Assignment on Food Insecurity for College Students

a)

It is a fact that problems are often neglected or not understood with their true perspective, and it means that the severity of the problem is not measured. Not many people may think about facing food insecurity in their life, but there is no guarantee that they will not face it. Feeding America has tried to define food insecurity, which is good enough to understand what food security is. They have defined it as “a federal measure of a household’s ability to provide enough food for every person in the household to have an active, healthy life.” So, it means that when all members of the family are not able to get enough food to live a healthy life, and they are also dealing with financial issues, they are dealing with the problem of food insecurity (Lee, 2020).

b)

Food insecurity is also a kind of problem, which has not been understood and analyzed adequately, as it should have been done. That’s why policymakers and stakeholders have not focused on this problem as much as it was supposed to be. A large population is getting affected by it. Feeding America has shared horrific facts & figures, which show that 31% of American households, is dealing with financial crisis, and that’s why they have to choose between education and food every year. These stats are confirmed by just Feeding America, and if such facts & figures are collected on a mass scale, then one could think about the issue (Lee, 2020)

c)

The other important fact to look at is that food insecurity affecting college students. No one may believe in this fact, but surveys and data have clearly shown that college students are facing food insecurity, and the majority of households are surviving on a paycheck to paycheck basis. It is a fact that price for education is getting higher, which is making things more difficult for college students to manage their expenses. A research study was conducted in 2017, which was trying to measure the percentage of college students, who were being affected by food insecurity. The analysis of more than 30000 students was done, and questions were asked by students to know about their perspective on food insecurity. It is quite shocking to observe that almost 50% of college students told that they are feeling food insecure. The income insecurity and housing insecurity are two separate things to add in these statistics (Broton & Goldrick-Rab, 2017)

            A study was conducted by Temple University and the Wisconsin HOPE Lab in 2018. It was a large scale study, which conducted surveys to get data from 43,000 students, and these students were taken from 66 institutions. It was observed in the study that 1 out of every 3 college students is facing the risk of food insecurity. It means that the majority of students were food insecure, and they said that they are not getting enough food to live a healthy life. More than 20% of students also came up with a response showing lower food security (Burch, 2020). The issue of food insecurity is affecting college students in so many ways. A research study was conducted for students studying in colleges of Georgia in 2019, and results proved that the psychosocial health of students is badly affected. It was proved by the evidence that health issues created by food insecurity were also making a negative impact on the academic performance of these college students studying in Georgia. So, these facts are showing that food insecurity is not only a big issue for college students, but it is also making a negative impact on their health and academic performance (Raskind, Haardorfer, & Berg, 2019)

2. Proposed Intervention of Food Insecurity for College Students

a)

            It is an ongoing debate to come up with considerable solutions so that the problem of food insecurity is properly managed for college students. The hunger at the campus is creating issues for college students, and if solutions are not found, then things can get even worst. The data has shown that food insecurity percentage for college students is around 20% to 50% in various instances, which is very high in comparison to the food insecurity percentage of 12% for the entire American population. There are a variety of reasons for a high percentage of food insecurity in college students such as declining per capita income, financial hardships of low-income families, insufficient financial resources, increasing college costs, as well as, growth in the population of lower-income students. So, it is important to find solutions, which deal with the above-mentioned reasons for food insecurity. The government should come up with more plans and programs to target college students and their families so that they can be provided enough support to deal with the issue of food insecurity (Freudenberg, Goldrick-Rab, & Poppendieck, 2019).

b)

            It is important to mention here that U.S Federal Government has introduced so many programs to deal with the issue of food insecurity and hunger for the U.S population. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) have been involved in starting and handling a variety of programs such as Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) Grant Program, Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program (CFPCGP), and The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) (NIFA, 2020). One of the biggest steps was taken by starting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The other name for this program is the Food Stamp Program, and this program was actually initiated in 1939. The Food Stamp Act was passed in 1964, which helped to expand and continue this program. So, this program has continued for so many decades, and it has been achieving some sort of success, and that’s why it has been expanding nationwide through the period of time (Food and Nutrition Service - USDA, 2020). It is quite worrisome news for vulnerable people dealing with food insecurity that the Trump Administration is trying to end the Food Stamp program, which means a number of Americans going to be affected by this new policy will be 700,000. However, such a rule has been discouraged by all quarters of life in the United States (DICKINSON, 2019)

c)

