Application deadline: January 11th, 23:59 PM

Acadia Park Community Food Hamper Program Research Opportunity Purpose: to increase understanding of student and community experiences of the Acadia Park Community Food Hamper program

Objective:
1.Deepen understanding of community experience in accessing the hamper program, includinglived experience of food insecurity, to support emerging conversations on emergency food reliefinitiatives
2.Explore barriers to dignified and personally acceptable access to hamper program
3.Provide recommendations on opportunities to scale up and/or adapt food hamper program tostrengthen support and resources for food insecure communities
4.Create a digital story output to be shared with the wider community to strengthen theunderstanding of food insecurity amongst UBC students

Context:
COVID-19 has exacerbated the already serious issue of food insecurity in the post-secondary student population. Compounding factors have pushed students, particularly international graduate students, deeper into financial precarity. Students have lost paid research and work placements, childcare, and family financial support while maintaining expenses for tuition, textbooks, rent, food, and other costs of living. To highlight this challenge, a faculty member recently organized a short-term response to support graduate students going hungry by providing weekly emergency food hampers for approximately 100 students and their families with support from UBC Food Services and the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. Ongoing, the AMS Food Bank will expand and enhance their capacity to continue the emergency food hamper service. The AMS Food Bank, UBC Student Housing and Community Services, and the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, are working collaboratively with support from the Food Security Initiative (FSI) to establish future plans to innovate and dignify food insecurity resources on campus.

While the FSI understands the need for fundamental systems and structural changes that cause food insecurity, we also acknowledge that emergency food programs serve an immediate need for individuals and families who find themselves in urgent need. This community-led research will support ongoing whole-institution collaboration to deepen and expand dignified access to food relief co-informed by the lived experiences of the communities in which it affects.

Desired student qualification:
•Experience with qualitative research and interdisciplinary work•Excellent organizational and time management skills with strong attention to detail
•Strong communication skills with experience in Community-Based Participatory Action Research(CBPAR)•Experience in working with communities who have been systematically marginalized and abilityto facilitate discussion of sensitive issues
•Preference for candidates who identify as belonging to communities who are often mostimpacted by food insecurity
• Preference given to candidates who have experience in producing public scholarship outputs such as podcasts, videos or other forms of digital storytelling

Appointment Duration: January 18th, 2021 to May 31st, 2021
Hours and rate: Approximately 250 hours at $22.31/hour (weekly hours to be discussed with the candidate)
Position Type: Short-term Contract
Supervisor: Dr. Siobhán McPhee (UBC-Vancouver), supported by Dr. Joan Bottorf (UBC-Okanagan)
Supporting Unit: UBC Wellbeing and SEEDS Sustainability Program