Jaslyn Hamilton
Weaver
English 1102
25 April 2022
Overview
Most students enrolled in 4-year colleges choose not to live on campus. 87% of students that go to these colleges end up living in their own housing off campus or doing classes from their home. A lot of these students that are choosing to live off campus often do not get meals every night or can even afford them. There have been many solutions that higher education students can use to help with their food insecurity. Food insecurity is very present in 4-year universities but is not being brought up enough.
Discussion
Enrollment to 4-year universities have increased over the years where more people are choosing to attend. A sizable number of students that are enrolled in these 4-year colleges choose to live off campus and they must find their own food accommodations. When students are enrolled on campus and choose to live on campus in dorms, they often have meals and board grouped together, which is what most 4-year colleges do. Students who are living off-campus have a higher chance of having food insecurity than students who choose to live on campus. “Off-campus students had significantly higher rates of food insecurity at 27.1% (spring) and 21.0% (fall).” (Riddle, Niles, & Nickerson 1) So that leads to the question how many of these students are going to these colleges to pay for their meals? More importantly, how are these colleges helping these students pay for their meals?
“Food insecurity is defined as the limited or uncertain ability to obtain nutritionally adequate food due to lack of financial resources, which can result in disrupted eating patterns and/or reduced food intake.” (Lemus 1) In general, colleges were put in place for the student to live on the campus, when now in the nation most college students choose to live off campus. Since food insecurity is steered by housing and these living costs are increasing, there is more pressure being put on food. In colleges and universities, there is a misperception of what students in today’s universities are like. Most colleges do not account for students having a job or being a parent for example, when having multiple different responsibilities other than school it makes it more difficult eat or even have your own money to feed yourself. It is important to talk about food insecurity because it stems from monetary issues which are quite common among higher education students. “The results seem to suggest that around 40 to maybe even 50% of the nation’s college students are enduring food insecurity while their in school” (Goldrick-Rab 1) It is one of the problems that are not thought of when first thinking of higher education problems, but it is very prevalent among students today.
Food insecurity affects over one-third of college students. “Nearly a third (32%) of undergraduate students were food insecure.” (Willis 167) The institutions of higher education have found some solutions to help students deal with food insecurity such as SNAP, which is an abbreviation for “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program”, is a food purchasing assistance program that helps low-income students by helping to reduce the price of their meals. More colleges are making it more known to students what SNAP is and how to access it so that they can have some help with food assistance. College students often have a challenging time meeting the requirements, because to be eligible for SNAP that student must be working at least 80 hours (about 3 and a half days) per month. There is a temporary expansion passed to make SNAP more accessible which said they were eligible if they participated in federal or state work study or expected no monetary family contribution for that year. “The expansion made public food assistance available to an estimated three million college students” (Gravely 1) College students would be healthier and better off when it comes to learning in the classroom if they are fed. With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of college students have not been able to get or keep a job so by making SNAP more attainable, then potentially more students would be successful and likely to graduating therefore they would be countering the virus. “For years research has indicated that individuals who have successfully completed higher education are in better overall health and have longer life expectancies.” (Holden 1)
Food pantries, community kitchens, scholarships, reorganizing funding, and letting students share their unused meal points to other students that do not have a meal voucher are some other ways that colleges are combating the problem of food insecurity. Many college campuses are now having campus food pantries on campus to help these students. Different universities have tried to push students to go to local community kitchens for support when they are in need of food. Some colleges now have different food scholarships that students can get to make sure that they are eating and that they do not have to worry about their next meal. At colleges where food insecurity might be a bigger problem, they have considered, or they have reorganized their budgeting and funding for different departments such as housing. Some campuses have even let students donate their leftover meal points to other students in need.
In conclusion, food insecurity is a very prevalent and growing problem among higher education students. Food insecurity affects over one-third of students in higher education, and it continues to rise as time goes on. The conception of students in college must change to be able to have a real view of the different people that attend these universities and to have a better understanding of what colleges need to do to help these people. Students need to know that they will have another meal and that when going to college they should not have to worry about whether they will eat that night. It is important, because it will allow for more graduates in the future when they have fewer concerns and worries about a basic life necessity such as food. It is important to recognize this problem while also reinforcing solutions, not only for the students in higher education right now, but for the future of higher education students.
Bibliography
Riddle, M. Niles, A. Nickerson, September 1st, 2018, “Prevalence and the factors Associated with Food Insecurity in Higher Education”, Elsevier Inc. https://www.jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(18)31075-X/fulltext#%20
Goldrick-Rab, Sara, January 30th, 2019, “The struggles many students face”, Amanpour PBS https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/sara-goldrick-rab-on-the-struggles-many-students-face/
Gravely, Alexis, September 10, 2021, “AN Extremely Solvable Problem” InsideHigherED https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/09/10/congress-hears-solutions-campus-food-insecurity
Holden, Lexie, April 12, 2021, “Reducing Food Insecurity Among College Students” FRAC Chat https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/09/10/congress-hears-solutions-campus-food-insecurity
Lemus, Katherine, May 8, 2018, “We need to Address Food Insecurity for College Students in America” The Leadership conference Education Fund” https://civilrights.org/edfund/resource/we-need-to-address-food-insecurity-for-college-students-in-america/
Willis Don, April 5th, 2019, “Feeding the Student Body: Unequal Food Insecurity Among College Students” American Journal of Health Education, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19325037.2019.1590261