by Delaney Reaves, Managing Editor

Ken Jeffries, Reporter

Francisco Jasso, Contributor

Food insecurity has become an issue on college campuses across the state of Arkansas, including NorthWest Arkansas Community College. People are often left with worry that they won’t be able to afford their next meal. 

The Honors Student Association and the NWACC Food Pantry surveyed students and faculty to better understand how food insecurity is affecting their college. On March 9, the Honors Student Association presented the information gathered through their survey at Burns Hall White Auditorium as part of the Spring Arts & Culture Festival. 

The program was titled “The Food Picture: Hunger in Northwest Arkansas,” and illuminated statistics about the number of Northwest Arkansans who face food insecurity throughout the year — some who may only eat sporadically through the week and are often only able to do that with the help of nonprofits and government agencies. 

Sabrina Chesnes, Honors Program Director, emceed the presentation. She was joined on the stage by Allison Davidson, Thanaisawan Hill, and Yullyanna Laguna, three members of the NWACC Honors Student Association. Also presenting was Jennie Popp, associate dean of the Honors College and a professor of agricultural economics and agricultural business at University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Cathy May, representing the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, helped give the fuller picture of food insecurity in the state. Daniel Smith, programs data manager with the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank, rounded out the non-student contributors to the on-stage panel. 

Panelists discussed several ways to get involved regarding state, regional and campus hunger issues. Raising awareness was a common theme. According to the honors students’ survey, 17% of students at NWACC didn’t know that the school has a food pantry while 66.9% didn’t know how to access the NWACC food pantry. 

One of the honor students’ goals has been to bring increased awareness on campus about the food pantry. The panel discussion helped carry out their objective. Noah Nickles, a student who attended the session, said, “I didn’t even know our school had a food pantry before this presentation.” Asked afterward about his impressions, Nickles said, “It was a good presentation overall and spreading the word about our food pantry can help bring awareness to this problem.” 

The NWACC food pantry has been moved from the Student Center building to the Burns Hall building. The audience members were 

asked if they knew that bit of information, and many did not. 

The pantry can be accessed by students and faculty by filling out a form that can be found on the NWACC site. After this is completed, it will be processed privately, and bags will be set up based on family members in the same household as well. Dietary needs are addressed and snacks, breakfast, lunch, and 3 to 6 dinners with recipes are provided.

Solutions to this problem are being pursued on the NWACC campus, including a food drive conducted in March. Boxes were located around campus for this purpose. Futue volunteer opportunites through service learning will be avaliable for students to help in the food pantry 

Another way to help is to tell other students and staff that there is a food pantry at NWACC. The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank (https://www.nwafoodbank.org) is another way to become involved, either as a volunteer or by donating money, the panelists shared.

No type of student is immune to campus hunger, panelists said. It affects men and women, all ethnicities, both first-generation and non-first-gen students, and those with and without disabilities. Food insecurity has negative effects on college students across the country. Over 40 percent of students cannot focus in class due to limited food intake at least some months in a year, and of those, over 12 percent experience it at least once a month.

According to the panel, some of the biggest barriers to the use of food pantries/food banks is the lack of knowledge that they exist, and the stigma attached to using them. People don’t want their friends to know they are struggling with this issue. Another barrier is often the paperwork necessary to sign up, which is the reason over 32 percent said they won’t use this resource. This is related to the invasion of privacy that some see as an unavoidable outcome of that paperwork, but entities that receive government funds are often required to gather this data.

The NWACC Food Pantry offers nutritious food and is aware that some people have food allergies or other dietary restrictions. They are willing to work with students to meet those needs. NWACC Director of Student Life Cierra Collins said most non-perishable items are returnable if unusable to the recipient, so that nothing needs go to waste.

Many respondents didn’t know how to access the available sources of help, so efforts such as posters, flyers, T-shirts and even mobile pantries are in the works. There is a possibility of using existing lockers on campus as delivery points less likely to draw attention to the recipient. To make the sign-up process easier, volunteers to fill out the computerized forms for the applicants are being sought. 

In addition to on-campus resources, those in need should check into the federal government’s SNAP and WIC programs. Work-study and Pell Grant recipients are automatically eligible for SNAP benefits. 

Recommendations for ending campus hunger include:

• Improve awareness of and access to pantries on campus with regular educational campaigns that help negate any stigma associated with using a pantry.

• Reduce barriers to access at campus pantries by minimizing needed paperwork or aiding in completing any required documents.

• Launch SNAP signup campaigns (partnering with the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance and others) to improve SNAP access to eligible college students.

• Collaborate with state representatives to help expand SNAP access and increase resources available to campus to combat hunger.