The Starving Student and their Plight’s
For many of us, uni is the first time that we’re away from home and truly independent, which means that we have to learn to feed ourselves. Our predecessors have traditionally subsisted on two minute noodles, beans on toast, and a shocking lack of greenery. Must it be this way? As much as I can appreciate that the broke student routine is a rite of passage, I’m mildly concerned that developing scurvy could interfere with achieving my desired grades. The usual student struggle for adequate nutrition is being compounded by the current cost of living crisis, and I’m taking it very personally.
I know I’m not alone in this, and in fact my situation is considerably better than a lot of students, many of whom are on an impossible budget and consistently forced to choose between rent and food. Any system in which skipping meals can be touted as a “budgeting hack” is deeply flawed, and the fact that this even needs to be said is as good a reason as any to spiral into despair.
We shouldn’t worry too much though, as our recently elected government has made big promises about restoring the economy and ending the cost of living crisis. If we can place our faith in anyone it should be our beloved Prime Minister, who through his own merit and financial savvy earned $4.2 million in his final year with Air NZ. Clearly this is a man who is relatable to the average New Zealander and can be trusted to do right by students and other low income earners.
In fact, Luxon claimed some months ago that his weekly grocery shop costs just $60, indicating that he’s either incredibly out of touch or has some extremely efficient budgeting skills. How is that possible? Unless you’re eating like a medieval serf it’s hard to imagine living on such a frugal amount. While Luxon does strike me as the type to thoroughly enjoy a diet of plain gruel, he admitted that his supermarket shop is not his entire food budget, which is an interesting way of answering that question, but on par with the way he answers questions generally. It turns out that it’s easy to stick to a $60 weekly grocery budget when you have a near unlimited restaurant budget.
For students trying to support themselves it’s becoming harder and harder to afford the essentials, and the options really are becoming limited to eithe turning to a life of crime or a life of gruel. The only way to truly achieve the $60 budget is to start shoplifting groceries instead of paying in full. For the record: stealing is bad. Personally, I think someone should inform Foodstuffs and Woolworths, who continue to make dazzling profits while the rest of us are being priced out of breakfast.
While stealing from wealthy corporations may have some appeal, it is unfortunately still a crime, and as we all know the law determines what is and isn’t ethical. We all grew up with morally reprehensible characters such as Fantastic Mr Fox and Robin Hood as examples after all, so we should know right from wrong. No matter how easy or practical shoplifting from the supermarket might be, it isn’t a victimless crime, because you’re taking food out of the mouths of the families of the rats in those aisles.
Poverty breeds crime. Our current government has promised to “restore law and order”, which doesn’t bode well for potential thieves. At the same time they are planning to impose stricter sanctions on Jobseeker benefit recipients in an attempt to incentivise people with the luxury of not starving. As well as this, other policies such as offering tax cuts for landlords, increasing public transport fares and repealing Fair Pay Agreements all impact those on a low income, such as students.
For students who are bearing a particularly heavy financial burden, there are some resources that can help. Most of us are familiar with Studylink, but if you are a UoA student experiencing severe difficulty you can apply for AUSA’s Hardship Grants, the University of Auckland Student Emergency Fund, or Faculty-based Hardship Grants for faculties you belong to. To meet with a financial coach, you can also attend drop-in sessions on the last Tuesday of the month 10am-12pm throughout the year in room 315-151, in the Kate Edger Information Commons building.
While these resources may be helpful, the high cost of living is still a burden that seems unlikely to be alleviated in the near future. In the meantime, maybe we should consider training the supermarket rats to retrieve our groceries for us.
