Sunday, March 2, 2014

Student Food Pantries on Colleges Campuses - A Potential Solution for Food Insecurity Among Our Students



Last year, I visited another university in Texas for one purpose, but I left with a completely different idea. When I visited, I was introduced to a student who wanted to start a food pantry on campus for students who experience food insecurity throughout the week.

Here are two approaches to "food pantries" on campus.

- Start a campus garden (maintained by student organizations/staff/faculty)

- Develop an in-house food pantry for students.



Montgomery Country Community College (MCCC) is developing such a program. Their Stock Up for Success Program is described here - http://ambler.patch.com/groups/schools/p/mccc-campus-pantry-takes-aim-at-student-food-insecurity

Sincerely - @drjtedwardsTSU

2 comments:

  1. This is a need, right before our eyes. Help your students organize a club that meets this need of their peers. As faculty, we are encouraging students to become more civically minded and sociably responsible; what better place than on campus - where they witness the need, then resolve the problem!

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  2. I'd love to see campus gardens.... the Tarleton Southwest campus is just surrounded by concrete and more concrete. I took a summer class at the new TCC Riverfront campus in downtown Fort Worth, absolutely beautiful location. As you walk through the ground floor area, there's a panoramic window of the grounds, where several above ground garden beds are visible. I have no idea what they do with the vegetables that are grown, but making these available for students is a great idea. I also love the idea of a food pantry for students.

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