University staff who can’t afford to eat ask for campus food banks

theguardian.com:

Staff are asking universities to set up food banks because they are struggling with rising bills and say they cannot afford to eat properly.

As food and energy prices rise, the University and College Union says young academics teaching on casual contracts and low-paid support workers such as porters and cleaners are finding themselves on the breadline.

Some staff members at Leeds, a member of the Russell Group of leading universities, said they couldn’t afford adequate meals and called for a staff food bank on an anonymous message board last month. The online message board, seen by the Observer, was set up by students who occupied university buildings to protest at low staff pay.

One staff member wrote: “Another morning where I wake up hungry because I couldn’t eat enough last night.” They added that they had survived on two or three meals of plain rice a day during the pandemic.

A second anonymous university worker said: “This Tuesday I attended my appointment to collect a waste food hamper from a charity. I do this every fortnight so I can make ends meet. No savings in any month.”

One young academic said: “This winter my flat was so cold that I bought myself a pair of gloves to wear while working. Turning the heating on was too expensive.”

Jo Grady, general secretary of the UCU, said: “It is inexcusable that low wages from university and college bosses have forced education staff into using food banks and it is an indictment of the entire sector that has held down pay for far too long.”

UCU members at 20 universities have been boycotting marking and assessment in protest at pension cuts, pay and working conditions, although in recent days Leeds has settled its dispute.

Ruth Holliday, professor of gender and culture at the