How these groups are helping international students on P.E.I. struggling with the rising cost of food
CBC
Pranay Roy Bochu is buying a lot more "flash food" these days — food that's about to expire and sold at discounts.
It's one of many ways the second-year Holland College student has been dealing with rising food costs.
He plans carefully before going shopping, recently switched to the cheapest cellphone plan and has cut down on fast food, which is now a luxury for him.
"I have been reducing the other prices so that I can accommodate that amount into the grocery," he said.
"For me as an international student, living here is very difficult."
Bochu isn't alone.
Across the country, people are grappling with increasing food prices as Canada's inflation rate rose to 5.1 per cent in January, its highest level since 1991.
But the issue puts a greater burden on international students, said Bochu, as they are not permitted to work more than 20 hours per week while classes are in session.
He is living on a tight budget because of the 20-hour constraint while working part-time earning minimum wage for a Charlottetown grocery store.
"My income has been constant for more than a year, whereas the expenses which I have been facing over this period of time have been increasing."
Tolulope Oginni, president of the UPEI African Student Association, recently started a grocery support program to help international students like Bochu.
She said she's been hearing more and more from students on campus about food insecurity and getting questions about where to get cheaper groceries, two years into the pandemic.
"Students are still trying to figure out a way to climb up and find that stability like it was before COVID," she said.
"I need to just help them out one way or the other."
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