Student hunger, once a seemingly hidden crisis, is beginning to receive the attention it deserves.
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In April, Temple University’s Hope Center surveyed<\/a> almost 86,000 students to find that nearly half of them had experienced food insecurity within the 30 days leading up to the survey. In other words, they didn\u2019t know where they would get their next nutritious meal. And a more recent study<\/a>, conducted by College Pulse, found that 12 percent of college students will go at least a day without eating, simply because they can\u2019t afford to. \u201cStudents have many financial concerns — from future employment, paying rent, to affording food,\u201d said Terren Klein, CEO and co-founder of College Pulse. \u201cThe rising costs associated with college, including tuition, books, and rent, all may be forcing students to make tough decisions.\u201d Many of the students struggling to afford their next meal come from low-income families who don\u2019t have the resources to support them. By going to college, many of these students are trying to pave their way into a higher income bracket. And although one may assume that these hungry students could benefit from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP (more commonly known as \u201cfood stamps\u201d), a 2018 report<\/a> from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that nearly 2 million<\/a> at-risk students who were potentially eligible for SNAP didn\u2019t receive any of the program\u2019s benefits. However, a recent bill<\/a> introduced by presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Al Lawson (D-Fla.) seeks to address that issue. Specifically, their legislation, called the College Student Hunger Act, aims to increase awareness of the SNAP program and enable more low-income college students to utilize it. “Our bill will ensure students have the support they need to work toward a better future without going hungry,\u201d Warren said in a statement. Meanwhile, state governments, too, have begun to act to prevent student hunger. For example, New Jersey\u2019s governor Phil Murphy signed legislation in May that established a grant program for colleges and universities to make sure all students are fed nutritious food. And just recently, those funds were made available<\/a>. California\u2019s state government recently allocated<\/a> $15 million of its budget towards addressing housing and student hunger at schools in the University of California and California State University systems. And last year, Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, put pressure<\/a> on every school in the State University of New York and City University of New York systems to establish food pantries or \u201cstigma-free food access\u201d for students. However, there are still some people who oppose such legislative actions to address student hunger. Largely, they argue<\/a> existing studies don\u2019t provide definitive, reliable information. So to banish their doubt, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.) introduced a bill that would require higher education institutions to collect and publish data about their students\u2019 food insecurity. It\u2019s called the Closing the Hunger Gap Act of 2019<\/a>. Presumably, colleges and universities would have no qualms with collecting and publicizing such data. For, in recent years, schools have greatly stepped up<\/a> their individual efforts to combat student food insecurity. Campus food pantries have popped up all over the United States, with some even offering students fresh fruit and vegetable options. UC-Irvine\u2019s food pantry, called the FRESH Basic Needs Hub<\/a>, deserves a special shoutout. The 2,318-square-foot food pantry received around 20,000 visits from 4,000 different students<\/a> last academic year.
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