Hidden Hunger

Layout by EMMA KENNER Story by RICHARD MCMEANS

“34.5% of students and 28.6% of staff repondents said they had experienced or witnessed food insecurity.”

Everyone in this modern-day society would love to be able to live life in the mindset of Timon and Pumba of the Lion King singing hakuna matata, meaning “no worries for the rest of your days,” but for many, that is only a distant dream, especially for young kids making their transition away from home onto a college campus. There are many worries for a college student; one main worry being nutritional supply for themselves while away from home. Most simply do not have the resources to fend for themselves away from parental supervision and support. Temple University’s Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice a non-profit research organization studied the issue of hunger across its campus by surveying over 167,000 students from 101 community colleges and 68 four-year colleges universities according to psmag.com. Their reports showed a staggering amount of respondents (48%) claiming food insecurity and being worried whether their food supply would deplete before they get more money to

restock their pantries. Though this is not a national report there are many other occurrences of this particular issue across college campuses and universities around the globe. Tennessee Tech University Food Pantry is another non-profit organization fighting against the same exact problem in the Putnam County area in Cookeville, TN. Their mission is to raise awareness of hidden hunger on college campuses across the nation and establish and sustain a network for food acquisition, storage and distribution at Tech to alleviate hunger among our campus community. In 2012, in efforts to get the campus food pantry established a survey was first sent out campus wide asking students, faculty, and staff about whether they knew of any who had or had themselves experienced food insecurity. Michelle Huddleston, food pantry director, said “34.5% of students, and 28.6 % of staff respondents said they had experienced or witnessed food insecurity.”

With this data collected, a grant from The Corporation for National and Community Service was passed, giving birth to the pantry. Since its beginnings in 2012 the number of people served has increased from 5 people a week in 2013, approximately 12-15 per week in 2016, and 35-40 per week since 2019 to present day. Michelle said, “It may not seem like a lot, but the amount of people we’re able to assists with our dedicated service makes a huge difference in the community.”

“Everyone in this modern-day society would love to be able to live life in the mindset of Timon and Pumba of the Lion King singing hakuna matata, meaning ‘no worries for the rest of your days,’ but for many, that is only a distant dream.”