A majority of college students in America find themselves in situations of food insecurity. America is home to many world-acclaimed universities and colleges, and as of fall 2020, these institutions expect a total of 19.7 million students in attendance. Are institutions staying ahead of the curve when it comes to food insecurity?
The formal definition of food insecurity according to the USDA is a "state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food." Despite its fairly straightforward wording, the solution to food insecurity is not unidimensional. In fact, food insecurity moonlights as an economic, socio-demographic, and logistic issue.
"A multifaceted problem requires a multifaceted solution"
"A multifaceted problem requires a multifaceted solution," says William Ross, the current coordinator of the UT Outpost at UT Austin:
"When we think of [alleviating the effects of] food insecurity, it means: - a student doesn't go to bed hungry, - can choose nutritious food, and - a decrease in the number of meals the average student skips daily.”
UT Outpost is a community pantry that opened in 2017 as a response to the 28% increase in students with food-related needs in the few years prior. Recognizing the increasing prominence of students struggling due to food-related needs, UT, like many universities across the nation, set up food pantries for its students to obtain nutritious food for free. So who's eligible to shop at UT Outpost? Student shoppers merely need to be current students at the university enrolled in at least one credit hour! With virtually no restrictions on access to university food pantries, college students should be jumping at the opportunity for free food, right?
Following the breadcrumbs
To answer this question, it is important to look at some national trends. The #RealCollege survey is the nation's largest annual assessment of basic needs security among college students. Looking at data from 2018, 86,000 students from two and four-year universities across the nation participated in the survey, revealing some shocking findings:
45% of respondents were food insecure in the prior 30 days
56% of respondents were housing insecure in the previous year
17% of respondents were homeless in the previous year
45% of college students on average were found to be food insecure in the nation.
In a comprehensive 2018 intercollegiate study published by the Journal of Nutrition and Health Sciences, researchers were able to pinpoint some of the factors and causes that determine food insecurity at colleges in the US. Different colleges depending on size, wealth, and location showed differing levels of food insecurity. The study elucidated that nationwide food insecurity ranged from "...14.8% at an urban university in Alabama to 59.0% at a rural university in Oregon." It was found that students of older age, identifying with a minor race/ethnic group, holding a job while studying, and having lower self-efficacy for cooking cost-effective and nutritious meals were more in danger of being food insecure. Additionally, the report also highlighted the grim consequences students face due to food insecurity, among which were high rates of dropping out from college, increased risk of unhealthy mental health symptoms, and most importantly, lower GPAs and subsequent sub-optimal academic performances when compared to their food secure peers.
Despite the clear correlations between low academic performance and food insecurity, an Appalachian State University study exploring the efficiencies of campus food pantries found that there were also perceptual factors that come into play in driving wedges between support resources and the students seeking them.
Every college student that registered their response above was found to be food insecure, even the ones that felt secure in their food related needs. It is clear that a way of combating the social stigma associated with seeking support for alleviating food related needs is required.
Like UT Outpost, many food pantries have embraced a boutique or market style experience for their pantries to combat social stigma. Nevertheless, the problem persists. Universities are exploring more solutions towards getting rid of the mixed feelings and social inhibitions associated with seeking help.
Community pantries are a great way to alleviate food insecurity on college campuses. They tackle the economic aspect of food insecurity by bringing together supply and demand. Research shows that college students suffering from different levels of food insecurity have all benefited from frequenting a community pantry. Student testimonies claimed that such programs have helped them get the food they need while increasing their GPA and health, and minimizing stress.
Staying ahead of the curve
Prevention is better than a cure.
The number of victims suffering from food-related problems can be drastically reduced by adopting the principle of proactive prevention instead of reactive alleviation. This is why a preemptive effort into protecting and further increasing college food security is absolutely essential to stay ahead of the ebulliently increasing number of students burdened with food insecurity.
The past two decades have seen a drastic increase in college enrollment of students of color and from low-income families. Statistically, college applicants from these demographics attend the least-selective colleges and universities which may not have the resources to help students succeed, which subsequently snowballs into the larger problem of low graduation rates and suboptimal academic performance. Thus, it can be hypothesized that many universities are unable to find solutions for the novel challenge of accommodating and caring for students from lower-income families.
Will Ross, coordinator at the UT Outpost, remembers the stress of when the COVID-19 outbreak imposed new challenges on the program. "We took a unique response," details Will.
Set up food delivery system for UT students near campus, using golf carts on lend from the UT Athletics Department
Piggybacked UT Housing and Dining supplier contracts to increase inventory of regulated essentials, (beans, corn, hand sanitizers etc.)
UT Athletics volunteered their community snack pantry
Within the span of two weeks, Will and the UT Outpost team put together a response system for UT students that fit the CDC guidelines of interaction. In fact, the delivery system proved a success for the entirety of summer 2020.
With the university running at a higher capacity during the fall semester, the home delivery system was switched to a contactless pickup system. The new system proved to be a major success. Comparing participation in the program as of October 2020 to that of October 2019, UT Outpost saw a 172% increase in program participation. All the while, the 'on-campus' population of students had almost halved from 55,000 to 28,000, signifying a booming increase in the number of people seeking support for food-related needs. "We face numerous challenges that require quick and novel solutions, but we anticipate growth," says Will, looking optimistically to the future.
Increasingly, American universities have begun laying the groundwork for prioritizing their students' food security. The College and University Food Bank Alliance (CUFBA) has become a major voice in the effort to alleviate food insecurity, hunger, and poverty among college university students. Partnering with other individuals and organizations running food pantries across America, CUFBA has garnered support from over 500 allied community pantries across the nation.
So what should be done?
Collecting data through optimized surveys would help paint a more accurate picture about food insecurity at any university. Furthermore, universities must take additional steps to combat stigma around seeking support. This could be done by adding seminars for incoming freshmen to improve knowledge about college resources, specifically the accessibility of collegiate community pantries. Universities could also attempt to bridge the gap between students in need and government food scholarship programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which has historically been underutilized by students.
This then leads to an important question: is it the responsibility of universities to acknowledge and alleviate food-related needs for their students? Is it the responsibility of the government? Tuition rates for the average undergraduate student have almost doubled from 1985 to 2018. Rates for peripheral costs, including housing and food, have increased as well. This leaves the average cost of attendance at about $64,000 for the average undergraduate in America as of 2019, and the trends only indicate increases going forward. Despite the plethora of scholarships and financial support available to students, financial alleviation is more a Band-Aid than a vaccine. True reform lies in the united effort by students and universities to consider a combination of multifaceted support programs to benefit the students in need and to propagate the importance of health and nutrition as a stepping stone towards overall academic and social progress.
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