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Introduction
Introduction
At Grand Valley State University, among other universities across the country, issues with food access and food insecurity are prevalent among students. The United States Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as “a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life” (“What Is Food Insecurity in America?"). In 2018, in the United States, 1 in 9 people were food insecure, which totals to be around 37 million people, 11 million of whom are children (“What Is Food Insecurity in America?”). College students were studied and 15% were found to be food insecure, while an additional 16% were at risk of food insecurity. These statistics are even more drastic for non-white students (Payne-Sturges et al. 2017). There are multiple reasons as to why students in particular are so food insecure, including high costs of college, insufficient financial aid, a growing number of low-income students in college, increasing financial hardship in low-income families, and Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) policies that deny students (Freudenberg et al. 2019). Students' ineligibility for SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, is a big barrier to fighting food insecurity. Very few students are eligible, as “most able-bodied students ages 18 through 49 who are enrolled in college or other institutions of higher education at least half time are not eligible for SNAP benefits” (“Facts About SNAP”), only gaining eligibility under sparse circumstances, including working over 20 hours a week and taking care of dependents under the age of 6 (“Facts About SNAP”). This is very barring for many students, especially those who are already struggling to pay for their education.
Addressing food insecurity among college students is so important because food insecurity has many negative effects. First, food insecurity can have negative effects on college students’ health. One study found that students who were either food insecure or at risk of being food insecure were more likely to rate their health as fair, poor, or very poor. These same students also reported that they suffered from low energy levels (Payne-Sturges et al. 2017). Both of these factors of poor health can have negative impacts on other aspects of a student's life, including their social, academic, and work life. Students suffering from food insecurity are also more likely to report low GPAs (Maroto et al. 2014). They also more frequently suffer from mental illnesses like depression as a result of their food insecurity, which significantly decreases energy levels and motivation in addition to their poor health (Martinez et al. 2018). There are also many secondary effects to dealing with food insecurity – students often have to choose between going to work to make money and going to class, they are often too tired from hunger to do physical activities, and they generally lack the time or energy to participate in any sort of extracurricular activities (Henry 2017).
At Grand Valley State University in particular, we have what is called the Sustainable Agriculture Project, which is a university farm. The SAP grows produce and sells it at the GVSU Farmer’s Market, or donates it to the on-campus food pantry, Replenish. Students at GVSU are also able to come to the SAP to volunteer for fresh produce (“Sustainable Agriculture Project – Grand Valley State University”). However, there are many issues regarding food insecurity at GVSU, and some of them revolve around the SAP. First, many students at GVSU do not know about the SAP, and also do not know about Replenish. They are not advertised very well to students, and therefore are not always used by students who deal with food insecurity. Another issue is that even when students do know about the SAP, there is not a bus route that students can take to get there to volunteer for produce. Also, students getting SAP-grown produce from Replenish often times don’t know how to cook/use it, or don’t have the proper tools to do so. Lastly, there is a huge stigma around food insecurity; students dealing with it are often embarrassed by it. The long-term goals of a solution to food insecurity would be to lessen food insecurity on GVSU’s campus, making fresh produce more accessible, and reducing the stigma around food insecurity. To address these goals, we have created three programs in hopes to involve the SAP and Replenish to lessen food insecurity on campus. These programs are described and prototyped below. At this point, we have yet to decide on the appropriate grant to apply for, as different grants can be used for different programs.
Program 1: Cook for a Cause, a GVSU Organization
Program 1: Cook for a Cause, a GVSU Organization
Description
Description
Many universities across the United States have their own food pantries/banks on their campus, and that is their way of fighting food insecurity among their students (“About Us”). Some college campuses even have required meal plans that offer nutritious, sustainable options so that no students go hungry (“Meals: Campus Food: Sterling Kitchen.”). At GVSU, we have Replenish, which is a food pantry for students to get items from. The Sustainable Agriculture Project donates produce to Replenish, but fresh produce can be hard to implement into a diet. We propose creating a club on GVSU’s campus to make that happen.
After meeting with Sharalle Arnold, the Associate Director of the Center for Women & Gender Equity, we learned that produce is almost always one of the last things to be taken at Replenish, and is often untouched. We believe one of the reasons this may be is because students either don’t have the resources or the knowledge to process produce and put it in their diets. Therefore, the club we propose, Cook For a Cause, would be a way to make produce from the SAP readily available for students who go to Replenish.
The purpose of the club would be to come up with recipes that integrate the produce from the SAP at Replenish, process or cook it, then package it up so it is ready to be taken. This club would meet depending on how often the SAP was able to donate produce. The club would also fundraise throughout the year to raise donations for expanding growing operations at the SAP. This money would also go towards buying produce from other local farmers as ingredients for their recipes. Perhaps grant money could go towards funding the work of the club. At the end of each cooking and packaging session, the recipe for the produce would be available in paper form for students to bring home.
