FINDING FOOD
FIGHTING FOOD INSECURITY AT JMU
AS OF AUG 2021, Canterbury's SHELF'D project has moved to the new canterbury building!
ALL QUESTIONS regarding the ministry & volunteer opportunities should be directed to:
hburg.canterbury@gmail.com
UPDATE
SUFFERING IN SILENCE
I was in the middle of my German literature class. We were reading silently through Frank Wedekind's Fruhlings Erwachen when my stomach unleashed the angriest growl I had heard in a while. Mildly embarrassed I laughed and joked about how I hadn't had any breakfast yet. It was 12pm.
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It was the start of my junior year at James Madison University. All of my roommates moved off of campus and I wanted to keep living with them.
I had worked 2 jobs all summer to earn enough to put towards tuition, a "new" used car, and rent/utilities for my apartment.
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Each month passed, taking a large sum of my bank account with it. A few months into the semester and I continued to work 2 jobs (3 if you count my 2 hour a week gig as a research assistant).
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I do not currently have a meal plan, and I would say I don't get to the store more than 3 times a month due to time and budget constraints.
As part of my campus ministry, we are served food by volunteers from the parent church two times a week. I found myself attending regularly partly because I wouldn't have to worry about ransacking my pantry to make myself dinner.
I look forward to my parents' visits because there's normally a trip to the store involved.
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With all the stomach grumbling and shoestring budgeting, I got to wondering-- was there anyone struggling like I was? Did JMU have an issue with food insecurity? I attempted some research of my own and the results surprised me.
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"With all the stomach grumbling and shoestring budgeting,
I got to wondering--
was there anyone struggling like I was?
WHAT IS FOOD INSECURITY?
Food insecurity can be defined as not having reliable access to a sufficient amount of nutritious food at a given time.
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The USDA identifies different levels of food insecurity which include:
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Low food security: reports of reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet. Little or no indication of reduced food intake.
Very low food security: Reports of multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.
REPORTS:
2018 Swipe Out Hunger Impact Report
2018 College and University Food Bank Alliance (CUFBA) Report
by Sara Goldrick-Rab, Clare Cady and Vanessa Coca - The Hope Center
Hunger on Campus Report, Oct. 2016
by the College and University Food Bank Alliance, National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness,
Student Government Resource Center, and Student Public Interest Research Groups