Many university students are being affected by hunger, particularly among 45% of students of a South African University. Institutions of higher learning have started being attentive to problems ailing university students, such as mental health, harassment, and bullying. Hunger should also be among the crucial list.
Nevertheless, they have not put primary emphasis on the fact that hunger is a common challenge among university students as they usually get worried about where they will get their next meal.
Hunger among 45% of university students
The hunger problem among university students can be viewed as a global one because the University of California speculated that one-quarter of graduating students were subjected to food insecurity.
This meant that they had reduced meals portions or skipped them for saving purposes. Additionally, it was probable that they no longer had food as it has become unaffordable.
Food insecurity high among university students
University students are usually faced with tight budgets. As a result, most of them have to face the reality of their food money dwindling.
This trend has proven disastrous because many university students usually go hungry. This considerably affects their attention spans making optimal productivity cumbersome.
Higher learning institutions should, therefore, address the food insecurity problem on campuses by coming up with amicable long and short-term solutions.
Some institutions are setting a good precedent by coming up with creative measures to address this challenge. For instance, South Africa’s University of Witwatersrand created a Food Sovereignty Centre, whereby student donations, such as meals, are encouraged.
Furthermore, the University of California, San Francisco, developed an app that informed students whenever food was not finished at catered events. This has proven helpful because 69% of its student populace enrolled in postgraduate programs has signed up.
Students walk miles to reach a pantry
Food insecurity is real in many universities across the globe. For example, students at Iowa University in the United States have to walk miles to reach a pantry that supports their basic food requirements. Being the only pantry in the complete area, students have no other option than to rely on the pantry.
Moreover, South African universities are struggling to address the food insecurity problem on their campuses as students coming from poor families suffer most in the food insecurity problem.
