Skip to main content
Appalachian Today
News and events at Appalachian State University
  • For the media
  • COVID updates
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Webcams
  • Podcasts
  • In the Media
  • Grants
  • Speakers
  • All Posts
  • Topics
  • Accolades
  • Alumni
  • Arts and Humanities
  • Athletics
  • Awards and Honors
  • Community Engagement
  • Diversity
  • Events
  • Faculty and Staff
  • Gifts and Grants
  • Global
  • Health and Wellness
  • Publications
  • Research
  • Safety
  • Scholarships
  • Students
  • Sustainability
☰ Menu
  • Events
  • Webcams
  • Podcasts
  • In the Media
  • Grants
  • Speakers
  • All Posts
  • Topics
  • For the media
  • COVID updates
  • Contact

Is your plate half empty or half full? Students benefit from food pantry

View larger image

Appalachian State University’s food pantry opened about a year ago in response to surveys that indicated food insecurity was above 46 percent for students. The pantry is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is located in the Office of Sustainability. Submitted photo

46.2 percent of Appalachian students experienced food insecurity in the previous year, according to survey data.

About the pantry
  • Located in East Hall, bottom floor
  • Open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
  • Offers non-perishable staples as well as seasonal, local fruits and vegetables as available
By Mary Giunca
Posted Nov. 1, 2017 at 12:10 p.m.

For the 2016-17 school year, Appalachian State University had 1,886 students who identified themselves as coming from homes that were at or below poverty guidelines, defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as $24,250 for a family of four.

Of those students, 960 received an institutional grant or scholarship, meaning that 49 percent of students who are at or below the poverty line are receiving no form of institutional aid.

46.2 percent of Appalachian students experienced food insecurity in the previous year, according to survey data.

That number, combined with a survey conducted by Appalachian’s Department of Nutrition and Health Care Management during the 2015-16 academic year that found 46.2 percent of students had experienced food insecurity over the previous year, had a lot of people on campus concerned about hungry students and ready to look for an efficient and compassionate way to help.

Low food security means there were multiple reports of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake. North Carolina had a 16 percent food insecurity rate in 2015, ranking it eighth among U.S. states in food insecurity.

Appalachian’s food pantry was opened a year ago to faculty, staff and students. The pantry operates from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The pantry started as a rolling cart and grew to a well-organized, 75-square-foot space with wooden shelves. Soups, canned goods, cereals and peanut butter are popular items.

“We get about two or three people visiting the pantry each day and many returning visitors,” said Jen Maxwell, university sustainability project specialist in Appalachian’s Office of Sustainability. “What we’ve seen is that when people come in and realize we’re a very kind, friendly staff, this makes them feel comfortable visiting the pantry.”

The success of the food pantry depends on getting the word out, Maxwell said. Her office has tried to increase its outreach to Appalachian’s staff and has 15 students on an outreach team.

Advocates for students

Dr. Angela Mead and Carla Ramsdell have been advocates for students’ food well-being, even when the subject is hard to bring up. These are their stories.

View larger image

Once a hungry student herself, Dr. Angela Mead stocked food for students in her office and listened to their stories. Photo by Marie Freeman

Dr. Angela Mead

Director of Student Services, The Honors College

When students come to Dr. Angela Mead stressed about school, she’ll ask them how long it’s been since the last time they’ve eaten a full meal. Sometimes the answer is “a few days.”

“My job is to help students succeed and they can’t if they’re hungry. Some students are honest and tell me they haven’t eaten in days. Others, you have to probe a bit. They’re sitting on my couch and they’re shaking. I’ll ask: ‘When was the last time you ate?’

“It often comes at the worst time. They run out of food money when they need to stay on their game for finals.

“When a student would come and say, ‘I’m struggling. I’m out of food,’ we’d go stock them up. Students started bringing their friends in saying, ‘I heard you have this.’ I realized this wasn’t just a couple of students. This was pretty widespread on campus.”

View larger image

Carla Ramsdell teaches Know Watts Cooking, a first-year seminar with a goal of reawakening a love of cooking healthful, nutritious food among students. Photo by Marie Freeman

Carla Ramsdell

Senior lecturer, Department of Physics and Astronomy

Carla Ramsdell teaches Know Watts Cooking, a first-year seminar on cooking. She recently asked her 22 students to “talk about holiday traditions around food.”

“Someone mentioned pumpkin pie and someone asked how to cook it,” she said. “A student said, ‘You just buy that Libby’s stuff in the can and put it in the pie.’”

