Hungry minds: Investigating the food insecurity of minority community college students

Abstract

Research on food insecurity has investigated urban environments at the neighborhood and city level but neglected the importance of college institutions. Community colleges, which serve a larger population of low‐income, food insecure, and minority students than 4‐year institutions, have been especially neglected. In this mixed methods study, we examined how 50 low‐income minority students in an urban community college access food on campus and how the features of their college foodscape shape their food insecurity. We also investigated how students' ability to access food on campus shaped their perceptions of the college institution and their academic endeavors. Our survey findings reveal high levels of food insecurity among our participants. Students' written narratives demonstrate their desire for more appealing and affordable food on campus and reveal their distrust of the college institution. Furthermore, students connect their food insecurity to their ability to concentrate on academic tasks. Thus, the accessibility of food on campus appears to affect students' perceptions of their community college institution and has implications for their emotional and academic development. Our work suggests that both researchers and college institutions must examine the inadvertent signals that institutions send to food insecure students through their food policies.

“Helping Me Learn New Things Every Day”: The Power of Community College Students’ Writing Across Genres

“…Students’ genre-sensitive narratives might reveal their ability or inability to resolve such college difficulties, as well as their understanding of how institutional agents or structures can influence their overall success (Bazerman, 1997). This conjecture is in accordance with research that reveals that college students can use narrative genres to interpret, find support for, and resolve problems across divergent educational institutions (Ahmed, 2017; Ahmed et al, 2019; Daiute & Kreniske, 2016; Ilieva et al, 2019; Kreniske, 2017; Todorova, 2018). Thus, diverse community college students’ narratives may signal, predict, and perhaps even influence their ability (or lack thereof) to overcome college difficulties with the help of varied support systems.…”

“…First, this work draws upon the notion of genre as dynamic social actions that people employ to meet their sociocognitive needs within their sociocultural contexts (Bakhtin, 1986; Bazerman, 1997, 2004; Berkenkotter & Huckin, 1993; Daiute, 2014; Reiff & Bawarshi, 2011; Russell, 1997; Tardy, 2003, 2016). The focus on ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse community college students’ use of classroom and narrative genres adds to previous research on diverse people’s use of genres to review experiences and enact sociocultural goals in relation to specific audience members (Ahmed, 2017; Ahmed et al, 2019; Beer, 2000; Daiute & Kreniske, 2016; Driscoll et al, 2020; Hyon, 2002; Ilieva et al, 2019; Jovic, 2014; Kreniske, 2017; Tardy, 2003; Todorova, 2018). This article ultimately contributes to genre-related research that indicates that genre-sensitive writing is developmental and supports diverse people’s rhetorical, academic, and socioemotional growth.…”

“…When people write genre-sensitive narratives, 2 they interpret and examine their sociocultural contexts and experiences by creating some type of meaningful story containing a plot populated by notable characters (Daiute, 2014). Past research has revealed that community college students can write genre-sensitive narratives in order to demonstrate their college-related competencies to varied audiences, to achieve sociocultural goals related to higher education, to signal their understanding of social and structural relations within college, and to reflect on their engagement with college norms, values, and activities (Ahmed, 2017; Ahmed et al, 2019; Daiute & Kreniske, 2016; Ilieva et al, 2019). Thus, when diverse students write genre-sensitive narratives about community college in response to varied genre prompts, they may develop or demonstrate knowledge and skills that can help them thrive in higher education.…”

Food safety knowledge and hygienic‐sanitary control: A needed company for public well‐being

“…He concluded that identification of food stakeholder involvement and system thinking is not enough but these must be matched with proper matching of stakeholders' strengths with appropriate system model that results is adequate food security for the community (Roggio, ). Similarly, Ilieva, Ahmed, and Yan () using college student community sample found that access to food impacts on emotional and academic development. Thus, food safety is not only important for disease prevention but also contributes to the emotional and physiological development of the consumers.…”

Food and Housing Insecurity for Latinx/a/o College Students: Advancing an Intersectional Research Agenda

“…As the affordability of postsecondary education has declined, students increasingly lack access to stable housing (e.g., Goldrick-Rab et al, 2017, 2019; Hallett & Crutchfield, 2017; Hallett & Freas, 2018) and to healthy food (e.g., Freudenberg et al, 2019; Patton-López et al, 2014; Phillips et al, 2018; Wood & Harris, 2018). Lacking basic housing and healthy food is associated with negative effects on academic, health, and social outcomes (Allen & Alleman, 2019; Hickey et al, 2019; Ilieva et al, 2019; Phillips et al, 2018). These effects include not participating in campus events or other forms of student involvement (Allen & Alleman, 2019), reporting lower academic performance and GPAs (Hickey et al, 2019), and considering dropping out of college (Phillips et al, 2018).…”