Nearly 30% of college students in a recent survey reported suffering from food insecurity, according to a recent study across five North Carolina colleges.
Researchers from Meredith College, Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, Western Carolina University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill surveyed more than 3,000 students on their food-insecurity status, demographic identifiers and health metrics like stress, sleep, and fruit and vegetable intake.
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Across all five schools, 29.4% of students reported either “low” (12.9%) or “very low” (16.5%) food security. A further 16.7% reported marginal food security, indicating stress over food availability, but without reduced quality or quantity of food.
“Low food security, in its most basic terms, is where people are struggling on a day-to-day basis, but they’re maybe not necessarily hungry,” said Adam Hege, an associate professor of public health and dean for research and graduate education at Appalachian State and corresponding researcher for the study.
“They may just face challenges to find access to healthy, affordable food. Very low food security is where we’re looking much more at being hungry, really wondering where their next meal in general is going to come from.”
Causes of college student food insecurity
For a number of reasons, college students experience a higher level of food insecurity than the broader population, which is closer to 13.5%. College tuition is a large expenditure, especially for students who are living on their own for the first time.
While low-income students have gained greater access to higher education over the years, the cost of tuition still places enormous pressure on low-income and first-generation students, Hege said. First-generation college students, students whose families relied on SNAP or other food benefits, and students who are eligible for work-study programs were significantly more likely to report low or very low food security, according to the study.
“For the traditional college student, it is their first time on their own,” Hege said. “So some are coming from families where they’re the first one in their family to come to college, or they may be facing income-related challenges as they get to college.
“But beyond just that, being a college student, learning to take care of yourself on a day-to-day basis, is something new oftentimes, and we recognize that campuses do a fairly good job of providing meal plans and those types of things, but we also know that those can’t meet all needs, that those create challenges.”
Racial and gender-related factors also played a role in which students were more likely to suffer food insecurity, according to the study. While there was no statistically significant difference between students who identified as “white” as compared to “non-white,” Hispanic students reported higher rates of food insecurity than their non-Hispanic counterparts: 37.1% of Hispanic students reported low or very low food security, compared to 28.5% of non-Hispanic students.
LGBTQ+ students also reported greater food insecurity than heterosexual students, and a startling 58.6% of students who identified as nonbinary, agender, or other genders outside of the male-female binary reported having very low food security.
When students are unable to eat a consistent, healthy diet, it can have a profound impact on day-to-day life. Students experiencing very low, low, or marginal food security reported statistically higher rates of stress, poorer sleep and lower perceived health than their peers.
“Food insecurity is not just that if somebody’s hungry, you’ll feel that physical feeling of being hungry,” said Jessica Soldavini, an assistant professor at the Department of Nutrition at UNC-Chapel Hill who also worked on the study.
“It’s really impacting them in so many different ways, and their ability to succeed as a college student. So when we’re thinking about the college student audience, you’re just thinking about their ability to succeed in school. And you know, it’s much more challenging if you’re stressed out, if your sleep is being impacted, if you’re not getting nutritious food.”
Impact of hunger on education
While this study did not examine the impact of food insecurity on students’ academic performance, similar studies have found that food insecurity has a significant impact on GPA and graduation rates. In one study at a large Appalachian university, for example, food-insecure students had an average GPA of 3.3, while their food-secure counterparts had an average GPA of 3.51.
In another study, food-insecure students were found to be less likely to graduate: non-first-generation students had an approximately 10% lower graduation rate if they were food-insecure, and the gap was slightly wider for first-generation students.
For Maureen Berner, a professor of public administration and government at UNC-Chapel Hill who also participated in the study, one student’s experience of food insecurity first inspired her to study food insecurity on college campuses.
“Something that motivated me was giving talks about food insecurity in general, and then actually having a student who had a significant named scholarship to UNC but was still having difficulty making it through the weekends,” Berner said.
“They had come from a very limited-means background, and they were still struggling. And that just made me think, ‘Wow. What is the role of educational institutions in supporting students?’”
In 2016, Berner and Soldavini, then a PhD student, conducted a campus-wide study that revealed that nearly 1 in 4 UNC-Chapel Hill students were food insecure.
“We sent out our survey to look at it at UNC to almost 30,000 students, which is an amazing amount of data, and we got a wonderful response rate,” Berner said. “That was one of the early major studies around campus-based food insecurity, and the field has sort of exploded.”
Since then, Berner and Soldavini have collaborated on a number of institutional studies across the state and beyond to examine the prevalence and effects of student food insecurity.
“This is a much larger philosophical issue: what’s the role of a private university versus a public university? I think this is something that universities struggle with,” Berner said.
“We absolutely want every single student to succeed, right, and to perform to the best of their ability. And, you know, UNC, we want people to go win Nobel prizes, and start new corporations, and do great things. Across the board, we want every student to be successful, right? How do we best do that, while also maintaining the responsibility of the university to the people of the state of North Carolina who are supporting the university?”
Each of the colleges featured in the study approach the issue of food insecurity differently, but all offer services to support students in need.
Meredith College, the only private university included in the study, operates a student emergency fund and a food bank through its Office of the Chaplain, as well as a dress exchange for students in need of clothing for campus events. East Carolina University operates its Purple Pantry and offers students the opportunity to donate meal swipes.
