secondary research, campus-wide efforts by UBC to enhance food affordability were apparent. For example, “UBC Wellbeing Strategic Framework” outlines the campus-wide goal of an increasing number of food-secure individuals on campus (UBC Wellbeing, n.d., p.13). However, there is a shortfall that the framework did not determine the target reduction plan, a concrete timeline, or any specific project deliverables.

Currently, AMS has established a Sustainable Food Access Fund to better the affordability of four critical campus food outlets – UBC Sprouts, Agora Café, Roots on the Roof and UBC. The referendum allows these selected food outlets to receive funds to achieve the goal of providing UBC students with affordable meals. The current shortfall of the program is the scale of the initiative compared to the large portion of UBC students currently facing financial stress. Therefore, by increasing the vendors associated with this referendum, UBC Students would be able to benefit from discounted campus foods. These partnerships will lead to synergy effects for both the vendors and students.

Therefore, the university should:

  • First, establish more robust partnerships with food vendors by communicating the long-term effect of the synergetic effects of the referendum. The applicable parties include the UBC Food Services (Colin Moore – Director), and respective food vendor owners.
  • Secondly, a robust partnership referendum should be drafted and agreed upon by the vendors and university. It is expected that students will largely vote in favour of the referendum just as the precedent was passed in 2016.
  • Lastly, through the referendum, the students will be able to access more options for food options on campus and enjoy an enhanced quality of life.

 

Conclusion

Summary of Findings

After the primary research with students’ surveys, conducting an interview and completing the corresponding research on secondary data exploring scholarly research on food insecurity by students, and accessibility of affordable food options on campus, it was concluded that there was a gap between affordable meals on campus and student’s knowledge on choices available. Furthermore, students felt that the food on campus was not affordable with led them to sacrifice their food quality. This shed light on the two solutions – the need to close the gap of knowledge by developing a centralized food application for the UBC campus and the need to expand the 2016 referendum to provide more variety of affordable meals for student meals.

The limitations of the research provided the survey and interview were that the research was conducted amongst a small number of samples. Furthermore, the majority of the respondents of the surveys were second bachelor students, who would have had more savings than the majority of the post-secondary bachelor students who rely mostly on parents’ allowances and government subsidies.

In summary, the app development and referendum expansion will alleviate current UBC students’ distress concerning food affordability and will contribute to the overall betterment of students’ quality of life.

 

 

Appendixes A: Survey Questions

  1. This means during the day do you mostly purchase on the UBC campus?
    1. Breakfast
    2. Lunch
    3. Dinner
  2. What time on average do you purchase a meal on the UBC campus?
    1. 8 AM – 10 AM
    2. 10 AM – 12 AM
    3. 12 PM – 3 PM
    4. 6 PM -8 PM
    5. 8 PM – 10 PM
    6. 10 PM – 12 PM
  3. What is the average price budget per meal?
    1. $ 6-8
    2. $ 8-10
    3. $ 10-12
    4. $ 13-15
    5. $ 15-18
    6. $ 18+
  4. What is the average price paid per meal on the UBC campus?
    1. $ 6-8
    2. $ 8-10
    3. $ 10-12
    4. $ 13-15
    5. $ 15-18
    6. $ 18+
  5. Purchasing food on campus is:
    1. Easy and convenient
    2. Sometimes difficult and inconvenient
    3. Always difficult and inconvenient
  6. Purchasing budget-friendly food on campus is:
    1. Easy and convenient
    2. Sometimes difficult and inconvenient
    3. Always difficult and inconvenient
  7. Are you able to purchase food promptly?
    1. Easy and convenient
    2. Sometimes difficult and inconvenient
    3. Always difficult and inconvenient
  8. What method of research tool do you use to find affordable meals on campus?
    1. Yelp
    2. Google Map
    3. ubc.ca
    4. Reddit
    5. Word of Mouth
    6. If other, kindly write the source of the research tool used on the next question.
  9. What method of research tool do you use to find affordable meals on campus?

(short answer)

  1. How satisfied are you with the variety of meals offered on campus?
    1. Very satisfied
    2. Satisfied
    3. Neutral
    4. Dissatisfied
    5. Very dissatisfied
  2. How easy is it to find new food options on campus?
    1. Easy and Convenient
    2. Sometimes difficult and inconvenient
    3. Always difficult and inconvenient

 

Appendixes B: Interview Questions

  1. Which meal during the day do you mostly purchase on the UBC campus?
  2. What time on average do you purchase a meal on the UBC campus?
  3. What is the average price budget per meal?
  4. How long does it take for you to purchase a meal?
  5. What is the average price paid per meal on the UBC campus?
  6. Purchasing food on campus is?
  7. Purchasing budget-friendly food on campus is?
  8. Where are some of the restaurants you go to?
  9. Are you able to purchase food promptly?
  10. How much time do you give yourself to find and finish a meal on campus?
  11. What method of research tool do you use to find affordable meals on campus?
  12. How satisfied are you with the variety of meals offered on campus?
  13. How easy is it to find new food options on campus?

 

Works Cited

 

Farahbakhsh, Jasmine. “What Is the Food Security Status … – University of Alberta.” What Is the Food Security Status, Self-Rated Health, and Diet of Students Using a University-Based Food Bank?” , https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/631f514b-fab7-451f-8380-fc7dc8edc015/view/7ff4d21f-6d73-4a4b-9b00-a6dcd08144b8/Farahbakhsh_Jasmine_J_201505_MSc.pdf.

 

“New Survey: College Students Consider Buying Course Materials a Top Source of Financial Stress.” Cengage, 30 Apr. 2021, https://www.cengagegroup.com/news/press-releases/2018/new-survey-college-students-consider-buying-course-materials-a-top-source-of-financial-stress/.

Orton, Tyler. “Why Canada’s Inflation Is Driving Cost of Living in BC  – Vancouver Is Awesome.” Vancouver Is Awesome, 16 Feb. 2022, https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/bc-news/inflation-hits-highs-not-seen-since-1991-as-rent-drives-up-costs-in-bc-5069884.

Reporter, Staff. “Metro Vancouver Gas Prices Tipped to Drop 15 Cents Overnight to Less than $2 a Litre | Vancouver Sun.” Vancouversun, Vancouver Sun, 11 Mar. 2022, https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/gas-price-drop-vancouver.

 

“SFAF.” Agora Caf, https://blogs.ubc.ca/agora/sustainable-food-access-fund/.

Wellbeing Strategic Framework, https://wellbeing.ubc.ca/framework.

 

Silverthorn, Drew. Hungry for Knowledge – Communist Party of Canada. https://cpcml.ca/publications2016/161027-Hungry_for_Knowledge.pdf.

 

Yee, Cameron, and Cameron Yee                 on December 2. “Financial Aid Guide for University and College Students in Canada.” MoneySense, 25 Oct. 2021, https://www.moneysense.ca/save/financial-aid-guide-for-university-and-college-students-in-canada/.

 

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