Kirsten Lawrence: Tackling food insecurity on campus with local and global insights
Now in her fourth and final year of a Business Administration degree with a major in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Kirsten Lawrence has more on her plate than studying. The busy Acadia undergrad is also President of the local chapter of Enactus, a student-led entrepreneurial organization committed to creating positive social and environmental change. Kirsten and her team have focused their energy on addressing food insecurity and food waste on campus – and the ideas they’ve come up with are meaningfully helping others while gaining attention outside the Valley.
Under Kirsten’s leadership, Enactus Acadia established Enactus Foodsharing, an initiative that provides a stigma-free way for students to access free, nutritious, culturally relevant meals while gaining social connections on campus. Enactus Foodsharing harnesses knowledge from Acadia nutrition students, financial donations, and volunteer power to create a program where waste is minimized, and students won’t go hungry.
So far, they have hosted five community events and served students a total of 561 free meals – such as curry, burritos, and chilli. This fall, Enactus Foodsharing joined forces with the ASU Food Cupboard and the Acadia Sustainability Office to offer fresh food choices in the Students’ Union Building during the final days of the fall term. Her experiences are also complementing the formal research she’s doing with Acadia professor, Dr. Edith Callaghan, to better understand food insecurity on campus.
In October, Kirsten took a global approach to learning. Joined by Enactus Acadia Vice President Alex Dulay, Kirsten went on a two-week trip to the Netherlands for the Social Enterprise World Forum and the Enactus World Cup. During this time, the duo engaged with people from around the world on topics like circular economies, rural social enterprises, and working within planetary boundaries.
“I learned so much from all the speakers and had many valuable conversations with people doing incredible things in the world of social enterprise and entrepreneurship,” said Kirsten. “We came back from these conferences extremely inspired and so grateful to the business school for making the trip possible.”
The insights they picked up have already had an impact. Kirsten and Enactus Acadia recently brought their Enactus Foodsharing project to the Enactus Regional Exposition in Halifax and returned with a second-place win. They’re heading to Toronto this May to share their work at the Enactus National Exposition.
While the excitement of the competition is motivating, Kirsten is especially enthused about what Enactus Foodsharing can do for the well-being of her fellow students. More Tuesday night meal events are planned before the end of the semester.
“I knew food insecurity was an issue we could tackle as a student group. There are also a lot of people in the Wolfville community who are passionate about this issue and been supportive of this project,” said Kirsten. “I welcome anyone who wants to be part of a solution to consider donating to Enactus Foodsharing at Acadia.”