Authors:Duncan Hilchey Pages: 1–2 - 1–2 Abstract: First paragraph: This fall of 2022 issue includes open-call papers on a wide range of food systems topics, with a cluster focused on the concept of economies of community. Economies of community occurs when stakeholders in a collective action project or program scale up, not by growing individually, but by growing as a group—by treating each other as equal partners, maintaining transparency in communications and in other transactions, and generating regular feedback for continuous improvement. Several examples of economies of community are provided in this issue. . . . PubDate: 2023-03-20 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2022.122.023 Issue No:Vol. 12, No. 2 (2023)
Authors:Rachael Budowle, Christine Porter, Caitlin McLennan Pages: 3–9 - 3–9 Abstract: First paragraph: According to myriad studies, college and university student food insecurity is a pervasive and systemic problem. Most show that nearly half of college and university students experience food insecurity (Breuning et al., 2017; Broton, 2020; Nazmi, 2019). As defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), food insecurity is the “limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways” (USDA Economic Research Service, 2022, para. 3). The experience of food insecurity, however, manifests in various ways for students, including the actuality of being hungry, not having enough food, consuming poor-quality food, rationing, embarrassment and stigma, and consistent worry and fear about accessing their next meal (Henry, 2020). . . . PubDate: 2023-03-16 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.122.013 Issue No:Vol. 12, No. 2 (2023)
Authors:Christine Porter, Kami Grimm, Rachael Budowle Pages: 37–4 - 37–4 Abstract: Introduction: About 40% of U.S. college students experienced food insecurity even before the pandemic, when the numbers rose further (Rafferty et al., this issue). The burdens of the problem rest disproportionately on the shoulders of students whom our society already disadvantages, such as students of color and those from families who struggle with low income. Although most institutions of higher education have begun efforts to address food insecurity among students in general, fewer have built strategies that explicitly aim to tackle these stark disparities in which student groups face the highest rates of food insecurity. In this practice brief, we share experiences and practice recommendations from our shared work to narrow these gaps at the University of Wyoming (UW). . . . PubDate: 2023-03-16 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.122.016 Issue No:Vol. 12, No. 2 (2023)
Authors:Rachel Brand Pages: 47–6 - 47–6 Abstract: Studies indicate that college students experience high rates of food insecurity. Growing awareness of food insecurity on college campuses has resulted in efforts by many institutions to address the problem through innovative programs such as food pantries, campus gardens, and educational workshops. While these initiatives play an important role in facilitating food access, they fall short of meeting students’ needs. There is little research on how students’ experiences or knowledge can inform strategies to address food insecurity, nor is there extensive research on how students view this issue for themselves and their peers. This study looks at the benefits of engaging students in participatory action research (PAR) to address college food insecurity. PAR is particularly well suited to address campus food insecurity given its tenets of research, reflection, and action. This paper examines how a PAR project, conducted throughout a semester-long community-engaged learning course at the University of San Francisco (USF), resulted in innovative strategies to address college food insecurity. This justice-based research approach deepened students’ understanding of the issue and inspired them to want to change their campus food systems. Students worked to shift the narrative of food insecurity on campus away from an individual experience that carries stigma toward one of community, relationships, and collective action. This study shows the opportunities to address food insecurity not only through immediate needs-based solutions but also through a justice-based research methodology that centers student experiences and knowledge. PubDate: 2023-03-16 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.122.017 Issue No:Vol. 12, No. 2 (2023)
Authors:Zoee Tanner, Brittany Loofbourrow, Gwen Chodur, Leslie Kemp, Rachel Scherr Pages: 63–7 - 63–7 Abstract: Food insecurity is a major challenge for many college students, negatively affecting their well-being and academic success. To address the challenge, universities are implementing food resources to provide free access to food; however, little is known about how students’ identities affect their utilization of these resources. This study analyzed the relationships among food insecurity, campus food resource participation, and student demographic and academic identity. Survey data were collected from a representative sample (n=1,190) of undergraduate students at the University of California (UC), Davis. Analyses were conducted using chi-square tests of independence and logistic regression to assess factors related to food insecurity and campus food resource participation. The results indicate that transfer students are 84% more likely to experience food insecurity, but 39% less likely to use campus food resources. Both first-generation and fourth- year students disproportionately experience food insecurity and utilize campus food resources more. Latino(a)/Chicano(a)/Hispanic students are twice as likely to experience food insecurity and 49% more likely to use food resources than white/European American students. These results demonstrate that student identity intersects with food insecurity and access in the college environment. These findings can guide recommendations for improving and expanding campus food resources by utilizing equitable outreach strategies that build a support network of food access while reflecting the diverse needs of student populations. PubDate: 2023-03-16 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.122.018 Issue No:Vol. 12, No. 2 (2023)
