In 2021, 10.2 percent (1 in 10) of US households were food insecure at least some time during that year, according to the Economic Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture,* which monitors food security in the United States. Food insecurity means not having reliable access to nutritionally adequate food, usually due to not having reliable access to an adequate income.

The reality is more grim for college students. Temple University’s Hope Center for College, Community and Justice, which conducts the nation’s largest assessment of college students’ basic needs, learned through its fall 2020 survey* that 34 percent of college students had experienced food insecurity in the 30 days prior to the survey. Student populations most affected by food insecurity include those from lower-income homes, first-generation students, and racial and ethnic minority groups.

Effect on Academic Performance
Research shows that hunger disrupts concentration, degrades sleep quality, and can exacerbate depression and anxiety. Any of these outcomes inhibits learning. And the consequences can be dire.

A long-term study conducted at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health looked at a nationally representative sample of 1,574 college students from 1999 through 2003 and found that 15 percent were food insecure. Researchers then tracked the educational progress of all 1,574 students from 2015 through 2017. After adjusting for other factors known to be linked to higher or lower educational attainment, the researchers found that those in the food-insecure group were 43 percent less likely to graduate from college and 61 percent less likely to achieve a graduate or professional degree.

SNAP for Support
Some food assistance comes from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides benefits to families and college students who don’t have the resources to buy the food they need. COVID and the accompanying job losses increased food insecurity in the United States, and the government temporarily expanded eligibility for SNAP, bringing an estimated 3 million students into the program. With the easing of the pandemic, beginning July 1, 2023, that expansion has begun snapping back state-by-state to pre-pandemic levels.

In the US House of Representatives, however, momentum is building around making sure that all eligible students receive SNAP benefits.

In January of this year, Rep. Mark Takano of California and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon (who has said that she accessed food assistance when she was in college) introduced the Opportunity to Address College Hunger Act as an amendment to the Higher Education Act of 1965. This amendment would require all institutions of higher learning that receive grants for their work-study programs to notify students receiving work-study aid that they may be eligible for SNAP assistance and to explain where to go to find more information, confirm eligibility, and access SNAP benefits. As of August 11, 2023, the amendment had 70 cosponsors.

Eliminating food insecurity also requires effort on the ground, and many campuses across the country, including Moravian, have established food pantries.