Hunger continues to be a growing epidemic on college campuses across Minnesota

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Gov. Tim Walz has brought attention to the growing problem of food insecurity on college campuses when he declared Thursday College Food Insecurity Awareness Day.

This is the first time a Minnesota governor has brought attention to this issue that impacts 2 in 5 community college students, which is about 44,800 students in Minnesota.

Earlier this year, Walz signed the Hunger Free Campus Act, which recognizes campuses that are taking steps to address this issue.

To receive the designation campuses must first establish food delivery systems (like food pantries), have a campus hunger task force, hold one hunger awareness event, provide information to students on programs that reduce food insecurity, and establish an emergency assistance grant for students. This program creates a roadmap for colleges to follow as they work to better support students experiencing food insecurity.

“No student should go hungry on campus,” said LeadMN President Oballa Oballa, in a press release. “Thank you to Gov. Walz for bringing attention to this epidemic on our community college campuses. State policy needs to do more to connect students to resources that will help meet their basic needs.”

Thursday morning, Oballa thought back to his own time when he was a student at Riverland Community College and had to deal with the same issues so many students are fighting with.

“It is here on this very campus that I myself as a college student struggled to afford food,” he said. “It is within these classrooms where I tried to hide in shame as my stomach growled because I had not had food to eat.”

The 2018 #RealCollege Survey Report, which was released this fall raised important questions about whether colleges are prepared to help students meet their basic needs.

The survey found that 3 in 5 Minnesota community college students experienced food insecurity, housing insecurity or homelessness in the past year. The survey affirms that students’ basic needs are not being met and present a significant barrier to undergraduates pursuing their credentials.

Eight community colleges in Minnesota took part in the survey, which revealed that 40 percent of those responding experienced food insecurity in the 30 days before the survey was taken.

The report states, “The #RealCollege survey affirms what has been evident to many college administrators, faculty, staff, and students for years: basic needs insecurity is a condition challenging many undergraduates pursuing credentials. The scope of the problem described here is substantial and should be cause for a systemic response.”

Oballa said that he hopes that a day declaration like Thursday’s will be a primer in jumpstarting a new effort to curb student hunger.

“By declaring Oct. 24, College Food Insecurity Day, I hope students, college leaders, community members, and policy makers can all come together to raise even more awareness about this issue and collaborate to enact proactive policy and comprehensive research to move closer to ensuring that no student has to go hungry on campus,” he said.