Every Poke Nourished: Assessing University of Wyoming Students’ Experiences with and Priorities for Addressing Food Insecurity

ABSTRACT

Our 2020 survey of University of Wyoming students (n = 1328) found that 46.8% of them experienced food insecurity, with students of color and international students disproportionately affected. Respondents supported all presented food security strategies but prioritized a subsidized campus grocery. Thematic analysis showed students urged systemic approaches to address underlying aspects of food insecurity, culturally appropriate and high-quality food, stigma reduction, free food, and direct financial assistance. Findings illustrate the need for targeted equity strategies to support groups of students who disproportionately experience food insecurity; justice-informed approaches that center student priorities and insights; and standardized assessments within and across institutions.

KEYWORDS:

• Food insecurity
• students
• survey
• Wyoming
• higher education
• college
• university
• land-grant
• justice and equity

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the UW Food Security Taskforce for supporting the development and implementation of this survey and members’ continued leadership to ensure every Poke is nourished.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support this study’s findings are available from the corresponding author, Rachael Budowle, upon reasonable request.

Notes

1. UW students and teams are gender-neutrally known as “Cowpokes,” colloquially shortened to “Pokes”.

Additional information

Funding

The UW Family and Consumer Sciences Department provided funding for survey incentives.