Being a “broke college student” may be a well-known joke and a rite of passage for those in higher education, but the reality is many students struggle every day to meet their basic nutrition needs.
A fall 2020 survey of nearly 167,000 students nationwide found that 34% of college students experienced food insecurity in the last 30 days. The annual survey was conducted by Temple University’s Hope Center for College, Community and Justice, which studies basic needs insecurity for college students. The study also found that students who had Covid-19 were 1.7 times more likely to experience food insecurity than those who hadn’t been infected with the virus.
The pandemic has only exacerbated the problem.
The impact of food insecurity on college students can be long-ranging.
Students who deal with hunger often get lower grades than their counterparts, and tend to withdraw before completing their degree or certificate, the study found.
FAMU began taking steps to address food insecurity on campus some 13 years ago.
“It just came to our attention that we had a number of students that needed food and didn’t have access to things they needed,” Tanya Tatum, director of Student Health Services, said. “We wanted to try and assist students as much as we could, to ensure that, we created a pretty good food pantry and a fairly large food distribution program.”
A recent survey of the FAMU student body found that 12 percent of students said they have skipped at least one meal because they couldn’t afford it.
“It is our pleasure to assist FAMU in their efforts to help alleviate hunger in our community,” said Chris Norberg, Publix community relations manager. “We take pride in our relationship with the university’s staff and students to address the issue of food insecurity. With this donation from Publix Super Markets Charities, we are happy to provide continued support to the school’s efforts.”