            Looking at facts and figures and issues of food insecurity for college students, the government should come up with a proposed intervention, which is to start a Food Insecurity Management Program, which is only focused on college and other students. These students are the future of the United States, and if they will face food insecurity, it means that they will lack better academic performance and health, which is not a good sign for any court. The people should be categorized as per their wealth, income, as well as, social status. So, the basis for this program to handle food insecurity is the Social stratification theory. This theory deals with the essence of inequality, which is prevailing in society, and if income and wealth gap will continue like this, then the issue of food insecurity will increase for the majority of the population. So, this program will use Social stratification theory to look at these gaps to understand what can be done to fill these gaps so that less privileged class of society can have enough food to feed their families (Scanlan, 2003)

d)

            This program will try to focus only on the food insecurity of students across the country. The primary focus will be given to college students. The government will form a new team with appropriate resources to use previously available data, as well as, collecting new data for college students dealing with the problem of food insecurity. The families of these college students will also be traced, and data will be collected for their household income. It will be analyzed through different measures like what is the current social and income status of a college student, who needs help, and then they will be registered for federal aid through this program on an annual basis so that they can manage their expenses.

e)

            The primary objective of this program is to help poor and middle-class college students facing food insecurity. These students are dealing with health issues, which are also making a negative impact on their academic performance. So, they will be provided financial support from the federal government so that they can manage education expenses along with having enough money to buy enough food to remain fit and healthy.

3. Program Management of Food Insecurity for College Students

a)

·         Staff: The program will need a huge number of people to manage everything accordingly. The U.S Department of Agriculture has a sub-category of Food and Nutrition. So, this program will be handled and led by the Food and Nutrition section of USDA. Initially, 15 staff members will be hired for his program, and this number will be increased with the passage of time as per requirements.

·         Timeline: It is important to mention here that the program will be a lengthy one to achieve its objectives. So, the program can start its activities from November 2020, and these activities and different sub-programs will continue until December 2030.

·         Logistics: The activities of this program will take place all over the country, as the target of this program is all college students studying in all states of the country.

·         Resources: This program will need people to work on different projects, along with a central office to control things from one place. The program will also need a variety of equipment to be used in the central office, along with transportation to handle activities to do the survey, and data collection across the country.

·         Marketing Plan: In initial phases, the program will not be marketed enough, rather the focus will be to get it going first, and then a marketing plan will be developed after one year of activity.

·         Budget: It is too early to decide, what budget will be needed to start and run this program, so the first other elements will be finalized, and then a budget will be considered.

·         Funding Sources: initially, the program will be funded by the Federal Government; later help will be sought by the privileged and business class of the society. 

·         Program Evaluation: The program will be measured and evaluated on a monthly basis, and there will be a separate evaluation team to handle this important task.

References of Food Insecurity for College Students

Broton, K. M., & Goldrick-Rab, S. (2017). Going Without: An Exploration of Food and Housing Insecurity Among Undergraduates. Educational Researcher, 47(2), 1-13.

Burch, J. (2020). 1 in 3 college students faces food insecurity. Retrieved April 30, 2020, from https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/poverty/480339-have-you-heard-the-joke-about-college-kids-living-on-ramen

DICKINSON, M. (2019). The Ripple Effects of Taking SNAP Benefits From One Person. Retrieved April 30, 2020, from https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/12/trump-snap-food-stamps-cuts/603367/

Food and Nutrition Service - USDA. (2020). A Short History of SNAP. Retrieved April 30, 2020, from https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/short-history-snap

Freudenberg, N., Goldrick-Rab, S., & Poppendieck, J. (2019). College Students and SNAP: The New Face of Food Insecurity in the United States. American Journal of Public Health (AJPH), e1-e7.

Lee, S. (2020). Support for College Students Experiencing Food Insecurity: How to Make Sure Everyone Has the Food to Succeed. Retrieved April 30, 2020, from https://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/college-resource-center/college-food-insecurity-support/

NIFA. (2020). Hunger & Food Security Programs. Retrieved April 30, 2020, from https://nifa.usda.gov/program/hunger-food-security-programs

Raskind, I. G., Haardorfer, R., & Berg, C. J. (2019). Food insecurity, psychosocial health, and academic performance among college and university students in Georgia, USA. Public Health Nutr., 22(3), 476–485.

Scanlan, S. J. (2003). Food Security and Comparative Sociology. International Journal of Sociology, 33(3), 88-111.