Learning to Thrive: Combating Hunger on College Campuses Lauren Rhoades, Programs Director

College’s Financial Burden ~3/4 of students are nontraditional: Attend school part-time Work full-time Financially independent Provide for dependents Delayed college attendance by more than 1 year post high school Have a nontraditional diploma 59-72% employed Greater poverty rate for those living off campus Four-year college tuition went up 217% over the past 20 years I wanted to start by providing some background on the financial burden of college. ~3/4 of students are now nontraditional. This means they … (go over list). More than ½ of students fit multiple of these criteria. Looking over this list, it’s pretty evident that few students fit what we would consider the more traditional stereotype of attending school while parents cover expenses. Depending on the study, around 60-70% of students are employed in some way. Not surprisingly, there’s a greater poverty rate for those attending school but living off campus. Many of these factors are driven by the fact that 4 year college tuition went up substantially over the past 20 years. Demographic and Enrollment Characteristics of Nontraditional Undergraduates: 2011-12 (2015) Hunger on Campus: The Challenge of Food Insecurity for College Students (2016) Trends in College Pricing 2017 (2017) Still Hungry and Homeless in College (2018)

Food Insecurity on College Campuses More prevalent among those who are racially minoritized, non-binary, LGBTQ, first generation, financially independent, and/or formerly in foster care Frequently combined with housing insecurity Negative impacts on academic achievement  Food insecurity status Community Colleges Four-Year Colleges Low food security 15-25% 14-27% Very low food security 25-33% 20-22% Total food-insecure 42-56% 36-47% Due to this financial burden, many students are facing food insecurity. Estimates vary depending on the study, but the total is around 50% of students. This is slightly higher at community colleges. Almost 1/2 of food-insecure students were also housing-insecure. Housing insecurity includes: difficulty paying rent, paying less than what’s owed for rent or other bills, borrowing $ to help pay for bills, or any form of homelessness. 13% of community college and 7% of four-year students reported experiencing homelessness. Facing the stress of food or housing insecurity obviously has an impact on academic achievement. This can include inability to afford textbooks, missed or dropped classes, lower GPA, and an overall lower likelihood to finish a degree program. Hunger on Campus: The Challenge of Food Insecurity for College Students (2016) Hungry and Homeless in College: Results from a National Study of Basic Needs Insecurity in Higher Education (2017) Still Hungry and Homeless in College (2018)

Food Insecurity at Larimer County: 12.4% food-insecure CSU: ~10-30% of students and staff are food-insecure Students: higher among female, racially minoritized, and first generation Staff: more prevalent among state-classified These individuals report not eating balanced meals, decreasing size of meals, or skipping meals In Larimer County, more than 12% of the total population is food-insecure. CSU estimates 10-30% of students and staff are food-insecure based on several past surveys. Similar to nationwide trends, food insecurity is higher among female, racially minoritized, and first generation students. Among staff, food insecurity is more prevalent in the state classified staff population. These individuals report adjusting meal patterns or behaviors as coping strategies.

On-campus SNAP enrollment Pocket pantries Free meal swipes: Over 1,000 students served since inception Greater persistence to the next semester for participants On-campus SNAP enrollment Pocket pantries Ram Food Recovery coming soon Rams Against Hunger was started several years ago to help students struggling with food insecurity. This includes several different programs. Free meal swipes is the longest-running program. It’s successful but has an ongoing waitlist of several hundred individuals On-campus SNAP enrollment happens 1-2 times per semester. More difficult for students to apply given work requirements, but there has been some success with staff Pocket pantries offer grab ‘n’ go items at locations such as the health center counseling office – need often identified in counseling appointments but no current food insecurity screening in the health center intake process. Ram Food Recovery coming soon: this will involve sending texts to students when food is left over from Housing & Dining catered events. This also helps reduce food waste on campus.

Mobile Food Pantry Partnership between CSU and Food Bank for Larimer County Encourage meal preparation at home Over 2,200 unique visitors Serves >7% of students and >1% of staff The other program that falls under Rams Against Hunger is the mobile food pantry. This pantry is held once per month on campus. Last academic year, it served over 2,200 unique visitors. We expect this number to be far higher this year based on the pantries held so far this fall. This pantry serves over 7% of students. The majority of students served are undergraduate juniors/seniors. The pantry also serves over 1% of staff. The majority (60%) of staff visitors were custodians or dining services employees with an average salary of $31k. 56.0% of visitors were female; compared to 51.3% 30.1% of visitors were RM; compared to 21.1% 31.1% of UG students were FG; compared to 24.9%

Rams Against Hunger Recipients Molly: “I don’t have to worry as much. It lifts a lot of weight off my shoulders.” Hannah: was able to improve her blood glucose control and class attendance/participation Caleb: “My grades directly improved. The coursework feels easier. When you have a decent meal, everything feels ok.” https://giving.colostate.edu/ramsagainsthungerstories/ What benefit does Rams Against Hunger have? Profiles of several student beneficiaries were recently released, and I wanted to share a few of those. Molly grew up in a single parent household and has always been a SNAP recipient. She said they never ate healthy growing up and that she’d like to improve that for others by going into public health policy. She usually relies on student loan money for food. Hannah has diabetes and says she has to leave class at times because her blood glucose isn’t under control. She was staying at home to distract herself from being hungry instead of going to class and distracting other students. Caleb and his sister were often left on their own for dinner and had just soda before being placed in foster care. He still needs help now but feels guilty asking for it because he doesn’t want to take away resources from those in situations like he was in before.

What Can You Do? Learn more about the issue and resources working to combat it Partner with schools and food banks in your area to learn about their efforts in this space I wanted to wrap this up by sharing some ideas on how you can get involved if you’d like to. Educate yourself and others about food insecurity on campus and what resources are working to combat it. I’ve put some resources on this slide for groups that are researching the issue or creating programs to help address it. Partner with local universities, community colleges, and food banks in your area to learn about what they’re doing in this space Advocate for resources if none exist. These can include campus pantries, food recovery, community gardens, farmers’ markets, etc. Give time or financial gifts to programs that are already working to target food insecurity Support programs that also encourage overall financial security for college students and staff (such as emergency grants or on-campus housing shelters)