Authors:Frankie Rafferty, Tania Schusler, Mariana Valencia Mestre Pages: 79–9 - 79–9 Abstract: Food insecurity among college and university students has increased in the past decade. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unique public health challenges, including increased food insecurity. In a cross-sectional survey of students at a private university in the midwestern U.S. (N=253) we examined how student food security status changed during the pandemic and what relationships exist between changes in food security and various aspects of student identities. Twenty-nine percent of responding students indicated that they became less food secure during the pandemic, and the overall reported food insecurity rate increased by 130.77%. Change in respondent food security status during the pandemic was associated with household income (p=0.000), loss or family loss of employment because of the pandemic (p=0.000), receiving financial aid (p=0.006), individual or family infection with COVID-19 (p=0.020), perceived health during the pandemic (p=0.000), eating 4.5 cups of fruits and/or vegetables each day (p=0.040), race and ethnicity (p=0.042), first-generation in higher education (p=0.017), sexual orientation (p=0.027), and spring 2020 GPA (p=0.003). The results contribute to a growing body of evidence that higher education institutions, as well as state and federal governments, should increase their efforts to support students to achieve food security. In doing so, it is critical to consider the disparities in food security associated with diverse and intersecting social identities, including socio-economic class, race and ethnicity, being first in one’s family to attend college, and sexual orientation. Our results further suggest the need for interventions that not only address immediate symptoms of food insecurity but also structural discrimination that makes it more difficult for members of marginalized groups to become food secure. PubDate: 2023-03-16 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.122.019 Issue No:Vol. 12, No. 2 (2023)
Authors:Kate Darby, Lena Hemmer, Renee Holt, Terri Kempton, Melanie del Rosario, Jon Stubblefield, Grey Webster Pages: 97–1 - 97–1 Abstract: The ongoing neoliberalization of higher education has meant that college and university students at state institutions face declining state support for their education, increasing debt, precarious post-graduation job opportunities, and a dominant cultural emphasis on personal responsibility rather than collective care. These neoliberal conditions exacerbate structural inequities (along various axes, including race, economic status, disability, etc.) within student populations. This paper explores two aspects of inequity in food insecurity among students: specific challenges and inequities students face by virtue of their position as college students, and intersectional inequities faced by some students by virtue of other identities to which they belong. This paper presents findings from two research efforts at Western Washington University, a public university in the USA Pacific Northwest. First, we share findings from a 2018 qualitative, interview-based study of food-insecure students on the campus. We then draw from our experiences as practitioners and present critical reflections on our own campus food security efforts, differentiating between those that address food security (access), food justice, and food sovereignty. Our findings from the qualitative study suggest that students feel a sense of personal responsibility for their food insecurity, and that food-insecure students both rely on social networks for support and feel stigmatized by their food insecurity. Our critical reflections on campus programs reveal that most of the traditional food security efforts (e.g. emergency aid, food pantries) neglect to either effectively support BIPOC students and others most affected by food insecurity, or provide a sustained community-support mechanism for food-insecure students in general. We position food sovereignty-oriented programs as a way forward in addressing the intersectional inequities faced by students, and also in bolstering communities of support. PubDate: 2023-03-16 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.122.020 Issue No:Vol. 12, No. 2 (2023)
