Development of a Community Food Pantry for Students of Higher Education

Elizabeth Fast, Julie Schumacher, Jaqueline Lanier, Jennifer Banning, Amy Bardwell, Teresa Drake, Rachel Vollmer

Food insecurity affects 11.1% of households in the United States, leaving many families susceptible to poor diet quality (Coleman-Jensen et al., 2021). Food insecurity, as defined by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, can range from a decrease in the quality, variety, or desirability of the diet to disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake (Coleman-Jensen et al., 2021). The percentage may be even higher among college students, up to one-third of that population, especially given the financial instability and unique living conditions that many students face. In some studies, up to 48% of college students were classified as food insecure (Coleman-Jensen et al., 2021; El Zein et al., 2018; Payne-Sturges et al., 2018; Twill et al., 2016). Food insecurity can contribute to a decline in health, especially when combined with other stressors from school, work, and relationships (Leung et al., 2014; Watson et al., 2017). Food insecurity puts both the students and their schools at risk. a successful and sustainable college food pantry program.

Elizabeth Fast, RDN, is a graduate student, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, at Illinois State University in Normal, IL; Julie Schumacher, EdD, RDN, CNSC, is Professor, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, at Illinois State University in Normal, IL; Jacqueline Lanier, DrPH, MCHES ( jalanie@ilstu.edu), is Professor, Department of Health Sciences, at Illinois State University in Normal, IL; Jennifer Banning, PhD, is Professor, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, at Illinois State University in Normal, IL; Amy Bardwell, PhD, is Associate Professor, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, at Illinois State University in Normal, IL; Teresa Drake, PhD, RDN, CHES, is Associate Professor, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, at Bradley University in Peoria, IL; and Rachel Vollmer, PhD, RDN, is Associate Professor, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, at Bradley University in Peoria, IL.

When students experience food insecurity, many aspects of their health—physical, mental, and academic—are negatively affected. As in the general population, food insecurity in college students is linked to diminished diet quality and health status (Halfacre et al., 2017; Mathews, 2015; O’Neill & Maguire, 2017; Twill et al., 2016). Additionally, food insecurity is significantly associated with poor eating habits, such as decreased mindful eating, diminished response to external cues, and increased meal skipping; it is also linked to increased responsiveness to biological cues such as hunger and satiety (Twill et al., 2016).

Some universities have responded to food insecurity by developing food pantries as a resource for their students (El Zein et al., 2018; Reppond et al., 2018; Vaterlaus et al., 2018). Food pantries can play a key role in alleviating food insecurity in college students. More than 800 colleges and universities have registered with the College and University Food Bank Alliance since 2012 (CUFBA) (Swipe out Hunger & CUFBA, 2021). However, despite this growing network, little information exists on how food pantries were developed and function. Some food pantries use a toolkit created by the Student Government Resource Center (Mathews, 2015). In one study on food pantry processes, organizers found that the partnership of many constituents, such as administration, donors, current students, and on-campus organizations, is invaluable to food pantry programs (Reppond et al., 2018).

Pantry Overview

The School Street Food Pantry (SSFP) is a nonprofit program that provides college students in the local community with food, supplies, and other resources with the goal of alleviating food insecurity. The food pantry was developed in 2018 by college students, health sciences and FCS faculty, and community members to respond to an increasing proportion of students facing food insecurity. The pantry was developed in part based on using the toolkit created by the Student Government Resource Center (Mathews, 2015). The pantry receives its nonprofit status from its affiliation with the First United Methodist Church, which provides their facility—conveniently located adjacent to one of the major university campuses—for operations. Despite having several connections to the campus community, the pantry does not have an official affiliation with a university. The food pantry serves more than 100 students per week.

Higher education creates a unique conundrum: in the pursuit of improving their socioeconomic status, some students fall even further down the ladder to the point of dealing with food insecurity. Colleges and universities have begun to recognize this need and have implemented strategies to address the issue, including food pantries. Family and consumer sciences (FCS) professionals are uniquely suited for participation in interdisciplinary projects such as student food pantries by serving as mentors to student leaders in pantry development.The field of FCS has its roots in addressing the most pressing needs for individuals, families, and communities, which include food insecurity. This study provides FCS professionals with insight on what it takes to maintain

The board of the food pantry is entirely volunteer based, consisting of local students, university faculty and staff, and community members. The board’s role is to define positions and develop policies to provide a consistent structure and expectations for the benefit of both the pantry’s volunteers and participants. The food pantry receives supplies from several area food banks as well as individual donations and food drives. Distribution of hygienic supplies and food, including perishables and produce, occurs for 2 hours each week, during which time students are allowed to choose their own items, filling a number of bags determined by household size. User eligibility is determined by presentation of a valid student ID. No other requirements are needed.

