Reducing Food Insecurity On Their Campus Essay

Many college students are at risk for hunger. Low-income students do not prioritize eating because of their other financial responsibilities, including rent, textbooks, and transportation. Students who tend to buy their own food, do not buy the most nutritious meals which includes the infamous ramen for lunch or dinner. Two articles that discuss students experiencing food insecurity are “Students Shouldn’t Have to Choose Between Books and Food” by Clare Cady explains how low-income students cannot afford the food provided on campus because of other responsibilities which tend to relate to school whether its textbooks or transportation to get to class. The other article, “Student Food Insecurity: The Skeleton in the University Closet” by

For most Americans, the word poverty means insufficient access to to housing, clothing and nutritious food that meet their needs for a healthy life. A consequence of poverty is a low socioeconomic status that leads to being exposed to poor nutrition. Since food and dietary choices are influenced by income, poverty and nutrition go hand in hand. There are many important factors that threaten the nutritional status of poor people. The number one factor is not having enough money to buy food of good quality and quantity. Not having enough money can have a profound impact on the diets of low-income people. Limited financial resources may force low income people to make difficult decisions about what kind and how much food to buy. Limited

Food insecurity is a major issue in Canada, affecting millions people across the country especially minorities. In 2012, four million Canadians experienced some form of food insecurity (Tarasuk, Mitchell, & Dachner, 2014). This paper aims to focus on how food insecurity affects women and children, and the costs associated with it. The results of food insecurity can be serious mental, and physical health problems for women and children. It shall demonstrate the need for government intervention, job security, prices of food, and public policies to protect low income families. This topic was chosen as it is an issue which often gets overlooked by many middle and upper class Canadians. Often times when people think of starvation, they picture children in Sub-Saharan Africa. The reality is that women and children in Canadian communities are affected by food insecurity daily. Action needs to be taken immediately in order for food insecurity to be fully eradicated, and justice to be achieved.

The film I watched was titled Food, Inc. This film examines the food industry and the industrial production of the many products we eat today (meats, grains, and vegetables). This film is trying to explain how agribusiness is producing food that is not healthy. In the film they also assess how todays agribusiness is harmful to the environment and abusive to the animals and workers. This film examines where the food we eat is coming from, how it is being produced, and who is producing it. They film is diving into how few giant corporations are basically controlling the growth, processing and sale of food in this country. In the film they give a statistic, which states that the top 4 meat-producing companies in the country are responsible for

As tuition and the accompanying expenses and rise so do the rates of food insecurity on college campuses. In a study of 410 students was conducted at the University of Hawai’i at Ma¯noa in Honolulu, Hawai’i to evaluate food insecurity. The results exhibited 21 percent, approximately 86 out of 410, of students qualified to be food insecure with 24 percent, 98 out of 410 being at risk for food insecurity (Chaparro, Zaghloul, Holck, and Dobbs). It was also reported that out of the 410, only eight students used food stamps (Chaparro, Zaghloul, Holck, and Dobbs). This is reflective of most U.S. college campuses including that of Arizona State University, with food insecurity of 34 percent, 14 percent at the University of Alabama, and 24 percent

“More than 45 million people, or 14.5 percent of all Americans, lived below the poverty line last year. The annual income threshold for being counted as living in poverty was $11,490 last year for a person and $23,550 for a family of four,” (Huffington Post, 2016). With poverty being an ongoing problem, more than 45 million people may not know when they will have their next meal, let alone a sustainable one. My hometown community has noticed this in our school system and created a food pantry in order to allow students to ensure they will have a meal when they get home from school. Food insecurity is found in every community, but all it only takes one person to step up and make change. One small change can create a wave of change that could

1. With all respect, I appreciate and I am thankful the YCFB because they have helped me a lot by giving the food pantry every month.

What are the current programs in place to address food insecurity on American college campuses?

The American household has access to enough food for a healthy lifestyle, for all members of the household. The low-income households have a difficult time for providing enough food to all household members due to a lack of resources.

There are many devastating food issues in society; the same is true on college campuses. Problems such as food waste, nutrition problems, and affordability are only a few of the troubles intertwined with food. A college campus is much like a small city, it’s residents, the students produce a lot of food waste like anyone else, and if the university does not actively seek to combat the problem of food waste, it will run ramped. Every day, on the campus of Stetson University, roughly 3,000 students eat on campus. Thus, it can be a massive and complicated problem to solve; however, making small changes to become proactive in the problem will make a sizeable impact.

Food insecurity is commonly described as an individual’s inability to access adequate and nutritious foods, commonly due to the lack of money and/or available resources. According to a national survey, food insecurity plaques a plethora of campus communities including Rutgers University Newark, over 30% of our student body is facing this. Food insecurity can lead to high levels of anxiety, cognitive development problems, and depression. Basic daily needs have become a barrier to education in our own community, and many students are at risk of serious threats to their health and academic achievement. Rutgers University-Newark provides student, faculty, and staff with a food pantry, in which an individual has access to three times a week, however,

Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to not know if you will be able to feed yourself or your family from month to month? Imagine putting yourself in the shoes of a father who gets paid 7 dollars and 25 cents an hour who spends so much money on housing, and medical bills for himself and his family that he is not sure if he can afford to feed himself along with his family. When I went to the Food Bank Community Service in Georgia I learned that 1 in 4 children in the state of Georgia are insecure which is a staggering number. While there is definitely a connection between food insecurity, and starvation it must be made clear that food insecurity is a situation where a particular family or household is struggling to supply itself with enough food to sustain itself while starvation is suffering due to hunger. Some of the many causes of food insecurity include, a low minimum wage, high housing costs, medical bankruptcy, and food desserts.

Maroto, M. E., Snelling, A., & Linck, H. (2014). Food Insecurity Among Community College Students: Prevalence and Association With Grade Point Average. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 39(6), 515-526. doi:10.1080/10668926.2013.850758

In this study the author’s purpose was to determine food insecurity in college-aged students by surveying thirty-one randomly selected courses in a two month period. The survey questioned the student’s food security, demographics and spending habits over the last academic year, so freshman students were excluded. In addition to identifying food insecure students the authors also wanted to determine the potential predictors and consequences of being food insecure. Another thirty-one students were excluded because they were on a special diet due to an illness, pregnant, or they did not complete the core questions. This left a total sample size of 410 students.

Food insecurity, defined as insufficient access to nutritionally adequate foods, has been a fast growing concern among college students who have been under increasing financial pressure due to the escalating costs of tuition and educational resources. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of food insecurity among a sample of college students at Lehman College. A self-administered survey consisting of 12 questions pertaining to food insecurity, as well as demographic and academic attributes, was completed by 180 students at different sites on campus. Food insecurity affected 15.5% of respondents. Nearly one quarter (25%) of students reported being unable to eat balanced or nutritious meals due to a lack of money, while 13% had to decrease the size of their meals or skip meals because there wasn’t enough money for food. Students who reported poor or fair health status, GPA lower than 3.0, and participation in food assistance programs were more likely to be food insecure. These findings suggest that students are at increased risk for food insecurity. Implementation of a sustainable on-campus food bank, along with increasing the availability of nutritious foods from edible gardens, can be major stepping stones toward food security in this often neglected population.