“Students Here Care For Other Students”: Student-Run Food Pantries as an Approach to Addressing Collegiate Food Insecurity
Project Author
Issue Date
2024-03-22
Authors
Dejarnette, London
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First Reader
Krone, Adrienne M.
Additional Readers
Byrnes, Delia
Keywords
Food Insecurity , Food Pantry , College Hunger , Hydroponics , SNAP , Student retention
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Abstract
The decline of secure food systems resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic identified the barriers to sufficient food access in the United States. Although this issue existed before the pandemic, these “symptoms” of a broken system increased significantly for communities most vulnerable to food insecurity. Of these populations, college students remain particularly prone to experiencing food insecurity at some point during their time in higher education. Further, low-income college students typically have even less navigational capital than their higher-income peers to persist past these barriers, sometimes forcing them to transfer or even drop out altogether. Seeing as food remains unanimously understood as a necessity for life, establishing access to food is also necessary for providing the conditions needed to function as a well-rounded student. Creating expansive food access programming and resources has proven to be efficient and effective in supporting the needs of low-income students. Through the establishment of a comprehensive Food Resource Center for students through Food Recovery Network processes, I aimed to collect, analyze, and deliver data regarding the influence of accessible food systems on low-income student retention in higher education institutions.
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Major
Environmental Science and Sustainability
Department
Environmental Science and Sustainability
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Honors
Environmental Science and Sustainability, 2024