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Now that in-person instruction has resumed at Syracuse University, Syeisha Byrd expects the number of students who access on-campus food pantries to increase.

The South Campus food pantry served 158 students in April, a spike that decreased to 35 students monthly for the rest of the summer. But now that students have returned to campus, more people will need to access the pantry, said Byrd, director of the office of engagement programs at Hendricks Chapel.

The pandemic’s financial fallout has made it more difficult for students to afford food and other necessities. About 44% percent of students at two-year colleges and 38% of students at four-year colleges said they were food-insecure as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study from Georgetown University.

With more students facing food insecurity, on-campus food pantries at SU have adapted to serve a larger population while also abiding by social distancing guidelines.

Byrd runs both the South Campus and Hendricks Chapel food pantries at the university. She believes the increased demand that the pantry saw at the start of the pandemic was a result of students who had to remain on campus when SU suspended in-person instruction.

“When the pandemic hit, it caused students around the world to lose their jobs, to be separated from their friends and loved ones,” Byrd said. “Many students found themselves financially struggling.”

COVID-19 has left many people unemployed and struggling to feed themselves and their families, said Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, an associate professor of food studies at Falk College. This financial fallout has placed greater pressure on food pantries not only at SU and in the city of Syracuse but also across the country, she said.

“There’s already been a lot of weight and pressure on emergency food systems like food pantries,” said Minkoff-Zern, who has written about food insecurity and food assistance programs. “But what we’ve seen during the pandemic is those food systems in particular are just flooded with people moving out of work.”

When the university transitioned to online learning in March, Byrd decided to close SU’s food pantry at Hendricks Chapel and focus solely on the South Campus pantry, which was more accessible for students who remained on campus. SU relocated students who remained in university housing after classes transitioned online to South Campus apartments.

Still, running food pantries in compliance with social distancing guidelines can prove difficult, and it’s often challenging to keep visitors and volunteers safe, Minkoff-Zern said.

“You want to make sure the food you’re giving out is safe,” Minkoff-Zern said. “It’s been a whole system of stressors on our food banks during the pandemic.”

SU installed hand sanitizer stations at the Carriage House, which hosts the South Campus pantry, and only one student can access the building’s lobby at a time. Rather than allow students to shop for their own food, pantry employees pre-package bags of food that students can pick up during specified times, Byrd said.

Rather than allow students to shop for their own food, pantry employees pre-package bags of food that students can pick up during specified times. Photo courtesy of Seiysha Byrd

The pantry also provides toiletries and fresh produce from Pete’s Giving Garden, SU’s on-campus food garden, she said.

The Hendricks Chapel pantry reopened at the start of the fall semester. Similar to the South Campus pantry, only one student can access the pantry at a time to comply with social distancing regulations.

Brady Farm, which is only a short distance from University Hill, has also begun offering a 50% discount for students buying fresh produce, said Jessi Lyons, the farm coordinator. Lyons hopes the discount will help SU students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford the farm’s products.

“Food security for students is something that gets very overlooked,” Lyons said. “Especially in the time of COVID-19, students just don’t have a steady food system. They are a population who doesn’t get a lot of help when it comes to the emergency food distributions.”

The farm, which is dedicated to providing low-cost produce to the city of Syracuse, is able to offer the discount through a grant program between the city and the University Neighborhood, Lyons said.

Students will receive a discount at the farm through October and at its Café Sankofa location in Syracuse’s Southside community for the rest of the year. This will ensure students have access to affordable but healthy food, Lyons said.

“We want students to have as much of an ability to control their diet and food sources as possible and making that food more affordable helps students do that,” Lyons said.

On college campuses, students who are food-insecure can feel pushed to the margins, Minkoff-Zern said. The pandemic has only worsened the issue, as more students and their families struggle to afford basic necessities.

While continuing to provide students with access to food is important, it should not be the end goal, Minkoff-Zern said. Rather, the goal should be to create a system in which students don’t have to heavily rely on emergency solutions like food pantries, she said.

“It’s not that this moment has created food insecurity or created economic insecurity,” Minkoff-Zern said. “I think what it’s doing is showing us that it’s a problem that we needed to deal with beforehand. Ideally, we should see it as a moment of addressing those problems and moving towards positive change.”

Published on September 6, 2020 at 11:21 pm

Contact Maggie: mehicks@syr.edu | @maggie_hickss