NAMPA, Idaho — One in three college students is experiencing food insecurity, distracting them from fully investing in their studies.
“Years ago we surveyed students and found out that 40% of our students suffer from some form of food insecurity,” says Department Chair and Assistant Professor of Agricultural Sciences, Andrea Schumaker.
Food insecurity is not only when people are unable to access food, but also when the food they do have is not nutritious enough.
The College of Western Idaho is helping combat food insecurity in busy students' lives.
“The campus garden was a way for us to integrate course work, but also provide nutritious, fresh food for our students,” says Schumaker.
In response to the growing number of students facing food insecurity, the Agricultural Sciences program opened the Campus Garden in 2018.
“So everything out in the garden is for the students, to help them with their meals and stuff. It’s a great way to learn about locally based food, and healthy alternatives to processed foods, and it’s just a great way to get involved with nature,” says Hannah Wilson, a senior at CWI.
Even though the garden provides free produce for students, many are still facing food insecurity.
“You could also arguably say that our students are potentially more food insecure because they can’t afford to buy food at the grocery store,” says Schumaker.
The garden needs financial support to keep running, so each year the program hosts a Farm to Fork dinner where they feature meals made from food grown in their garden.
“We do reds, we do Yukons, and then we’re going to serve them at Farm to Fork this year as part of our main dish. But then we’ll save back several rows for students to be able to come out and dig and take home as well,” says Schumaker.
Students also get the chance to harvest for the event.
“I did help pick some pumpkins for the pumpkin ice cream that Stella’s is going to be making for [the event], so that’s pretty fun,” says Wilson.
While tickets for this year’s Farm to Fork dinner are sold out, the program is still accepting donations.
