Food pantries on the rise at US college campuses

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20140315/DACI7OTG1.html

Mar 15, 12:14 PM (ET)

By FRANK ELTMAN

STONY BROOK, N.Y. (AP) - Days after biology major Gillian Carll arrived at Stony Brook University last fall, she encountered a young woman on a bench outside her dormitory who said she had nothing to eat.

"I was just like, 'Oh, my gosh!' I didn't know kids could afford to go here but couldn't have mac and cheese or something like that," said the Livonia, N.Y., freshman. "It was kind of unbelievable."

Carll got the student some food from her dorm room and later volunteered at Stony Brook's new food pantry - one of dozens cropping up at colleges across the country in recent years as educators acknowledge the struggles many students face as the cost of getting a higher education continues to soar.

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Tuition alone has become a growing burden, rising 27 percent at public colleges and 14 percent at private schools in the past five years, according to the College Board. Add in expenses for books, housing and other necessities of college life and some are left to choose between eating and learning. Also, most students enrolled in college at least half time are not eligible for food stamps.

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Vedder said it was a "little bit hypocritical" of colleges to say they are helping their students. "They wouldn't need pantries if they hadn't raised prices," he said.

Clare Cady, a co-founder of the Food Bank Alliance and head of the Oregon State University food bank, said the profiles of recipients vary from undergraduate students who have opted for cheaper meal plans that give students fewer dining options to people dealing with unexpected economic hardships to students raising children while struggling to pay tuition.

"Some of these students are deeply committed to earning a degree and are making very difficult choices," Cady said.

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At Stony Brook, where the average cost for an undergraduate residential student - tuition, fees, room and board - is $19,358 a year, officials opened the food pantry last year after learning that students had started a website sharing information about campus events where free food was being offered.

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