2 in 5 College Students Face Food Insecurity – Colleges Are Trying to Help

Penn State Harrisburg’s food pantry saw an increase in student enrollment during the fall semester. Aimee Wheeler, who oversees the pantry, says she expects next semester to be just as busy.

“I expect we’ll see even more in January and February as students come back from winter break and stock up,” Wheeler said.

About a year ago, she said food pantry it might have had about nine visitors a week. Recently, however, it is more like nine visitors in a single day.

“We’ve seen more students than ever before,” Wheeler said.

And it’s not just Penn State Harrisburg.

“We hear it there [is] increase, increase in visits and lack of resources to go around,” said Renee Houle Catanzano, vice president of Swipe Out Hunger. The national nonprofit estimates that two out of five college students face food insecurity, meaning they don’t have consistent access to nutritious food.

Between the uncertainty of SNAP payments due to the government shutdown and the rising cost of living, Houle Catanzano said many students are feeling financially stretched.

Some are turning to campus food pantries. Students like Leon Garland, a freshman at Penn State Harrisburg. He said he knows firsthand how hunger can affect academics.

“If you don’t have enough food on hand … You’re going to feel heavy, a little anxious, maybe even sleepy,” he said.

A week before the finals, Garland visited the cafeteria for the first time with one of his roommates, Zephaniah Waldron.

They both looked over the shelves in the pantry, discussing what they might need to cook dinner. Waldron grabbed a paper bag filled with ingredients for a creamy chickpea casserole, and Garland offered a not-so-subtle nudge: “You can learn to cook more things than ramen.”

“Hey,” said Waldron, “I can cook a bad alfredo.”

Garland believes having a food pantry at school is great if students actually attend: “instead of thinking, ‘I shouldn’t be walking, I don’t need help, I’ll be fine,'” he said. “Trust me, it’s not okay. … get what you need.”

Wheeler agrees. “We’ll help you with your basic needs and you focus on school,” she said. “Because ultimately we want to see it [students] to be successful.”

The pantry opened in 2018 to approximately 5,000 college students. Wheeler keeps the pantry stocked. That means coordinating deliveries of non-perishables from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank as well as seasonal produce through partnerships with local growers.

Community members, including college staff, also supported the pantry with donations.

“Anything from trash bags, laundry pods, tampons, pads, shampoo, conditioner,” Wheeler said.

Rylee Martinez is a senior who works in the pantry as a student ambassador and checks in visitors. She said having a student as the face of the pantry helps some of her peers feel more comfortable.

“I think there’s definitely a stigma because students don’t want to ask for help because they might be embarrassed,” Martinez said. “But once they’re here, it’s pretty nice.

Myles Perry visits the pantry when his income isn’t enough. He studies mechanical engineering and has a job at one of the university’s performing arts centers. But his working hours vary from week to week.

“I like to get simple things. I don’t like to splurge,” Perry said.

It prefers foods like meat and vegetables.

“Hey, I made a whole chicken the other day,” he said. “There was a big, old whole chicken in the pantry. … I was like, ‘yeah, that’s perfect.’

Perry said he used to feel awkward using the food pantry, but has gotten comfortable. “We all start somewhere. I [would] I’d rather go through those challenges when I’m younger,” he said. “And when I’m older, I’ll learn from it and know how to give back.”

In other words, students should not be afraid to ask for what they need.

“I mean, hey, you have to eat.