I recently found an article in the New York Times that discussed food insecurity among students of all ages, both k-12 and college level. It is titled, “Have you Ever Experienced Food Insecurity,” and it is actually an opinion piece as well as it is a poll for students to comment on and express their experiences with food insecurity. According to the article and “Feeding America,” there are approximately 13 million students across the country that are being raised in food insecure homes. We don’t talk about this large portion of the population perhaps because it is embarrassing or shameful, but this is clearly a group of the American public who deserves more attention and fewer negative stigmas. Part of the process of removing stigmas is for schools to provide free school lunches to all, as districts in New York have begun to do. Another interesting component to the piece was its discussion of spring break for college students, and what this time off from school means for students who are food insecure. It is a widespread assumption that students leave the university for spring break, but this is not always the case. For students who can not afford to leave campus for vacation and are expecting their dining halls to remain open, they are often left disappointed and hungry. There are no solutions to this problem provided in the article, but perhaps the change could be as simple as university catering services remaining open during university breaks, just with fewer staff.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/learning/have-you-ever-experienced-food-insecurity.html