Hunger

Preface
Iremember the first time my research team learned that students
on college campuses were going hungry. It was 2008, and we were
conducting an evaluation of a financial aid program. Going out to
talk to students across Wisconsin, we had just one simple question:
“How’s college going?” Most spoke of challenges paying for school,
fitting in, or doing the academic work. But a few surprised us, speaking
instead of difficulty finding food, even being distracted from classes by
persistent hunger.
Was this really a problem, beyond a couple of sad stories? We wanted
to know, and thus began years of exploring food insecurity among
undergraduates. At the time, there were only a
handful of studies out there, mainly focused on one
or two colleges. We fielded surveys, conducted more
“We need to
move beyond
being surprised
at the numbers
and develop
action plans.”
interviews, and spoke with experts wherever we
could find them. Eventually, in 2015, my team at the
Wisconsin HOPE Lab conducted the largest study
of campus food insecurity to date, with more than
4,000 students at 10 community colleges around the
nation participating.
The results, revealed in a New York Times op-ed,
were stunning. One in five students surveyed had the
very lowest levels of food security. Thirteen percent
were homeless.
Who was doing something about this? Did colleges and universities
know? We received questions like these from all over, and especially
from the media. And time and again, I referred people to the College
and University Food Bank Alliance (CUFBA), which operates a large
network of food pantries on campuses across the country. I was, and am,
so grateful for their hard work.
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