College Food Pantry, which aims to help "address food insecurity among college students of all ages and backgrounds," opens this afternoon at the Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Parish on Avenue B and Ninth Street (pictured above).Here's more via their website:
The College Student Pantry is a food pantry program providing groceries for any college or graduate student who needs them, regardless of financial situation or institutional affiliation. The idea for the pantry arose out of a recognition among students at NYU and the New School that student food insecurity is a significant and growing problem in New York.
Students need to make an appointment for pickup. (Walk ups are OK too.) Moving forward, the service is available for students on the first and third Wednesdays of the month between 3 and 5 p.m.
The Pantry is in partnership with Trinity's Services and Food for the Homeless (SAFH) and PRiSM Progressive Student Ministry
The idea came from talking with community members and student activists who wanted to do something to address the needs of their fellow classmates. At NYU, more than 20 percent of students reported financial hardship affording food in 2018; at CUNY, 48 percent of students surveyed in 2019 had been food insecure in the past 30 days.
"I know it seems like a rite of passage to live off of ramen noodles, but we aren’t here to romanticize that kind of experience," an SAFH rep tells me. "The reality is that living off of ramen noodles and dollar pizza slices is not healthy. When your cupboards are bare and you skip meals to make your paycheck or student loan last, it’s not a good thing. Student food insecurity is a widespread issue, but the romanization of 'being young and poor' makes it an often obscured one."
This is a good idea. When I was in college, I developed a bad food-hoarding habit, which caused subsequent obsessive behavior and took years to break. Students, especially those facing debt, don't need this added anxiety.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand how students attending NYU & living in a dorm, paying over $76,000/year, can be "food insecure." Would be glad if someone can enlighten me.
ReplyDeleteI *do* understand how CUNY students can be food insecure.
In any case, I'm glad that the students are being helped.
Maybe these are poor students on scholarships?
DeleteI sometimes didn't eat back in the 80's while attending Eugene Lang College. I didn't expect anyone else to feed me. It was my own responsibility. I sometimes sold records on the street to get food money. Tea and coffee served us well.
ReplyDeleteLOL @ the person not understanding how someone can be food insecure while also attending NYU. Do you honestly think 100% of the students at NYU are paying cash upfront for tuition?!? Have you not heard of student loans, and massive amount of debt that people get into for an education?? Not to mention the fact that any part-time (or full-time) work available is severely reduced right now. Just think through the situation for half a minute before rushing to judgement.
ReplyDeleteMy secret was while waiting tables at night to pay for school, id get scraps and mess up orders. Managed to get free dinners most nights. I really am glad to see this and hope it doesn't get overrun by the chinatown ladies. Sorry I've watched them make food pantries nearly impossible to get through when discovered. Im not against handouts to those in need but I get irritated when locals can't get into their own local food lines.
ReplyDelete