The University of New Mexico

08/06/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/06/2024 08:36

Updated report shows many college students in New Mexico struggle with hunger, finding a place to live

When the initial results of the College Basic Needs Survey were released last year at a symposium at The University of New Mexico, the audience heard grim stories from students about being hungry and having problems finding places to live.

Associate Professor Sarita Cargas

Led by principal investigator Sarita Cargas, an associate professor at the UNM Honors College, a team of faculty and students conducted the study in the spring of 2023 assessing food and housing insecurity at almost every college or university in the state. Nearly 15,000 people across New Mexico took part, with 27 participating institutions, including 17 two-year institutions, seven four-year institutions, and three tribal institutions.

The latest Student Basic Needs Report focuses on the data and conclusions about students and the findings are unsettling, Cargas said. It will be followed by a report revealing significant needs insecurity among faculty and staff.

Food insecurity

Food Insecurity is the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, or the inability to acquire those foods in a socially acceptable manner. The study revealed:

  • 58 percent of college students in New Mexico were food insecure;
  • 39 percent had very low food security, the most severe category of food insecurity;

Statistics for LGBTQ+, Black, Indigenous, and other people of color are even higher:

  • Native American students experienced 70 percent food insecurity;
  • Black students, 68 percent;
  • LGBTQ+, 64 percent;
  • Asian, 55 percent;
  • White 53 percent.

"These are huge numbers, huge numbers, and they have very serious consequences," Cargas emphasized. "There are two levels of insecurity: low food security and very low food insecurity. And by far, most of our students experience the worst kind."

"Low food security" means students might not be getting enough calories or nutrition. "Very low security" means they're probably skipping meals and experiencing hunger, Cargas explained. Those terms are defined by the USDA and in more detail on page 08 in the report.

"These are huge numbers, huge numbers, and they have very serious consequences. There are two levels of insecurity: low food security and very low food insecurity. And by far, most of our students experience the worst kind."

- Associate Professor and Principal Investigator Sarita Cargas

These statistics are sometimes met with disbelief or disdain. Hunger is often framed as being character-building for college students. The image of the starving student is too often dismissed as a normal rite of passage, but it is an unacceptable reality, Cargas noted.

Student Miles Cargas - Professor Cargas's own nephew - was among the students who related his struggle with hunger at last year's symposium. He usually ate one meal a day, knowing he would eat Sunday dinner at his aunt's home.

"I was not able to plan or study, given food uncertainty. I felt stressed," he said, but eventually started receiving SNAP. "I could plan and focus beyond one day. I ate regularly and healthy. It made me a student."

Professor Cargas recalled one legislator who told her "'Yeah, well, I was hungry last week.' Yeah, he might have been hungry but then he went out to a restaurant to eat. We're talking about people who are skipping meals because they're making trade-offs between housing and utility bills and food is often the first thing to be cut if you're struggling to make ends meet. And it has huge consequences… We have to fight this myth of the privileged student, the persistent myth that if you are going to college you have money. That is not true. It is the opposite."

Housing insecurity

Every campus in New Mexico suffers from a housing crisis, Cargas said, noting that more student housing is being torn down than being built. Even if colleges do not offer housing, students report the struggle to find affordable and safe housing. Our homeless students make do by couch-surfing, sleeping in their vehicles or campers, or staying at a shelter .

"Regardless of whether it's Albuquerque, Socorro, or the Navajo Nation, the results are the same. Students struggle to find housing. It's too expensive or it's not available."

The report shows:

  • 62 percent of students were housing insecure;
  • 14 percent were homeless in the past 12 months.

Academic consequences

The study also looks at the relationship between food and housing insecurity and student success factors like grade point average and dropout rate.

"Students who are food insecure have lower GPAs and drop out at a higher rate, so it has serious academic consequences. And then you combine that with student debt - the number of people who have debt but no college degree - then that is spiraling into a lifetime of poverty."

Mental health consequences

The report details another consequence: Students who are food insecure also have higher rates of anxiety and depression.

"We know there is a mental health crisis," Cargas said. "But maybe if we helped people become more secure with basic necessities, it could help."

Solutions

The Basic Needs Survey led to the formation of a New Mexico Basic Needs Consortium, which will continue to use survey data to improve the lives of students, with 27 out of the 29 public institutions surveyed participating. The group meets monthly to work on interventions and solutions. One goal is to cut hunger and housing insecurity in half in New Mexico by 2030.

Food pantries

The consortium is proposing better equipped, stocked, and staffed food pantries with permanent funding.

"Food pantries were originally created as emergency aid, but now they're here to stay," Cargas noted. "Most campuses are doing something on behalf of basic needs but all of them are under-resourced. They can give food on a short-term basis but maybe they can also connect students with resources like SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program], or food stamps, as they used to call it."

Steps also need to be taken to erase the stigma of using the food pantry and SNAP, she said, adding that 50 percent of students who are eligible for SNAP don't sign up for it. Students also said they didn't access food pantries because they weren't sure if they were eligible, they were ashamed to be seen using the pantry, pantry hours didn't work for them, and the most frequent response was "Other students need this help more than I do."

On the UNM campus

Aramark, the new food vendor for La Posada dining hall and other sites around the UNM campus will be providing 50k in food scholarships and accepting SNAP payments. Cargas credited UNM Manager of Institutional Support Service Amanda Gerard for securing the provisions and praised food services vendor Aramark for responding to the needs of food insecure students.

Human rights

"Food and shelter are basic human rights," Cargas said. "Now is the time we need to address food and housing insecurity and student needs. Higher education is an entity for social justice, and it should promote the fulfillment of basic human rights."

Despite the hardships, students persevere.

"These students are amazing. They are working so hard to better themselves and help their families by going to school and working at the same time. They're overcoming incredible struggle so we should be proud of them."

The Student Basic Needs Report can be accessed online.

More results from the study detailing statistics for faculty and staff will be released this fall.

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