{"id":16499,"date":"2020-11-25T09:00:22","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T14:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=16499"},"modified":"2020-11-12T10:34:56","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T15:34:56","slug":"fnce-food-insecurity-among-college-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2020\/11\/25\/fnce-food-insecurity-among-college-students\/","title":{"rendered":"FNCE: Food Insecurity Among College Students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Lucia Rivera, VRG Intern<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the virtual 2020 Food &\nNutrition Conference & Expo, food policy and public health experts Alana\nDavidson and Marsha Spence spoke to the issue of food insecurity among college\nstudents in their session \u201cFailing to Make the Grade: Food Insecurity on\nCollege Campuses.\u201d The goal of this session was to \u201ceducate RDNs about the\ncurrent literature on food insecurity prevalence and its effects on academics,\nprovide examples of programs on college campuses to improve food security, and\nexplain SNAP rules for students and how to increase SNAP participation among\nthis vulnerable demographic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \nThe speakers began by discussing \u201cFood Insecurity Rates Among College\nStudents in the US\u201d and highlighting the most at-risk groups among college\nstudents. \u201cWhile there are no national data on how many students are food insecure,\ncampuses and states have been publishing shocking research on this issue over\nthe last few years. For example, a recent study of 86,000 students found 48% of\nstudents surveyed reported food insecurity,\u201d the speakers explained in their\nabstract for the session. More specifically, however there are higher rates of\nfood insecurity among students at 2-year colleges than at 4-year colleges.\nFurthermore, students who are Black, are Latinx, are single parents, have a\ndisability, are part of sexual or gender minorities, are from low income\nbackgrounds, are first generation college students, are at low wage jobs, or\nare foster kids are more likely to be food insecure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \nAccording to the speakers, coping strategies for food insecurity such as\nbuying the cheapest food, skipping meals, not paying bills, not purchasing\nschool supplies or medicine, and couch surfing are ineffective ways for college\nstudents to address this problem. Instead, the speakers provided several\nsolutions that can be implemented to address food insecurity on college\ncampuses, including food pantries; food apps; gleaning and repackaging food;\nhaving edible walkways and campus gardens; educating faculty, staff, and\nstudents about food insecurity and available resources; and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \nAdditionally, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is\nbeing severely underutilized by college students, argued the speakers, as \u201cthe\nGovernment Accountability Office also released a 2018 report that estimated two\nmillion students were eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program\n(SNAP) but did not receive benefits.\u201d There are many eligibility requirements\nthat students must meet to qualify for SNAP, which are updated every four years\nthrough the Farm Bill. For example, if a student lives on campus and has a meal\nplan, they are not eligible for SNAP. Students must also attend school more\nthan half-time and have specific living arrangements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \nDavidson and Spence believe that outreach and initiatives to educate\nstudents on SNAP and their potential eligibility is critical to solving food\ninstability among college students. This includes working with the Department\nof Higher Education and Department of Children and Families to destigmatize\nSNAP and dispel common confusion about SNAP eligibility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \nUnfortunately, the speakers predicted the current pandemic will worsen\nfood insecurity among college students, especially since federal legislation\ndoes not really address college food insecurity during the pandemic and many\nstudents had their work hours reduced. Despite this, the speakers concluded the\nsession by emphasizing the work still needed to be done to address this\nnational issue and the way that SNAP can help do so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For vegan SNAP menus and recipes, see<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/nutrition\/snap-weekly.php<\/a>
https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/nutrition\/snap-shopping-list.php<\/a>
https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/journal\/vj2020issue2\/2020_issue2_vegan_menus.php<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lucia Rivera, VRG Intern During the virtual 2020 Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo, food policy and public health experts Alana Davidson and Marsha Spence spoke to the issue of food insecurity among college students in their session \u201cFailing to Make the Grade: Food Insecurity on College Campuses.\u201d The goal of this session was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16499"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16501,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16499\/revisions\/16501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}