Stakeholder Feedback

It is important to understand the development of the food pantry for college students to provide guidance to the health sciences and FCS professionals who are likely to be the ones helping to develop, sustain, and/or partner with organizations around food insecurity. We recruited and interviewed 11 stakeholders who were current or past board members of the food pantry to seek such input.

Stakeholder Input

Several themes emerged from interviewing the stakeholders on the development of a college food pantry including personal value, attention, mentorship, and student leadership. Several challenges also were identified, including volunteers, access, and the pantry being only a temporary measure to address college student hunger. Table 1 summarizes the themes and provides quotes from stakeholders.

The leadership of the pantry had a sense of personal value when dealing with food insecurity among college students because they were all stakeholders in the pantry’s success. Some had

Table 1. Summary of Themes With Selected Quotes Theme

Personal Value experienced food insecurity themselves as students, others had children or friends who were students experiencing food insecurity. Interviewees often said that those who could receive help from the success of the pantry were not always aware of the potential benefits. First, the founders realized it was critical to generate awareness that the pantry existed for the population in need. According to one community board member, “there were some disconnects between the students and some of the resources that are available.” But even before increasing awareness, the food pantry’s founders had to draw attention from the general community that food insecurity existed among students. According to one community leader, “there’s just been a long awareness of the need.” But as one student board member said, “we had to generate

It’s a personal value thing that I think that we should be providing to those who are in need . . . if we can do this, we should do this.

There’s not a monetary incentive. So what we’re doing is much more of a community building aspect.

Attention There were some disconnects between the students and some of the resources that are available. We had to generate numbers that supported the claim that we were making, which was that this issue exists.

Network There was a nice big coordinated effort with [the township]. . . members of the church have become very invested . . . student leaders have become very invested . . . and the right people came together.

Initially, having networked people was important, because of making the connections both within [the university] and the community.

Mentorship Really [used] the expertise of our outside folks to say, this has worked in other settings, you might want to try this.

We were lucky enough to be in a community where those people . . . those organizations already existed.

Student Leadership Everything is to be very student-driven . . . students helping students is really important. We had a big problem with overworking or stress for people [who are] in the process of finishing their degrees and having a whole bunch of other things.

Access When we got started . . . we were kind of seeing, is this going to be appropriate for our population?

The idea of food dignity, while utilizing the pantry is great.

Transitional Structure numbers that supported the claim that we were making, which was that this issue exists.” Thus, although there is recognition of the need, some board members felt that the need was not widely known in the community. big problem with overworking or stress for people [who are] in the process of finishing their degrees and having a whole bunch of other things.”

They’re willing, and we all agree that this person, you know, is a good fit for the spot. So, the structure was very fluid.

A lot of this will get easier if they have these things written down. Like this is our policy . . . This is what we do.

Temporary Solution By having open distribution hours, two hours each week, you know, I don’t think that’s going to fix the problem.

You’re not addressing the other side of that sentence, which is, housing costs are ridiculous, but you know, one thing at a time.

Despite this challenge, students were an intrinsic and invaluable part of the development process by providing motivation from their personal value as well as introducing innovative ideas stemming from their perspective as the target population.

challenges to development and Proposed Solutions

Building a food pantry from scratch required the investment of several parts of the larger community. As one interviewee said, “There was a nice big, coordinated effort with [the township] . . . members of the church have become very invested . . . student leaders have become very invested . . . and the right people came together.” Those three groups— the general community, students, and those from the church—were often cited by other interviewees as both stakeholders in and contributors to the pantry’s early success. This came about because of a few key individuals who were able to bring diverse groups together.

When it came to making decisions about the structure of the food pantry, the founders looked to those who had experience. Many of these mentors came from the community, because “we were lucky enough to be in a community where those people . . . those organizations already existed.” Experienced mentors were useful with the minutiae of regular operations, such as how to approach distribution, as well as recognizing the importance of the establishment of board-approved policies and procedures to solidify the organizational structure.

