Hungry hens: an exploration of food insecurity among undergraduate students at the University of Delaware
Date
2025
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University of Delaware
Abstract
A #RealCollege Survey from 2018 suggests that 1 in 4 University of Delaware (UD) students have experienced food insecurity in the last 30 days. While this data provides important information about the prevalence of the issue, understanding how food insecurity manifests among college students requires a deeper, qualitative study. The purpose of this study is to draw on quantitative data about food insecurity at UD and to provide new qualitative data on the food insecurity experience for undergraduate students at UD. Survey data and semi-structured in-depth interviews with 30 students and five staff members examined two questions: (1) What are the barriers to food security among undergraduate students at the University of Delaware, and (2) What impacts the utilization of food security resources at UD? Analysis of the interview reveals that at least 67% of the study sample can be considered food insecure according to the USDA definition, but only 45% self-identified as such in the pre-interview screener survey, and even fewer identified as food insecure during interviews. Barriers to personal food security and perceived contributing factors to food insecurity were closely linked to finances, quality of food, stigma, and dietary or cultural restrictions and preferences. Student and staff suggestions called for efforts to destigmatize talking about needing help and receiving assistance, increasing marketing efforts of resources on campus, improving the quality of food on campus, and addressing policies that inadvertently make food more inaccessible on campus. These findings can be used to focus future conversations about food insecurity on areas where there is a misalignment in understanding the lived experience of food insecurity and future efforts on areas where staff and students agree that change could push the university into becoming a space where all Blue Hens are food secure.
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Keywords
Basic needs, College students, Food insecurity, University of Delaware, Undergraduate students