Fighting Food Insecurity

By Salene Herrera Staff Writer

With the universal increase in food prices, people are now struggling more than ever to get the food they need. This issue has impacted college students so severely that food insecurity in the student population is at an all-time high.

The extreme increase in prices has put college students in situations where they cannot get the food they need. According to Drexel University’s Center for HungerFree Communities, over 39% of students are facing food insecurity. To combat this issue Housatonic has three food pantries available to students. HCC has partnered with Shop & Stop and The StoreHouse project to provide food pantries for the students at HCC.

Assunta Franco, the food pantry coordinator at Housatonic, helps ensure that HCC students get the food they need when food insecurity is at an all-time high. Franco volunteered to help with the food pantry in 2021 when they handed out students’ bags of food during COVID. Now, students are on campus, and the food pantry has made it possible to self-select food with nothing other than their

Banner ID for qualification. Students can visit the pantry in Lafayette Room 207, twice a month, and take 10 items per visit.

“If a student is hungry, learning is difficult. We really need food. It’s a terrific effort to combat food insecurity. It gives the students assistance to receive nutritional food so they can concentrate on their classes for the day. They don’t have to worry about what they will eat for dinner,” Franco says.

There has become an increasing worry about whether people can afford to eat with the rising food prices. This worry has impacted students greatly, and has become a distraction. Despite this, some students may struggle with asking for help.

“There are no students that should feel like they shouldn’t go to the food pantry. Everyone is welcome. A student can come to me privately if they want to,” Franco says.

The food pantry is open daily from 9-5 except for Tuesdays when the hours are from 9-11 to 2-5. On Wednesday fruits and vegetables are distributed in the Beacon lobby at 11 am. Once a month a mobile pantry provided by The Storehouse project is held in the Lafayette drop-off and pick-up area at 10:30 where they give out bags of food to students. Unlike the other pantries that only cater to HCC students, the mobile pantry is for the entire HCC community.

For more information about the hours and dates of the food pantry, you can visit the Housatonic website and find the food pantry under resources and offices, or you can email the food pantry at HC-FoodPantry@hcc.commnet.edu.