Thousands of San Jose State students who have struggled to afford nutritious food have entered the Student Union to access the Spartan Food Pantry, where they have received free fresh groceries since it first opened in March 2019.
The Spartan Food Pantry is one of the campus programs that continues to combat ongoing food insecurity.
SJSU Cares oversees the pantry and helps students who face food insecurity get the food they need.
September had the highest number of student visits since the pantry first opened in March 2019, according to Spartan Food Pantry usage statistics.
Kristen Weaver, SJSU Cares student affairs case manager, said that is likely because of the pandemic.
“This is the first year fully back in person since the pandemic started,” Weaver said. “The pandemic destabilized a lot of people and a lot of people are still trying to recover from that crisis.”
She said the Spartan Food Pantry is a resource that is designed to have a low-barrier of entry and is easily accessible to students.
Weaver said a student is considered food insecure when they are not able to get their nutritional needs met through their own purposes.
She said as case manager, she looks for those signs when meeting with students.
If a student is skipping meals, has a low budget for groceries or if they have special dietary needs, those signs can imply that they are food insecure, Weaver said.
She said low accessibility to food that meets certain dietary or religious criteria is another way a student can face food insecurity.
Dhruv Varshney, Associated Students (A.S.) director of sustainability affairs, said there are so many community members who experience that.
“We have a bunch of different kinds of ethnicities and religions on campus . . . all of them require so many dietary restrictions,” Varshney said.
He said other areas of campus are working to address those dietary restrictions.
Varshney said the Dining Commons recently opened a vegan section and is seeking to add a section for halal food.
Like kosher food, Halal food is guided by religious criteria that governs how the soon-to-be eaten animals are fed and raised, and how they are slaughtered and prepared for consumption, according to a July 28, 2015 Time article.
Varshney said that there were no options for halal food on campus before The Halal Shack, which serves Middle Eastern street food, opened in the Student Union in Spring.
A.S. president Nina Chuang said as an institution, it’s important to look at the programs available and ensure that they are accessible to all students.
“If students don’t understand the process and application, they’re not going to bother with applying for these programs that are made and funded for students,” Chuang said.
Chuang, a food science senior, said she thinks it's important for students who are passionate about food insecurity to be involved in the conversation surrounding food on campus.
“I just really hope that in the future that our directors and administrators really prioritize [food insecurity] in their actions,” she said.
Kristen Weaver said helping students apply for food support programs is her job, but not every student in need of help is aware of SJSU Cares.
Weaver said outside of the food pantry, there are several other resources off campus that can help students with food insecurity.
For instance, she said the university has the Campus Community Garden, a quarter acre of land on E. San Salvador Street that provides fresh produce.
Weaver also said that CalFresh, a federally funded program that provides funding to purchase groceries, is designed to help food-insecure students.
She said there are also food banks around San Jose that students can utilize.
SJSU Cares has partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank, which provides food for the Spartan Food Pantry.
Second Harvest Food Bank also has staff dedicated to helping people apply for federal programs including CalFresh.
“Having a full stomach isn’t just about getting food,” Chuang said. “It contributes to our students' success and how we navigate the world and the energy that we put into the work that we do.”
