Why Student Food Insecurity?

I was browsing Reddit last fall around the time I was trying to decide on a thesis topic, and I came across this question. 

This is just one example, but a quick reddit search of foodbank will pull up dozens of these posts. There seems to be a few concerns: Shame / Not wanting to take food from someone less fortunate / do I really need it? Worry about someone judging them, and so on. When I got looking more closely at the materials many food banks are using to market their resources, I realized they are often very charity coded. What does that mean? Well, there is an inherent power imbalance when it comes to charity. It puts the receiver in the place of the “less fortunate,” and the giver in some high position. They are “helping” without any expectation of return. They are so generous, condescending to donate their hard earned dollars to poor unfortunate souls. It requires the receiver to self determine if they are in a bad enough situation to receive aid. It often makes them feel ashamed, and as if they are taking food out of the mouths of people even less fortunate than they are. 

When I worked as a cashier in a grocery store, there were many customers who were ashamed of using SNAP benefit cards. They would cover their card so I couldn’t see it, or get angry if I asked what kind of card they were using, so the stigma goes beyond young people. It doesn’t help that the current administration is putting such heavy emphasis on fraud, implying that program users are stealing, or imposing on the “generosity of the American taxpayer.” Now you have people even more afraid to utilize resources because they don’t consider themselves “vulnerable” enough. As a young adult, I was definitely one of these people. I could barely pay rent even though I was working as much as I could while going to school full time. I never applied for food stamps, but I had a roommate who would go to the food bank when we were in truly dire straits. It never would have occurred to me to do this on my own. Which is wild, because I was one of those students that would have sleep for dinner whenever we didn’t have food in the house. I didn’t want to take someone else’s charity, and I definitely didn’t want to take food from a family in need.

Fact: 41% of students surveyed by the Hope Center for 2023/24 experienced food insecurity. Only 25% of those accessed public food benefits (like SNAP), and 36% accessed campus food related support. Read the Student Basic Needs Survey Report

Problem: There is a gap between student need and access to food resources.

Opportunity: Build awareness around available food resources for students, target awareness, information, stigma, and skills gaps to help students get the resources they need.

Background

While largely a hidden problem, college students are highly impacted by food insecurity. Estimates suggest 19-56% of students are impacted, with some campuses reporting 4x the national average. Despite this, students are also less likely to utilize the food benefits available (like SNAP food banks, and campus food pantries). 

Normalization and Stigma

Normalization of food insecurity in students is part of the problem. The “college student diet” of junk food is just accepted as a part of student life. Specific restrictions on college students for programs like SNAP further push this narrative. There is a stigma attached to accepting resources as well—guilt for taking something that others might need more, fear that they will be judged, concern they aren’t “poor enough”, failure to provide for yourself, etc. 

Awareness and Information Gap

Public food benefits such as SNAP as well as many food banks, have additional eligibility restrictions specifically for college students. Things like minimum work requirements and income restrictions can be difficult to navigate. On top of this, not knowing how to sign up, what to expect from the process, and potential for denial of resources is a source of anxiety. 

Skills Gap

Cooking skills are a major barrier to food security for college students, but time, food familiarity, and access to cooking tools are issues as well. Students will often turn to cheap, easy, and familiar struggle foods like instant ramen and mac and cheese that are low in nutritional value because they don’t have the capacity for anything else.

So how can design help with this problem? Check out the strategy page for details.