A recent Washington Post article about financial concerns of students at Columbia University caught the eye of the communications staff at the University of Florida.
Below is an item about efforts to combat hunger on the campus of Florida’s flagship public university in Gainesville. It was submitted by writers for the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Worth noting: Similar efforts are under way at many campuses.
By Beverly James and Chris Moran
During his freshman year at the University of Florida, Logan Ham’s parents went through a messy divorce. Money that was supposed to go to Logan’s expenses ended up going to lawyers.
Logan was living on grilled cheese sandwiches and ramen noodles. He entered a downward spiral and fell behind in class, threatening his scholarship eligibility. That brought on more stress, which made it even harder to keep up. Soon, he was working more than attending class, fixing scooters to earn meal money.
Advertisement
“Worrying about food was a distraction from my studies, and I had to work more hours to buy food,” Ham said. “It was a constant state of exhaustion and a lack of time to focus on schoolwork.”
Share this articleShareIt wasn’t just hunger that drove Logan to drop out. But having to worry about where his next meal was coming from pretty much forced the issue. We almost lost him. Fortunately, Logan is resilient, and he’s back — this time, with his wife and two kids. Now he works at and gets food from the UF Field and Fork Pantry, located in the middle of campus. The 24-year-old is a junior in environmental engineering and plans to graduate in 2018.
“One in 10 University of Florida students reports going hungry at times. Among students from low-income families, the hunger rate is twice that,” said Jack Payne, senior vice president of agriculture and natural resources at UF. “The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and the Dean of Students Office has recast the starving student cliché as a serious policy issue: hunger as a barrier to higher education.”
Advertisement
The Field and Fork Pantry is part of a program to build a healthy, sustainable food culture at UF. The program also has a farm where students learn to grow their own food, learn about our food system, and help those in need by providing fresh produce for fellow Gators at the pantry.
The food pantry has been open a year, occupying a 900-square-foot building with adjacent space to build out. Since July 2015, 3,357 students have visited the pantry, and 31,592 pounds of fresh fruit, vegetables and non-perishable items have been distributed. And there are plans to add even more to the pantry.
“We’ll offer student-led classes in cooking, nutrition and budgeting so that we don’t just slake hunger but promote self-sufficiency,” Payne said.
Other major public institutions have also opened food pantries. The University of Georgia opened a student food pantry in 2011. Louisiana State University opened one in 2013.
“We want an even playing field for all students,” Payne said.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZLumw9JonquZlJp6sbvIp6tor6Bkf3F9lWhnb2dga3ynuM6roJ2Zo2Kzra3GrJ%2BiqF2qu6rCxKuqoqypYryxsc2sZJpllqS8pXnPmqWtqqlis7C%2BjKecnpypYsC1wcOepa2rXw%3D%3D