When thinking of college students, there are many commonalities that we often associate with them, one of those being “the starving college student”. You know, the one living on Ramen Noodles. This concept has been passed down for many years and is considered a rite of passage.
However, what we fail to consider is the impact that food insecurity has on health and the ability to learn. There have been many studies over the years that have focused on food insecurity and learning with each concluding that food and nutrition are an extremely important part of the learning process.
My name is Emily Shupe, I am a registered dietitian, and I have been teaching at Western Illinois University for the past 23 years. I teach students who are studying to be dietitians. In all my classes, we discuss the importance of food and nutrition on our overall health. Over the years, I really started to notice how distracted some of my students were in class. When I asked them what was going on, the common answer was “I am just hungry, I need to get something to eat”. At that point, I began keeping food in my office for the students.
Over the years, I began noticing more students coming into my office for food, they would sit and we would talk, this is when I really started to see the impact food insecurity was having on our campus. In 2017, I walked out into the hallway. There were several dietetic students sitting in the hallway waiting for class to begin. I asked them if they wanted to help me with a project, and that is when it all began.
I knew there was a problem on our campus, but before I could make a change, I needed to have a better understanding of how big the problem was. We developed a survey and sent it out to all students on the Macomb campus. We had almost 700 students respond to the survey.
What really caught my attention was the number of students who identified that they were being impacted. Out of all the students, 50% reported that they were food insecure. 20% pf students — one out of every five — reported that their grades had dropped because of lack of food. At this point, I knew we had a serious problem, and there was no stopping me.
In the process of developing the food pantry, I really wanted this to be about the students, and I knew that the pantry could go beyond feeding people, I had so many ideas. Before we opened the pantry, I organized a student group, the “WIU Food Pantry Student Association,” and the members of the student organization would run the daily operations of the pantry. I never could have imagined how big the pantry would grow, and how much it had to give to the students.
The WIU Food Pantry opened its doors in March of 2018 in a ticket booth next to Hanson Field. It was an exciting day, and we had a total of 26 students visit the pantry. It did not take long for the pantry to outgrow the ticket booth, and we were moved to Horrabin Hall, where we continue to reside.
Over the years, we have continued to have incredible growth, we are now serving hundreds of students each week and giving out thousands of pounds of food. Through the pantry, we have developed a network across the WIU campus, the Macomb community, throughout the state, and across the country. With our amazing supporters, donors, and volunteers we are reducing the impact of food insecurity on the WIU campus.
Over the years, the WIU Food Pantry has continued to evolve in so many ways, providing experiences and learning opportunities for the students. When developing the pantry, one of my goals was to provide an opportunity for students to practice lessons learned in the classroom in a real-life situation. The pantry has provided numerous students with the opportunity to complete research for their classes, honors projects, and even thesis. My absolute favorite is watching the students develop and foster empathy for others. I have always said, within the classroom I teach the facts and figures, at the pantry is where we learn empathy, and how to treat others with respect.
The WIU Food Pantry has become so much more than I ever could have imagined. Working with my co-director, Carrie Lowderman, and the students of Western Illinois University, we are making a difference, reducing food insecurity across our campus.
Last spring, I had an opportunity to work with Dave Miner who was producing a documentary on food insecurity across universities in the United States. The documentary is titled “Learning Hungry” and we will be hosting a free viewing on Tuesday, October 6 at 4 p.m. in Stipes Hall room 121. The public is welcome to attend.
Developing and running the WIU Food Pantry has been an amazing opportunity and we could not do what we do without the help of others. I would like to thank the Midwest Food Bank, Riverbend, which is a Feeding America program, and DOT Foods for their continued support of providing us with food for the pantry. I would also like to thank the many individuals, groups, churches, and organizations who have provided monetary donations, helping us to meet the needs of our students.
We are many hands, working together, fighting food insecurity, one student at a time.
If anyone would like more information on the WIU Food Pantry, please feel free to reach out to me. My email address is er-shupe@wiu.edu.
Emily Shupe is a professor of Health and Wellness Services at Western Illinois University.
The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the university or TSPR.
Diverse viewpoints are welcomed and encouraged.