Western Carolina University is home to the Biltmore Park Food Pantry and collaborates with Baptist Children’s Homes to operate the HomeBase at WCU Program, a community center and food pantry geared towards students who have aged out of foster care or otherwise lack support.
Appalachian State University had the highest rate of food insecurity in the study, with a slim majority of 55.8% reporting either low or very low food security. However, Hege said the school’s small sample size of 104 students makes it likely to be less representative of the total population than larger samples like UNC-Chapel Hill’s.
Improving food security
Anna Oakes, senior director of public relations for Appalachian State, highlighted a number of programs available to struggling students, including 20 food pantry locations across three campuses and access to a case management team to access outside support.
“Research like this is valuable to higher education institutions across North Carolina, including App State, where one-third of our students are first-generation and nearly two-thirds receive financial aid. Removing barriers to education — including access to nutritious food — is key to student success and to our shared mission of increasing educational attainment for the people of our state,” Oakes said.
At UNC-Chapel Hill, the Carolina Food Pantry Network supports four on-campus food pantries. The campus also features nine free-forage edible gardens for students, and the Dean of Students office offers a limited number of emergency meal plans.
In addition to 500 meal swipes donated by the university’s dining partner, Aramark, UNC-Chapel Hill piloted a new meal swipe donation scheme this year. The Meals for Heels program will allow students with meal plans to donate one meal swipe to fellow students in need. Last month, students were able to donate their meal swipes between Nov. 17 and Nov. 20.
“Together, these initiatives create a comprehensive approach to tackling food insecurity — combining peer generosity, community partnerships and University resources to support students’ well-being and success,” Media Relations wrote.
Student organizations also play a role in providing basic needs to fellow students. UNC-Chapel Hill’s Carolina Cupboard, for example, operates its own food pantry for students, staff, and faculty. Meghan Conroy, the president of Carolina Cupboard, said her participation in the club was an extension of a lifelong dedication to feeding those in need.
“It’s just what my mom had us do as children, that was just like the thing,” Conroy said. “Like, oh, I go play soccer, but then, after soccer, we’d go help out at the food pantry or whatever. So I didn’t really realize that it was that important to me until I came to college, and it wasn’t really a part of my life anymore.”
Conroy started as a shift leader, then served as the events and fundraising chair for two years. At the time, the program was still recovering from the COVID-19 shutdown.
“I’m not gonna claim it all was me, but I was part of it. We didn’t have an events and fundraising position at all prior; I think they got rid of it over COVID, because you couldn’t do events or anything,” Conroy said.
“So when I entered the position, that was the first time in a couple years that it had been a thing, and my main role in that position was more so educating the Carolina Community and advertising the resources that we had.”
With the help of Conroy and other students, Carolina Cupboard has held more events, expanded its membership, and pushed forward this year’s opening date to the first day of class for the first time.
Much of Carolina Cupboard’s funding comes from its yearly joint fundraiser with N.C. State University, the Pantry Bowl. This year, the two schools faced off Nov. 3-30 to see which school can raise the most donations. The drive raised $358,271 in total. N.C. State won by a landslide, with 2,208 gifts in comparison to UNC-Chapel Hill’s 1,367.
“We get thousands of dollars so that we’re able to make these weekly orders and better meet the needs of students, making it like specific meals that they want, or again, meeting those dietary restrictions or just preferences,” Conroy said.
Students’ options don’t end with their universities, however. While many students incorrectly think they aren’t eligible for federal benefits like SNAP, 2 out of 3 potentially eligible students do not take advantage of food programs that would help them access a more nutritious and consistent diet. Soldavini works with NC College Food Benefits to raise awareness of this issue and encourage more students to take advantage of federal programs.
“When it comes to college students in SNAP, they have some differences in their eligibility criteria,” Soldavini said. “Their student situations can make things a little bit different. And so when it comes to general information you’re going to find online or like out there with outreach materials, it’s often not tailored to college student audiences.
“We also found that a lot of colleges didn’t really have much information on SNAP on their websites, and so we really wanted to create this statewide campaign to help connect college students to information about SNAP benefits.”
NC College Food Benefits offers an online quiz for students to determine their eligibility for SNAP and Food and Nutrition Service benefits. It also does outreach through social media, trainings and events for students, faculty and staff at North Carolina’s universities.
“The majority of food assistance is coming from federal programs versus the charitable food system,” Soldavini said. “A very small amount of food assistance actually comes from that. I know a lot of times when we think about food assistance, food banks and food pantries are oftentimes the first thing that comes to people’s minds, but it’s important to keep in mind that that just makes up a small proportion of food assistance.
“They’re very important sources, but unfortunately, they just don’t have the capacity to fill all of the need that these federal programs have.”
Across North Carolina, thousands of students are struggling to maintain consistent access to healthy meals. Resources are available through university and federal programs, but more should be done to promote awareness among students and ensure that they are able to take advantage of them without shame, Hege said.
“Campuses in general are doing a good job of providing resources,” Hege said. “Sometimes some of the challenges come with students’ ability to know that the resources are available. I also think that there are cultural issues in terms of willingness to accept assistance, I think those can play a role.”
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