It’s a common joke that college kids survive on cheap ramen noodles and Kraft Dinner, but food insecurity is a very real problem post-secondary students face across Canada.
According to Kathleen Massey, the vice-provost students at the University of Lethbridge, 20 per cent of students on campus are devoid of food on a regular basis, but half of them struggle every single day.
“For about 10 per cent of our students, that is a daily situation — that is a daily struggle where they don’t have enough food,” said Massey.
As a result, a University of Lethbridge student is trying to bridge the gap between free food and student stomachs.
Ankit Mukherjee is a fourth-year student who recently placed third in the LaunchPoint Pitch Competition by showcasing his new app idea, “SnackRadar.”
“SnackRadar is a platform that bridges the gap between free food on campus and students who need it the most. So, having personally worked at a lot of student groups, I’ve noticed there is a lot of leftover food at events that doesn’t get handed out to students in time,” said Mukherjee.
Over 600 students have already begun using the concept via a website, he said, despite it only launching earlier this month. Those wanting food sign up to be alerted via push notifications, and those with food to give can fill out a form to notify them.
“I think alerting people about free food is fantastic,” said Alejandro Figueroa, the president-elect of the University of Lethbridge Student Union.
“A lot of people are already struggling right now to get food, so just by being able to not waste it, it’s already fantastic.”
For Muhkerjee, the app is a no-brainer for students in this day and age.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
“If you don’t have to pay for a lunch and you can instead just get a free pizza by finding out about it, you would rather do that, right?
“With the cost of living rising too, I think this if definitely something students are actively seeking towards.”
The app is also being praised for its timeliness — exams are looming, causing already stressed-out students to become even more anxious.
“Right now, people are studying, they have their phone by their side and get a little buzz – ‘Oh hey, there’s some food over there.’ Take a little study break, refuel yourself, get some friends, get some food, come back. I think that’s really, really cool,” said Figueroa.
Another side effect of the app design is the limiting of food waste.
“There’s always event’s at the university that have extra food and there’s always students that need extra food,” said Luc Roberts, an entrepreneurial strategist with the Agility Innovation Zone at the University of Lethbridge.
“There’s always been difficulties sort of getting them together. I’ve had a number of events where afterwards, I’m walking down halls being like, ‘do you guys want tacos? I’ve got tacos, come to this event’.
“A platform that’s able to identify free food and help students connect there really helps solve two problems at the same time.”
Another important issue is food safety. Massey says this app can help ensure leftovers are consumed within proper timeframes.
“We certainly want to be sure that our students are getting nutritious, but also safe food. This app helps us to get the information into the hands of students in a more timely way so the food does not go to waste.”
Mukherjee credits the LanchPoint Pitch Competition, an entrepreneurial contest hosted by both the University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge Polytechnic, for the early success of SnackRadar.
Mukherjee was awarded $1,000 when his finished in third place earlier this month.
“Without the support of the university, it would have been really hard to get the number of users I do have right now,” Mukherjee said.
The competition acts as a first step for many new entrepreneurs, according to Roberts. He said graduates claim LaunchPoint Pitch and the Agility Innovation Zone enable better decision making for the future.
“They’ll tell us time and time again that it was very valuable that they had these opportunities during their undergraduate degree where they could make mistakes, they could learn things, they could prototype down in the (Agility Innovation Zone), it doesn’t cost them any money.
“They can really afford to fail early and fail often so when the stakes are a bit higher, they already learned most of the lessons.”
As for Mukherjee, he plans to finish developing the app with the support of Agility and the university before seeing where his career takes him after graduation.
The platform currently is accessible at snackradar.ca.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