Authors:Lisa Henry, Dani Ellis, Steven Ellis, Micah Fleck, Steve Migdol, Neida Rodriguez, Vanessa Delgado, Spencer Esmonde, Ishraq Islam, Kio Kazaoka, Wei Sun, Paria Tajallipour Pages: 119– - 119– Abstract: This ethnographic research explores the meaning and experiences of food insecurity among LGBTQIA+ college students to understand how identity might play a role in those experiences. We offer research-informed recommendations that student-serving programs could implement to increase accessibility and inclusivity for LGBTQIA+ students to reduce food insecurity. The study was conducted at a large, public, Tier 1 research university in North Texas. We used purposive sampling and recruited participants through emails and class announcements. We conducted 22 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with students who identified as LGBTQIA+. LGBTQIA+ students do not initially associate their food insecurity with their LGBTQIA+ identity, and many of their experiences are similar to non-LGBTQIA+ students. However, ongoing homophobia, stigma, and discrimination against people who identify as LGBTQIA+ can add additional anxiety and challenges that influence their experiences in ways that are different from non-LGBTQIA+ students. LGBTQIA+ students are at greater risk of losing family support, are more likely to seek emotional support from peers, and have increased anxiety about responses to their identity, which can affect their willingness to seek resources. Our results indicate that food insecurity has an emotional, mental, and physical impact on students, which impacts their academic success. As universities strive to be more welcoming to LGBTQIA+ students, we recommend services that will build community, create safe spaces, and strengthen trust for students to have a positive college experience. PubDate: 2023-03-16 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.122.021 Issue No:Vol. 12, No. 2 (2023)
Authors:Rebecca Shisler, Emilia Cordero Oceguera, Annie Hardison-Moody, Sarah Bowen Pages: 135– - 135– Abstract: Universities have implemented a range of initiatives to address food and housing insecurity, but few studies have examined how campus communities are engaging around these issues. This article explores how North Carolina State University conducted asset-mapping workshops, a community-based participatory research (CBPR) method, to mobilize the campus community and identify solutions to address the root causes of food insecurity and other forms of basic needs insecurity among students. Workshop participants identified exemplary resources focused on addressing students’ immediate needs (e.g., campus food pantries, a student emergency fund). At the same time, they stated that basic needs insecurity is tied to longer-term, systemic issues like wage inequality and a lack of affordable housing. Participants also noted that historically marginalized students (e.g., LGBTQ+, low-income, first-generation college) often experience food and housing insecurity in complex ways requiring targeted solutions. Our results suggest that CBPR methods like asset mapping offer an approach that, when done well, can center the voices and experiences of diverse campus populations to identify and address the complex structural and systemic processes that shape students’ experiences of food and housing insecurity. PubDate: 2023-03-16 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.122.022 Issue No:Vol. 12, No. 2 (2023)
Authors:Carol Ramos-Gerena Pages: 339– - 339– Abstract: Las políticas alimentarias deberían estar formuladas por aquellos a quienes pretenden servir, pero los procesos de elaboración de políticas siguen siendo exclusivos para voces, conocimientos y experiencias privilegiadas. Activistas, organizadores y académicos se han esforzado por capacitar a las comunidades en políticas alimentarias para hacer que los procesos políticos sean más accesibles, aumentando potencialmente su alfabetización en políticas alimentarias (APA o food policy literacy). En este artículo, sostengo que hacer accesibles los procesos, la información y la capacitación en política alimentaria a las comunidades puede prepararlas mejor para que participen, interpreten y controlen las políticas del sistema alimentario, especialmente a nivel municipal. Me baso en la premisa de que una comprensión clara de las políticas alimentarias es una condición necesaria (y no suficiente) para la participación de la comunidad en la formulación, planificación e implementación de políticas sobre sistemas alimentarios. En la bibliografía existente se han definido a fondo la alfabetización alimentaria (food literacy) y la alfabetización política (policy literacy), pero se ha trabajado muy poco en la definición de “alfabetización de políticas alimentarias.” Para abordar esta laguna conceptual, este artículo tiende un puente entre los estudios sobre alimentación y política alimentaria y el trabajo de alfabetización crítica de Paulo Freire para responder a las siguientes preguntas: ¿Cómo entendemos las alfabetizaciones relacionadas con la política alimentaria' ¿Qué significa (o qué podría significar) estar alfabetizado en política alimentaria' ¿Cómo puede la alfabetización crítica vinculada a la política alimentaria aportar en la transformación de los sistemas alimentarios' Siguiendo este análisis, determino que la APA crítica es una “lectura del mundo y de las palabras,” una conciencia crítica de los procesos de la política alimentaria, una práctica de aprendizaje contextual y auténtica, y un compromiso colectivo con la transformación de la política alimentaria. Note that the English version of this article is also available on this website. PubDate: 2023-03-20 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.122.012 Issue No:Vol. 12, No. 2 (2023)
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