Fairuz Karim
Fairuz worked with Meal Exchange Canada, a nationally registered charity that has inspired and empowered students across the country to create healthy, just, and sustainable food systems for over 25 years. Meal Exchange Canada closed in the Fall of 2022 but their legacy and reports remain available on their website.
Community Engagement Initiative
Through interviews with students, food advocates, community professionals and people with lived experience, Fairuz took an intersectional approach to understanding food insecurity and mental health. Read her report “Interviews with Community” to hear her recommendations for better supporting students experiencing food insecurity.
Report
In the past several years, increased household and adult food insecurity levels have been associated with poor self-reported mental health outcomes such as anxiety and depression. However, the intersection between both challenges among post-secondary students in a Canadian context has not been well-studied. A qualitative study was conducted to fill this gap by interviewing post-secondary students, student leaders, campus staff, and researchers. Findings demonstrate that food insecurity among post-secondary students can impact their mental health by impacting a student’s sense of agency, impacting their personal identity, creating social isolation and community exclusion, and having serious implications on student success.
Read Fairuz’s blog: International Post-Secondary Student Food Insecurity Cannot be Overlooked
Bio
Fairuz Karim (she/her) is an MHSc Translational Research graduate student at the University of Toronto. Fairuz immigrated to Canada from Bangladesh and grew up near Toronto, Ontario. Growing up as an immigrant and settler in Canada, she is passionate about the intersecting inequalities that newcomer communities face. She passionately advocates for health equity, mental health, and sustainability.
Keywords
Food insecurity, post-secondary, students, community, mental health, well-being, student services, Canada