Neighbourhoods are in for a fright this Halloween as they open their doors to trick-or-treating students requesting healthy, non-perishable food items instead of candy.

For the fifth year in a row, students from the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union Food Centre will collect food for the Saskatoon Food Bank, with a small portion of the proceeds going to support the centre. The centre’s goal is to gather $500 worth of food.

Last year, the Food Centre recruited 250 volunteers who collected 7,500 pounds of food. The U of S team was the third largest team in Canada and one of the nation’s top five donors. USSU Food Centre Co-ordinator Alex Gao said the centre’s goal is to beat last year’s record.

Gao said that students like participating in Trick-or-Eat because it is a way they can lend a hand to their local food bank.

“Students, college-aged, can go trick-or-treating again and they can really help the food bank a lot,” Gao said.

Student societies from the Colleges of Engineering, Nursing and Dentistry have all expressed interest in participating.

Trick-or-Eat hopes to collect $550,000 worth of food and raise $50,000 in online donations. The proceeds from cash donations will be used to support local soup kitchens, food banks and shelters across Canada.

Health Canada defines household food insecurity as “the inability to acquire or consume an adequate diet quality or sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways, or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so.”

Household food insecurity is often associated with the financial inability to access adequate food.

Over 1.6 million Canadians households experience food insecurity — nearly 3.8 million people, 1.1 million of which are children.

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Graphic: Stephanie Mah