Hunger University: Are college students the new face of food insecurity?


There’s a startling new trend on college campuses, and it’s sweeping the nation: hunger, TakePart reports. This isn’t the “hunger” people talk about when discussing “poor college kids” who survive on ramen noodles and peanut butter. It’s much more serious than that. Increasingly, students at America’s colleges and universities are finding that between multiple part-time jobs, crushing tuition costs, and, of course, their studies, they often wonder what their next meal will be. To tackle food insecurity among students, many colleges and universities have opened food pantries on campus, where struggling students can discretely receive assistance when they need it. Officials at Auburn University recently announced that starting Oct. 1, a room in the school’s busy student center will be turned into a student-run food pantry. The project is a collaboration between Auburn’s Division of Student Affairs and Committee of 19, a hunger-relief group comprised of students. Katherine Hettinger, coordinator for advocacy and case management in Auburn’s Division of Student Affairs, says the idea for a food pantry emerged from her encounters with students who are in crisis – many of them financially…

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