Prototype
Prototype
The prototype depicts an interaction, or role play, between two GVSU students. The two students are discussing the proposed club, Cook For a Cause, and are seeing the end result of their preparation of SAP produce for Replenish.
Program 2: Interactive Advertising in Kirkhof
Program 2: Interactive Advertising in Kirkhof
Description
Description
We discovered that many people, especially on college campuses, do not really know how closely food insecurity impacts them. We do have the Replenish kitchen at Grand Valley and the farmers’ market with the Sustainable Agriculture Project, but again, it does not seem like many students are able or aware enough to take advantage of these programs. Thus, we wanted to bring more awareness to the problem of food insecurity on college campuses. This issue can affect more than just nutrition, having impacts on drug usage, grades, and health overall.
This program includes raising awareness on food insecurity as well as advertising the SAP. Since there are always tables in Kirkhof, we figured we could have a tabling event for the SAP and Replenish in Kirkhof. We would create a trivia wheel of a table and have SAP themed stickers that double as advertisements and prizes, should a person get the question right. This would bring more awareness to the SAP because people often use stickers on things like water bottles and laptop cases, so the stickers would be shown all around campus. In addition to this, the trivia would educate students about food insecurity.
The questions would all come in the form of multiple choice questions to guide students toward the right answer, with the exception of true/false. The students could then choose which sticker they want, and be encouraged to visit or learn more about the SAP. This program would be a quick and easy way to get students more involved with the SAP and the fight against food insecurity in a casual setting.
Prototype
Prototype
This prototype includes preliminary designs of potential stickers that could be used as prizes and potential questions (along with the correct answers) students would answer in order to win the stickers. These stickers would be good for advertising the SAP, and the trivia questions would be good for educating and contextualizing food insecurity.
Program 3: Food Delivery Service
Program 3: Food Delivery Service
Description
Description
Food delivery services through pantries are typically on a voluntary basis, meaning that volunteers sign up and deliver food to the doorsteps of those eligible. Typically, those eligible for this type of service are the elderly or disabled (McNamara). A great example of this type of delivery service is Meals on Wheels. In our scenario, we would attract volunteers from GVSU who would be able to deliver food and supplies from SAP and/or Replenish to the doorsteps of those in need attending GVSU.
The purpose of this prototype is to bring awareness to an issue within the SAP and Replenish. The program idea is to create a delivery service for the SAP and Replenish that will deliver products from Replenish and the SAP to the doorsteps of GVSU students in need. Because low income households may not have access to transportation, this delivery service would be a great, free asset. The service would be on a voluntary basis, meaning that other GVSU students or faculty or even SAP and Replenish workers would be able to sign up to deliver the supplies to households. The need for this type of service is critical because it would allow more people to have access to food that is typically only available on or near campus.
Prototype
Prototype
This prototype is a design to show how the end-user (GVSU students) may use the prototype, and how the produce would be delivered with the smile of another student who is volunteering their time. There is also a prototype of how the website for ordering the produce may look.
References
References
“About Us.” CUFBA, cufba.org/about-us/.
“Facts About SNAP.” USDA, 14 Aug. 2019, www.fns.usda.gov/snap/facts.
Freudenberg, Nicholas, et al. “College Students and SNAP: The New Face of Food Insecurity in the United States.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 109, no. 12, 6 Nov. 2019, pp. 1652–1658., doi:10.2105/ajph.2019.305332.
Henry, Lisa. “Understanding Food Insecurity Among College Students: Experience, Motivation, and Local Solutions.” Annals of Anthropological Practice, vol. 41, no. 1, 20 Aug. 2017, pp. 6–19., doi:10.1111/napa.12108.
Maroto, Maya E., et al. “Food Insecurity Among Community College Students: Prevalence and Association With Grade Point Average.” Community College Journal of Research and Practice, vol. 39, no. 6, 1 Oct. 2014, pp. 515–526., doi:10.1080/10668926.2013.850758.
Martinez, Suzanna M, et al. “No Food for Thought: Food Insecurity Is Related to Poor Mental Health and Lower Academic Performance among Students in California’s Public University System.” Journal of Health Psychology, vol. 25, no. 12, 2018, pp. 1930–1939., doi:10.1177/1359105318783028.
McNamara, J. (n.d.). Find food banks and information on free emergency food pantries. Retrieved from https://www.needhelppayingbills.com/html/food_banks.html
“Meals: Campus Food: Sterling Kitchen.” Sterling College, 30 July 2020, sterlingcollege.edu/life-at-sterling/sterling-kitchen/.
Payne-Sturges, Devon C., et al. “Student Hunger on Campus: Food Insecurity Among College Students and Implications for Academic Institutions.” American Journal of Health Promotion, vol. 32, no. 2, 2017, pp. 349–354., doi:10.1177/0890117117719620.
“Sustainable Agriculture Project - Grand Valley State University.” Grand Valley State University, www.gvsu.edu/sustainableagproject/.
“What Is Food Insecurity in America?” Hunger and Health, hungerandhealth.feedingamerica.org/understand-food-insecurity/.
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