Social Sciences Food Drive raises over $10k for Hamilton Food Share Program

The annual Social Sciences Holiday Food Drive was another success for 2023, with over $10,000 raised for the Hamilton Food Share Program.

Donors from across the university provided an abundance of food items and raised $10,240.83, which provides $51,704.15 of food, for families in need in our community.

A trophy is awarded to the department which raised the most money, which for the first time ever was a team outside of the Social Sciences. Congratulations to the Department of Nuclear Operations & Facilities, who raised $2,782.26.

Erica Dao, manager of nuclear outreach and education, spoke of what the food drive meant to the team, and shed light on the role that nuclear energy has to play in food security.

“We know that food insecurity impacts members of our community, but what some people might not know is that nuclear has a role in tackling food insecurity, too!” said Dao. “A lesser-known application of nuclear energy is food irradiation, a process where ionizing radiation is used to extend the shelf life of food by effectively sterilizing it, killing harmful bacteria, pests, and pathogens. This ensures the safety of food products while also preventing spoilage, reducing food waste and making it possible to store and transport food over long distances.

“When we saw that the Faculty of Social Sciences was holding a food drive, we absolutely had to participate to highlight this impactful application of nuclear science!”

In order to raise the winning total, the team led two fundraising initiatives:

• Fermi’s Favourite Chianti: Across the world, scientists celebrate World Nuclear Energy Day on December 2nd, the date of Fermi’s first self-sustained chain reaction and the first commercial-scale nuclear power reactor. Nuclear Operations & Facilities celebrated by irradiating wine in the McMaster Nuclear Reactor hot cell to showcase nuclear energy’s role in tackling food poverty and insecurity. “We wanted to show that despite the misconceptions, it is safe! We invited researchers on campus to attend the irradiated wine tasting and donate to the Hamilton Food Share in lieu of a registration fee,” said Dao.
• Annual Holiday Luncheon: “Every December we host an annual luncheon with our whole team, and this year we had people donate to the Hamilton Food Share,” said Dao. “One meal for us, and many meals for our community members!”

Delia Hutchinson, academic department manager for anthropology and the 2023 food drive organizer, noted that even outside of the classroom, Social Sciences staff, faculty and students work together to make a positive impact in our communities.

“The annual food drive is one example of Social Sciences in action! I was thrilled to present the trophy to Erica Dao and the NRB team,” said Hutchinson.