On Saturday, Jan. 3, students with meal plans received an email from the Department of Residential Education & Housing that stated “Meal swipes at entry into the dining hall are limited to you, the meal plan-holder and one guest. Beyond that, meal swipes are not transferable.”
This directly contradicts one of Guilford’s most notable attempts to combat food insecurity on campus, Pay It Forward. This was a meal swipe program in the main Dining Hall that allowed students with extra meal swipes to swipe in for other students who were lacking swipes of their own. This allowed Guilford College students to help each other stay fed in a currently high-priced economy.
During the Jan. 8 OSLE-led community meeting, Guilford College alumna Sarah Seguin shared the results of a 2023 survey, which featured 180 participants, that found three out of four students “responded with experiencing food insecurity.”
“So, it means a lot of the people in this room have experienced food insecurity,” Seguin continued. “So, when Guilford is making policy decisions around food insecurity and access to food, what checks and balances are being put in place to check for institutional cruelty amongst the policy decisions being made.”
This question resulted in a high amount of praise from students but not much of an answer from leadership.
“Decisions like this thing about the meal swipes, honestly, didn’t make it to the Board of Trustees, but that would be normal, but it wouldn’t, because that’s something that’s something that’s operational,” acting president Jean Bordewich said. “It’s not like there’s just one place and everything goes.”
“Because we’re not a hierarchy,” she clarified. “We’re more of a distributed leadership.”
The most straightforward answer students got came from Vice President of Enrollment Steve Mencarini.
“It’s very complex, very complicated, because there are different types of meal plans that cost different types of amounts of money,” he explained, “And when you are attempting to order two weeks’ worth of food, you have to make a plan for how much is actually being utilized.” In short, the campus is trying to limit the amount of money being wasted on unneeded food.
While this is an unfortunate situation, there are things that the Guilford community can do to help.
Jahmarley (Jah) Vivens, a junior at Guilford College, provided his insight, saying, “Guilford has made progress toward tackling food insecurity, but there’s always more we can do.”
“We’ve got a task force with students, staff and faculty in place,” he said,” but, in order for it to work, everyone’s voice needs to be heard, even the people that are not on the board.”
Aside from the meal swipes, Guilford does have a few other programs that help combat food insecurity for students.
One such method that Guilford College is using to tackle food insecurity are programs like the Quaker Cupboard, where students can grab free groceries when they need them. The Quaker closest is located in King 122 and it is open to all students to donate or take items that are needed. The Quaker Cupboard stocks both perishable and nonperishable groceries, hygiene products and safer-sex items for anyone who can use them, free of charge.
Vivens also gave us some insight into what else the Guilford College community has planned to combat this issue.
“There are also partnerships like the Carolina Hunger Initiative, where students can get help accessing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and other resources,” he explained. “Recently, we’ve been working to create a satellite Quaker Cupboard in the gym and other locations on campus. The plan is to stock it with essentials like protein bars, breakfast foods and water bottles to keep everyone fueled. We’re hoping to get it up and running this semester and keep it going strong in the future.”
From a student’s perspective, Vivens stated, “Food insecurity affects every part of a student’s life. It’s tough to focus or stay motivated in class when you’re hungry, and the stress of not knowing where your next meal is coming from can take a toll on your mental health.”
Vivens also provided some ideas as to how the Guilford College community could be doing more:
- Hosting on-campus farmers’ markets with discounted prices for students.
- Expanding the Satellite cupboard project to other areas of campus for easier access.
- Coordinating free cooking classes or workshops on affordable meal prep.
- Setting up a mobile food pantry that could visit different dorms or high-traffic areas.
- Increasing the use of social media campaigns to share stories, resources/locations, and donation opportunities.
Guilford’s fight with food insecurity is far from over, but with students working together and brainstorming ideas it will help students come together. At the end of the day, it’s about making sure every student feels supported and cared for.