As the cost of groceries continues to rise, many college students are grappling with food insecurity. This challenge is evident as students flock to food pantries before the semester ends.
Rising Food Insecurity Among Students
Across numerous college campuses, students are experiencing mounting stress due to finals week. Compounding this stress, approximately 40% of students are dealing with food insecurity, according to the nonprofit Swipe Out Hunger. With the holiday season approaching, students are making their final visits to campus food pantries before winter break closures. NPR’s Kadin Mills explored this issue at Penn State Harrisburg.
LEON GARLAND: Finals is going to be a really stressful week.
KADIN MILLS, BYLINE: Leon Garland, a freshman studying electrical engineering, visited the campus food pantry for the first time.
GARLAND: If you don’t have enough food available, it could definitely give you that mental feeling that’s like, I’m dragging myself. It’s going to make you feel anxious, a little bit drowsy. I know that feeling all too well from my past.
Garland, who often cooks for his three roommates, was joined by his roommate Zephaniah Waldron on this pantry visit.
(SOUNDBITE OF PACKAGE RUSTLING)
ZEPHANIAH WALDRON: If I saw ramen, I would have grabbed some.
GARLAND: Yeah. Your bag would have been full of it.
Although they’ve only known each other since the semester began, Garland and Waldron share a camaraderie.
WALDRON: Hey, I can cook a mean alfredo.
GARLAND: Are you flexing a basic spaghetti dish? (Laughter).
WALDRON: No. You have to make the sauce yourself.
GARLAND: Oh, that’s different.
The Campus Pantry’s Role
Rylee Martinez, a student worker, introduces the pantry’s offerings to Garland and Waldron.
RYLEE MARTINEZ: Anything in this room – you’re limited to one thing per item.
Martinez explains that students can select various essentials, and in other areas, they can take what they need. The rising grocery prices, reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, have made the pantry a crucial resource as meal plan balances dwindle.
AIMEE WHEELER: We try to really supply the students with whatever we possibly can.
Aimee Wheeler, who oversees the pantry for the college’s approximately 5,000 students, has noticed a significant increase in pantry visits.
WHEELER: Three hundred sixty-seven students visited the pantry in the month of November. I expect to see even more in January and February.
Stocking Essentials
The pantry’s supplies mainly come from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, supplemented by community donations. Items are organized across three rooms.
WHEELER: This is what we call our take-one room – anything from trash bags, laundry pods, tampons, pads, shampoo, conditioner. This stuff is very highly sought out.
Instant ramen, a student favorite, is among the highly demanded items that quickly disappear from the shelves.
(SOUNDBITE OF PACKAGE CRINKLING)
Nonperishable goods, such as canned fruits and dry goods, fill other areas, though finals week has left only decaf coffee available.
WHEELER: College students don’t want decaf.
(SOUNDBITE OF PACKAGE CRINKLING)
Wheeler emphasizes the importance of reducing the stigma associated with using the food pantry.
WHEELER: Sometimes there’s a misconception that, well, if you’re paying for college, you should have money for food.
Students’ Perspectives
International students, who often cannot work off campus, and students with jobs like Myles Perry, a junior in mechanical engineering, frequently visit the pantry to make ends meet.
MYLES PERRY: When I feel like, OK, I need to eat something, it’s like, how much do I have in the fridge?
Perry’s campus job does not always provide consistent hours, making budgeting for groceries challenging.
PERRY: You never know how many hours you’re going to have. Like, it varies week to week, and, you know, that’s when the pay, you know, gets to fluctuating. So you never realize how much you can spend in a week.
The unpredictability of grocery prices is an issue Perry discusses with his mother.
PERRY: She’s like, what do you spend your money on? I’m like, food. You spend that much on food? Have you seen the prices in the grocery stores?
Initially embarrassed to use the pantry, Perry now views it as a valuable learning experience.
PERRY: At the end of the day, we’ve all start from somewhere. I have rather go through these challenges when I’m younger, and then when I get older, I learn from it and know how to give back.
Perry encourages students to seek help when needed.
PERRY: I mean, hey, you got to eat.
Kadin Mills, NPR News, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
(SOUNDBITE OF BADBADNOTGOOD’S “TIMID INTIMIDATING”)
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