As one community board member said, it was a priority that “everything is to be very studentdriven . . . students helping students is really important.” However, it was difficult at times for these individuals because the workload as a student and a member of the pantry’s board was significant, and that was where mentorship from community members on the board could pick up the slack. A student leader explained, “we had a

Some challenges were noted by stakeholders during the development of the food pantry. The importance of accessibility to the food pantry’s services was brought up by several of the interviewees. The pantry may have resources to offer, but if they are not available to the target population in a format that is usable and beneficial to clients, the pantry is not addressing the need, and this goes beyond the physical aspect of access such as ADA compliance of the space or proximity to campus. As a student leader on the board said, “. . . we want to be a partner, and not dictate what is appropriate for someone else.” Similarly, another board member said, “the idea of food dignity while utilizing the pantry is great,” in reference to the board’s decision to make the pantry a selective program whereby users could choose which food items to take. This was part of another effort to make the food pantry more accessible by reducing stigma. By asking for feedback from the food pantry users, they were able to assess the effectiveness and utility of the pantry and make decisions and adjustments from that feedback.

The food pantry’s board and regular workers are all volunteers, which has advantages and disadvantages. Originally, it was difficult to have a formalized structure because the board was built on a volunteer basis. As one student leader said, “they’re willing, and we all agree that this person, you know, is a good fit for the spot. So, the structure was very fluid.” A lack of rigidity worked to get the pantry off the ground by allowing adaptation to overcome the initial challenges. However, several members, especially the mentors on the board, felt a more defined structure would carry the pantry forward rather than allowing it to be hampered by inconsistency in operations and leadership. The food pantry board has been trying to address this; as one member said, “a lot of this will get easier if they have these things written down. Like this is our policy . . . this is what we do.”

Many of the interviewees recognized that the food pantry is only a temporary measure. The underlying issue of food insecurity will still exist no matter how many people are served or how much food is distributed. As one student leader said, “By having open distribution hours, two hours each week, you know, I don’t think that’s going to fix the problem.” Furthermore, the problem of food insecurity is multifactorial. A community member on the board also recognized this issue, stating that through the food pantry “you’re not addressing the other side of that sentence, which is, housing costs are ridiculous, but you know, one thing at a time.” Still, according to another board member, “the purpose of the food pantry is to be a stopgap for people who are hungry.”

Food insecurity influences the health and therefore the performance of the affected population (Berry et al., 2019; Buch et al., 2016; Lee et al., 2018; Leung et al., 2014; Patton-López et al., 2014; Watson et al., 2017), which concerns professionals in public health and, for student populations, the institutions where they are enrolled.

The field of FCS has its roots in addressing the most pressing needs for individuals, families, and communities. From its beginning as the American Association of Home Economics in 1909 to the organization’s shift to American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences in 1994, the mission to improve living conditions in these areas has remained steadfast (AHEA, 1909; AHEA, 1994). The Family & Consumer Sciences Body of Knowledge (FCS-BOK) model illustrates how concepts related to individuals, families, and communities intersect and guide current work in the field (Nickols et al., 2009).

Implications for Research and Practice

Professionals in FCS are uniquely suited for participation in interdisciplinary projects such as student food pantries. Although a food pantry may not be able to completely resolve food insecurity among college students, there are many professionals who can build connections with students, and the pantry does help reduce added stress due to food insecurity. Industry professionals such as dietitians, public health workers, social workers, and college and university faculty/staff, and administration involved with student populations are well-prepared to fill the mentorship role opposite the student leadership that proved successful for the SSFP. These professionals can partner with students to alleviate food insecurity through similar programs either by starting or supporting them.

The partnership between FCS and a student food pantry represents multiple aspects of the FCS-BOK. Human Ecosystems, one of the Integrative Elements, places focus on how individuals and families relate to their environment. A food pantry is one way to support a student’s microenvironment by sustaining personal health. This also can be explored through FCS-BOK Core Concepts such as Basic Human Needs because adequate food is included in that category, or Individual Well-Being, which could explore the connection between food insecurity and personal well-being. Additionally, FCS entities on college campuses could provide the necessary tools and expertise to make food pantries sustainable (Nickols et al., 2009).

Future Research

Research is needed to identify (a) common challenges during the development of a food pantry program; (b) ways to overcome those issues; and (c) helpful or essential resources needed to maintain a successful program that can decrease the prevalence of food insecurity among college students. It would be useful to study food pantries across more campuses to understand how to develop a sustainable food pantry. Future research could examine the experience of the client, in other words, college students who are food-insecure, to understand how having a pantry in their environment affects their personal health and academic success, especially long-term. FCS professionals also have expertise in education, which may be useful for pantries. For example, educational materials or classes could be offered to food pantry clients on food preparation, reading food labels, and financial literacy. Outcomes related to this type of programming could be compared to pantries without any educational interventions to improve understanding of how to target students who are food insecure.

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