Barriers and facilitators to implementing and sustaining campus food insecurity initiatives

Hagedorn‐Hatfield, Rebecca L.; Qamar, Zubaida; Richards, Rickelle; Patton-López, Mēgan; Savoie‐Roskos, Mateja R.; Heying, Emily; Landry, Matthew J.; Mann, Georgianna; OoNorasak, Kendra; Cuite, Cara L.; Hood, Lanae B.

doi:10.1080/03075079.2023.2195414

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In addition, clearer preliminary planning would likely have reduced information technology challenges; these are explored briefly below. The team encountered challenges noted by Hagedorn-Hatfield et al (2023) that are common to the successful implementation and sustainment of food insecurity initiatives on college campuses: difficulty securing project funding, ensuring student awareness of the project, and overcoming perceptions of stigma. The research team intends to write about these challenges in other papers.…”

Section: Practical Lessons Learnedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smart Little Campus Food Pantries: Addressing food insecurity at Virginia Commonwealth University

Jones,

Linkous,

Mathews-Ailsworth

et al. 2024

J. Agric. Food Syst. Community Dev.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Food insecurity among college students is an emerging public health issue, affecting a considerable proportion of the student population nationwide, approximately 35–45%. Research is discovering links between college student food insecurity and physical and mental health, as well as academic performance. Such high prevalence of student food insecurity highlights the urgency of addressing the lack of consistent access to nutritious food. This research examines a pilot intervention at an urban public university that deployed miniature food pantries across campus from which anyone could take food anonymously. The research team systematically restocked these pantries with food on a weekly basis for nearly two school years. Sensors installed in the pantries collected instances when individuals “interacted” with the pantry’s door. The sensor system documented thousands of interactions with the pantries each school year. As such, the intervention can be considered a success. However, the miniature pantry model was not without flaws: its decentralized nature created challenges for the research team, the sensor system was often unstable, and heavy reliance on undergraduate students proved a long-term problem. The research team believes that administrative and information technology improvements could further enhance the model’s ability to mitigate campus food insecurity. This intervention could be an inspiration to other campuses and other institutions considering similar strategies.

show abstract

Section: Practical Lessons Learnedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smart Little Campus Food Pantries: Addressing food insecurity at Virginia Commonwealth University

Jones,

Linkous,

Mathews-Ailsworth

et al. 2024

J. Agric. Food Syst. Community Dev.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Basic needs programs and the students they support face many challenges, including stigma [31] and a lack of programs and funding sufficient to address the unmet needs [2,4,31]. Based on research at post-secondary institutions across the United States, there is a high prevalence of economic and health insecurities among college students.…”

Section: Basic Needs Initiatives As Anti-poverty Programs To Meet Unm...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining Anti-Poverty Programs to Address Student’s Unmet Basic Needs at Texas Hispanic-Serving Institutions over the Course of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Zottarelli,

Sunil,

et al. 2024

Trends in Higher Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many post-secondary institutions have implemented anti-poverty programs to address students’ basic needs insecurities. This study examined the provision of 17 types of basic needs programs at Texas Hispanic-serving institutions over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic with the aim to identify changes in the number and types of programs offered as well as factors that may influence the presence of specific types of basic needs programs on campus. While the average number of basic needs programs per institution varied little over time, the specific types of programs that were offered changed. Institution type as a 2-year or 4-year institution was associated with providing on-campus mental health services, on-campus physical health services, and after-school care for students’ children at pre-pandemic and anticipated post-pandemic time points and employing students and free food or meal vouchers at the pre-pandemic time point. The percentage of students receiving Pell Grants was associated with basic needs programs to assist students applying for public services and referrals to off-campus health services pre-pandemic and anticipated post-pandemic. The presence of an on-campus free food pantry was associated with the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants at the anticipated post-pandemic time point only. Over the course of the pandemic, there were changes to the types of basic needs programs offered. Some types of basic needs programs were associated with institutional and/or student characteristics. Given the continued presence of basic needs programs through the course of the pandemic and into the post-pandemic period, the use of these kinds of programs and services to support students, while influenced by external factors such as the pandemic, appears institutionally established as a way to facilitate going to college for students in need.

show abstract

“…Furthermore, a university's private or public standing may influence the types of resources they can offer to their students. An online crosssectional survey of faculty, staff, administrators and student leaders at higher educational institutions in 28 US states by Hagedorn-Hatfield and colleagues reported that barriers and facilitators to implementing and sustaining campus food insecurity initiatives differed between public and private institutions (85) .…”

Section: Current Status Of Knowledge and Research Gapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even when programmes or initiatives addressing food insecurity are present on campus, stigma is a commonly reported barrier that can prevent students from utilising these resources (34,85,88) . Stigma surrounding the use of programmes is not unique to higher education institutions (89) .…”

Section: Current Status Of Knowledge and Research Gapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stigma surrounding the use of programmes is not unique to higher education institutions (89) . Institutions can work towards reducing stigma by providing educational opportunities that expose students to the realities and complexities of food insecurity and address negative perceptions and stigmas around basic need insecurities (85) . University and community culture can reduce the stigma by rejecting cultural narratives that individual weakness or faults are the cause of food insecurity (90) .…”

Section: Current Status Of Knowledge and Research Gapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Advancing college food security: priority research gaps

et al. 2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite over a decade of both quantitative and qualitative studies, food insecurity among United States college/university students remains a pervasive problem within higher education. The purpose of this perspective piece was to highlight research gaps in the area of college food insecurity and provide rationale for the research community to focus on these gaps going forward. A group of food insecurity researchers from a variety of higher education institutions across the United States identified five thematic areas of research gaps: screening and estimates of food insecurity; longitudinal changes in food insecurity; impact of food insecurity on broader health and academic outcomes; evaluation of impact, sustainability, and cost effectiveness of existing programs and initiatives; and state and federal policies and programs. Within these thematic areas, 19 specific research gaps were identified that have limited or no peer-reviewed, published research. These research gaps result in a limited understanding of the magnitude, severity, and persistence of college food insecurity, the negative short- and long-term impacts of food insecurity on health, academic performance, and overall college experience, and effective solutions and policies to prevent or meaningfully address food insecurity among college students. Research in these identified priority areas may help accelerate action and interdisciplinary collaboration to alleviate food insecurity among college students and play a critical role in informing the development or refinement of programs and services that better support college student food security needs.

show abstract

Barriers and facilitators to implementing and sustaining campus food insecurity initiatives

Cited by 4 publications

References 41 publications

Smart Little Campus Food Pantries: Addressing food insecurity at Virginia Commonwealth University

Smart Little Campus Food Pantries: Addressing food insecurity at Virginia Commonwealth University

Examining Anti-Poverty Programs to Address Student’s Unmet Basic Needs at Texas Hispanic-Serving Institutions over the Course of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Advancing college food security: priority research gaps

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About