Grassroots Approach to Student Hunger at Temple University
By: Raigan Wheeler and Septime Sessou
On a Tuesday afternoon, Adrienne Kueberuwa, a sophomore Bio-Chemistry major at Temple University walked into the Howard Gittis Student Center and took the elevator to the second floor. There, she goes to the Cherry Pantry to complete her weekly grocery shopping. Kueberuwa is one of about 200 Temple students who self-identify as food insecure and visit the Cherry Pantry to meet her basic food needs.
The Cherry Pantry is Temple’s response to the problem of student hunger on its main campus. The pantry launched in February 2018, is an initiative led by student activist, Sarah Levine, with the support of university leadership with a goal of providing equal treatment and access to food insecure students.
“You can’t always spend $50 every week trying to buy groceries,” says Kueberuwa. To counter this, the Cherry Pantry is a discreet, no-cost option for students seeking affordability. The pantry is strategically positioned above the university’s food court so students, even commuters, can have access.
Inside, the pantry’s interior resembles a convenience store with silver metal shelving that holds the non-perishable items. The food is organized by the categories of side dishes, snacks, single-meal items, and multi-meal items.
Rachael H. Stark, Ph.D., Senior Associate Dean of Students and staff leader of the Cherry Pantry, explains its one-of-a-kind model, “Students are allowed 16 points per week. The food is designated as one, two, or three points.”
“We’ll swipe your Temple I.D. card just to make sure you’re a current student,” says Stark. Student’s names are not recorded or displayed. The I.D. swiping simply allows the Cherry Pantry to track student usage and enrollment status. Additionally, students who use the pantry may or may not have a meal plan.
“Our food has been donated from departments all around campus,” says Stark.For the grand opening, academic and non-academic units including Samuel Paley Library and Temple University Police Department competed to see who could donate the most food. The Challah for Hunger, a student-led organization, raised $14,000 through an Owlcrowd campaign. Temple Trustee, Daniel H. Polett offered to donate $25,000 to the Cherry Pantry.
According to the New York Times-published op-ed “It’s Hard to Say If You’re Hungry” by Sara Goldrick-Rab, Ph.D., an estimated 50 percent of undergraduates face the challenge of student hunger. In the fall of 2017, Dr. Goldrick-Rab, a professor at Temple, Temple’s Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, and the Wisconsin HOPE Lab, discovered that 35 percent of Temple’s undergraduate students identified as “low” or “very low” for food security.
Although the pantry idea is new to Temple, universities across the United States are already involved with similar initiatives. These universities include, Texas A&M University, Syracuse University, UC Irvine, where research has been conducted to understand the variance of the issue.
Student hunger can strongly impact academic performance. Some students are less likely to earn a higher GPA when preoccupied with worries regarding their next meal. “As a college student it’s hard to worry about food all the time. [The Cherry Pantry] removes some the worries so you can focus on other things and have more time to study,” says Kueberuwa.
Sarah Levine, a founding member and Student Manager of the Cherry Pantry, has been personally seen who food insecurity can impact student success. When Levine, first came to Temple in the Fall of 2014, she battled with on campus housing and food options. Levine says she and her parents devised a plan based on hope and prayer that funding for housing would come through.
Ultimately, Levine found herself displaced and attending campus events for a free meal. If she had more immediate responsibilities, like class or work, she would miss the event or arrive after refreshments were gone. During one of her most vulnerable days, Levine admits to succumbing to hunger, stealing an avocado from a local unnamed grocery store. Temple perpetuates food insecurity by offering unaffordable meal plans with few healthy options while being located in North Philly, a food desert.
Besides Levine’s, prominent role within the Cherry Pantry, she is a regular user of its services. “Some of my favorite things I like to get from the pantry are corn, string beans, [and baked beans]. I also like to get [single-meal items] because it’s easier for me to prepare, knowing that I’m going to get my nutrition,” says Levine.
Levine explains that with operation of the pantry comes limitations and challenges. She says the stigma surrounding food insecurity can be debilitating for college students so they won’t seek the pantries services.
“[The stigma] comes from the American mindset of ‘Pull yourself up by the boot straps’ but they neglect to notice that some people don’t have boots,” says Levine.
Kueberuwa and Levine both discuss the lack of vegan and fresh produce options. “My roommate is vegan and I didn’t notice a lot of vegan options. I was going to pick something up for her but its not a broad range of options for different food [practices],” says Kueberuwa. Levine hopes this need can be met in the future with refrigerating appliances and expanding the space of the pantry.
Long term goals for the pantry highlight destigmatizng hunger so everyone can be open and knowledgable on the topic of food insecurity.“For anyone that is food insecure or might not recognize [it], just know that there are people that are trying to make an open environment for you to come forward. [The Cherry Pantry] is trying to make your experience as receptive as possible,” Levine hopefully states.
