COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jokes about starving college students relying on ramen noodles, rice and other cheap foods are no laughing matter, as recent research uncovers the broad scope of campus hunger.

In a survey released by Temple University, 45% of student respondents said they had been food insecure in the past month, meaning they were unsure of the source of their next meal.

Marisa Vernon White, associate provost, enrollment management and student success at Lorain County Community College, explains increased access to higher education means more students entering college with unique situations.

"We have this image in our mind of the college student who's living in a residence hall who has a food plan, whose parents are sending them money on the weekends,” she states. “And that's just not necessarily the case."

Lorain County Community College offers The Commodore Cupboard food pantry for students and community members.

Otterbein University in Westerville also offers similar assistance through its The Promise House, where Americorps VISTA member Jaymi Green works with volunteers and students.

"It's hard to study when you're hungry,” she states. “It's hard to keep yourself motivated and stay up later to finish a paper if you are just constantly thinking, 'My stomach is grumbling, I'm hungry, I haven't eaten today.'”

Of those surveyed, 7% of two-year students and 5% of four-year students skipped eating for a full day because they couldn't afford food.

At least a dozen Ohio universities and community colleges have food pantries.

The average cost for a full year tuition at a public university is roughly $25,000.

Stacey Rusterholz, assistant director for community engagement with The Promise House at Otterbein University, notes that while hunger is more common among students from low-income families, the price tag of higher education is also a factor.

"College is really expensive even if you have tuition discounts or scholarships there's a lot of additional costs that go with college, whether its books or food or organizational fees, things like that," she states.

At Lorain County Community College Sarah Hyde-Pinner is coordinator for the Commodore Cupboard Food Pantry. She adds that food assistance is also available during the summer months for students and their families.

"You see an uptick in summer from students who are parents who have school age children at home who may not be getting lunch at school and they may get connected with summer feeding programs but there is still a gap in what they need."

This the first part of a two-part series that looks into the response to college hunger. Part 2 runs Tuesday


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As the weather gets cooler, some farmers markets in Oregon are winding down. But a program which incentivizes buying fresh fruits and vegetables is still available for people with food benefits.

The Double Up Food Bucks program offers dollar-for-dollar match for food bought with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, so people can purchase produce. At many farmers markets, the match goes up to $20.

Molly Notarianni, executive director of the Farmers Market Fund, said Double Up Food Bucks is offered in other venues too.

"Currently, it's offered at about 26 grocery stores in 19 counties, and then there's a large amount of CSAs, or Community Supported Agriculture farms that also accept Double Up Food Bucks," Notarianni outlined. "For shoppers who want to purchase a commitment from a farm with their SNAP, they'll get a discount over the course of the season."

Notarianni also noted while some are packing up, nearly 30 farmers markets participating in the program across the state will keep going in November and December. Even in January through April, she pointed out about a dozen markets stay open.

Notarianni added the benefits are especially needed right now, with hunger at its highest level in a century and inflation compounding the issue. She believes the Double Up Food Bucks program is a "triple win."

"It's helping families access more fruits and veggies," Notarianni explained. "That money is working twice. It's also going directly into the pockets of local farmers, so they're making extra money and making new customers. And then it also really helps support local economies."

Notarianni advised people have until the end of the year to spend any Double Up Food Bucks they have accumulated this year.

The Holyoke area is home to many Puerto Rican families who say they will do what they can to help people there as they recover from the latest hurricane.

When they arrived in Holyoke some 30 years ago, migrants longed for a chance to harvest the foods integral to their island's culture. Today, the farm they started, Nuestras Raíces or "Our Roots," is a leader in community-based farming, feeding and providing growing opportunities for low-income communities in western Massachusetts.

Sue Colon, the farm's development coordinator, said her organization has become so much more than a place for neighbors to grow food.

"When they come to the farm for the festivals, that's exactly what they say: They feel like they're back home," Colon observed. "The farm represents that to them."

Along with tomatoes, onions and squash, farmers grow traditional crops like aji dulce, a sweet pepper, or recao, a long-leaf coriander and staple of Puerto Rican cuisine. Colon pointed out the organization is developing a plan to increase its presence back in Puerto Rico and with farmers there, following the devastation from Hurricane Ian.

Funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture has helped to create pop-up markets in the area, where farmers can sell their produce at affordable prices. The mobile markets also deliver to Latino families who might live in so-called food deserts, where fresh produce can be tough to find.

Colon noted the mobile units often visit senior and low-income housing, bringing everything families need to make sofritos, a blend of produce and spices used as a base for many Puerto Rican dishes.

"They're really happy because we basically give them a kit, like a sofrito kit, because we give them all the things they need to make their sofrito, so they like making it from scratch," Colon explained.

She added the farm also helps to create jobs, with more than 40 Latino entrepreneurs starting their own businesses through the use of incubator kitchens.

Groups fighting hunger in California say untold suffering could be avoided if the policies championed at the latest White House conference are put into place.

The event was the first of its kind in 50 years, bringing together government agencies, nonprofits and private companies, with the goal of wiping out hunger in the U.S. by 2030.

Itzúl Gutierrez with the California Association of Food Banks said she was glad to hear President Joe Biden voice support for strategies to reduce poverty and thus, fight hunger.

"We were very excited to see raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and also expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, in addition to the Child Tax Credit," Gutierrez outlined. "And also investments in housing and rental assistance."

The conference also promoted ideas long championed by the California Hunger Action Coalition, including expanding free school meals to all kids, and allowing college students, recent immigrants, and formerly incarcerated people to participate in CalFresh.

Gutierrez pointed out she was disappointed the conference made little mention of food insecurity in undocumented families. Many of the proposals face significant Republican opposition in Congress, based on cost concerns.

Tracy Weatherby, vice president of strategy and advocacy for Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, said 60% of its clients have less than $250 in savings, and the financial squeeze will get worse once the feds declare the public health emergency is over.

When it happens, she stressed, CalFresh benefits are slated to drop an average of 82-dollars a month per person.

"The White House strategy comes at a crucial time, as nearly all pandemic-era social safety net programs are ending, while food, gas, rent, and other prices are rising," Weatherby noted. "And that's really leaving families across the country struggling to cover their basic costs."

Todd Cunningham, organizer for food and wellness for the Los Angeles Community Action Network, said the pandemic proved when there's a will, there's a way.

"Not only did they do the school meals for all during the regular school year, but also when summer came around," Cunningham recounted. "They also came up with solutions for people who couldn't make it to school to pick them up. We've seen that we can actually come up with creative solutions, if we just put our minds to it and then, we have the will to do it."

Statistics show one in five households experiences food insecurity, with deeper disparities for Black and Latino communities.