“Students don’t have much money, so to buy high-end, prepared food is out of the question,” Ramsdell said. “They end up buying junk that fills them up. They could be buying beans, which cost little and deliver a lot of nutrition, but many of them don’t know how to cook beans.

“We really have to take back cooking,” she said. “We have to move away from this overly processed food tradition that we’ve embraced. When we do that, everything falls into place. Food insecurity happens because people rely on processed or fast food.

“The encouraging sign I see is that people want to move in this direction, [whereas] the limitations I see are that the raw skills aren’t in place.”

About the pantry
  • Located in East Hall, bottom floor
  • Open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
  • Offers non-perishable staples as well as seasonal, local fruits and vegetables as available
A community of ‘doers’
A community of ‘doers’

The Appalachian Community pulls together to address food insecurity in the High Country

Nov. 1, 2017

North Carolina has a higher-than-average food insecurity rate — 16 percent, ranking it eighth among the United States for the number of people who lack access to enough food for an active, healthy life. In comparison, a total of 13 percent of Americans were considered food insecure between 2013-15, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service. When the Appalachian Community explores a social problem like this, it doesn’t “just talk.”

Read the story

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls nearly 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.

Share

Topics

  • Community Engagement
  • Health and Wellness
  • Sustainability

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.

Archives

Appalachian Today is an online publication of Appalachian State University. This website consolidates university news, feature stories, events, photo galleries, videos and podcasts.

The migration of materials from other sites is still incomplete, so if you cannot find what you're looking for here, please refer to the following sources:

  • Additional feature stories may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Podcasts may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Photo galleries and videos published prior to Jan. 1, 2015 may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • A university-wide Google Calendar may be found at Events at Appalachian

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.

Share

Topics

  • Community Engagement
  • Health and Wellness
  • Sustainability

Other Recent Posts

  • Campus emergency siren test to be conducted <span style="white-space: nowrap;">April 5</span>
    Campus emergency siren test to be conducted April 5
  • Troy Johnson named vice chancellor of enrollment management at App State
    Troy Johnson named vice chancellor of enrollment management at App State
  • From waste to wear: App State alumna develops sustainable pigments for fashion, printing industries
    From waste to wear: App State alumna develops sustainable pigments for fashion, printing industries
  • <span style="color: #bc8801;">Appalachian Outdoorosity:</span> Dressing for the Cold (Part 2)
    Appalachian Outdoorosity: Dressing for the Cold (Part 2)
  • Appalachian Journal marks 50 years of spotlighting Appalachia
    Appalachian Journal marks 50 years of spotlighting Appalachia
  • Honoring women’s leadership and history at App State
    Honoring women’s leadership and history at App State
  • Lumbee tribal flag now hangs in App State’s student union, honoring the Lumbee people and their history
    Lumbee tribal flag now hangs in App State’s student union, honoring the Lumbee people and their history
  • Fact check: Mushrooms share more DNA with humans than plants [faculty featured]
    Fact check: Mushrooms share more DNA with humans than plants [faculty featured]
    USA Today
  • Since 1958, App State's Southern Appalachian plant collection has aided research, teaching and conservation
    Since 1958, App State's Southern Appalachian plant collection has aided research, teaching and conservation
  • <span style="color: #bc8801;">SoundAffect:</span> Daniel E. Dawes, JD on how to overcome deep-rooted challenges in the American health care system
    SoundAffect: Daniel E. Dawes, JD on how to overcome deep-rooted challenges in the American health care system
  • App State Office of Diversity brings monthly read-alouds to lab schools
    App State Office of Diversity brings monthly read-alouds to lab schools
  • 6 award-winning authors to visit App State for spring 2023 Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series
    6 award-winning authors to visit App State for spring 2023 Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series

Archives

Appalachian Today is an online publication of Appalachian State University. This website consolidates university news, feature stories, events, photo galleries, videos and podcasts.

The migration of materials from other sites is still incomplete, so if you cannot find what you're looking for here, please refer to the following sources:

  • Additional feature stories may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Podcasts may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Photo galleries and videos published prior to Jan. 1, 2015 may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • A university-wide Google Calendar may be found at Events at Appalachian
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Galleries
  • In the Media
  • Grants
  • Speakers
  • All Posts
  • Topics
  • For the media
  • COVID updates
  • Contact

App State

Copyright 2023 Appalachian State University. All rights reserved.

University Communications
ASU Box 32153
Boone, NC 28608
828-262-6156
ucomm@appstate.edu

Abouts

Disclaimer | EO Policy | Accessibility | Website manager: montaldipa (beltmr) .. | Website Feedback

Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram LinkedIn Snapchat