Nausea, dizziness and difficulty concentrating: These are the signals the brain sends to us when we need to eat. Imagine trying to learn how to solve a complicated math problem or how to write an effective essay while your brain is occupied this way.
Food insecurity, lack of consistent access to food, has been on the rise among college students in the last decade. According to the Government Accountability Office, an estimated 23 percent of college students experienced food insecurity in 2020.
Counselor Teresa Hannon often encounters the issue of food insecurity at Moraine Valley: “When I work with students, one of the things I will assess for is self care. And one of the things I ask is, have you eaten yet today? I cannot tell you how many students it’s, 12, one, two o’clock in the afternoon, and they haven’t eaten.”
Moraine Valley has been addressing the problem for several years through a food pantry in the counseling office that started informally through a food drive organized by an instructor.
But thanks to $70,000 in Northwestern Medicine Community Benefit Grants, the pantry recently received a major expansion, officially opening its doors in November.
Students can access everything the pantry has to offer once a month. The pantry is fully stocked with both non-perishable and perishable food including other helpful items including school supplies such as pencils and folders as well as hygiene products such as shampoo.
The food pantry is part of Project Care, an initiative created by Moraine Valley that also offers emergency financial assistance and transportation. Bus passes and gas cards are provided to help students get from home to school without having to worry about finances.
But the food pantry is the most often used resource of Project Care. Usage of the pantry increased 133 percent from fall 2023 to fall 2024, according to Scott Friedman, dean of Student Engagement.
Both the New York Times and the Government Accountability Office reported that students were skipping meals to be able to pay for schooling or because they just didn’t have anything to eat. Some students were even taking “poverty naps” to avoid facing hunger pangs.
The cost of college has risen 169 percent in the last 40 years, while wages for people aged 22-27 have only gone up 19 percent, according to CNN. It is becoming much harder for students to afford college as well as basic needs like food, especially if they live in a low-income household.
Nausea, dizziness and difficulty concentrating: These are the signals that the brain sends us when we need to eat.
Skipping meals is a common practice of someone who is food insecure, and it leads to negative long-term and short-term effects on the brain. Being malnourished can even cause seizures.
Being able to offer a more full-service, fully stocked food pantry is making a big difference for some students.
“For students who haven’t had something to eat, they can get something quick to eat between classes, so that they’re not hungry and their brains can think and they can concentrate,” said Hannon.
Government programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are in place to help people with food insecurity. However, students have a harder time fulfilling the requirements to receive this help. According to Time, students have to have an income that is below the poverty line and they have to work 20 hours a week on top of their schooling. Only 2 out of 5 people who are food insecure are eligible for SNAP.
Having on-site food pantries at colleges offer a solution for students who are not eligible for SNAP. According to CBS, a decade ago there were only 80 colleges with food pantries available. Now there are 800, including Moraine Valley.
A feedback form found that 67 percent of students visiting the food pantry were bringing food pantry items home for their families, and 91 percent of students said they could make a healthy meal from the items they picked. The overall satisfaction rating for the pantry was 4.81 out of 5.
“Everything we got today was a blessing,” and “I was able to get what I was looking for,” were among the comments left on the feedback form.
The food pantry is welcoming of any donations and food drive hosts, so if you are interested click the link here.
Dean of Liberal Arts Cynthia Anderson, who is planning a food drive within her division, says it’s important for Moraine Valley to continue to address the problem of food insecurity.
“We get students from all walks of life, and some have food insecurity,” she said. “If we have that available to them on campus for free for them, it’s one less thing they have to worry about to be able to get them through the day.”
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