Alara Reed

Food insecurity is a rising issue among college students. Previous research has demonstrated that food insecurity is caused primarily by socioeconomic stratification and contributes to health issues. Many studies have evaluated the impacts of food security programs aimed toward youth, such as the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), but few have studied the persistence of childhood food insecurity into college or how food security programs for youth can be applied to college food insecurity. I used data from an original survey instrument to examine the Pearson’s correlations between experiencing food insecurity in grade school and experiencing food insecurity in college and between qualifying for the NSLP in grade school and experiencing food insecurity in college. I also used this data to quantify attitudes toward a theoretical free or reduced-cost meal program for college students by calculating the percentage of food-insecure students who responded positively toward said theoretical program. The present study found a strong relationship between experiencing food insecurity during grade school and experiencing food insecurity in college as well as strong positive attitudes toward the theoretical program described among food-insecure college students. A significant correlation between qualifying for the NSLP in grade school and experiencing college food insecurity was not found. These findings indicate that programs are needed to address food insecurity during the transitory period of college, and that a free or reduced-cost meal program would be well received, however, this program should not use qualification for the NSLP as criteria or be a continuation of the NSLP.