蜜桃影视

Joshua Ibarra is a fourth-year journalism and Japanese language student at East Los Angeles College. He takes four courses and walks to and from class across the 82-acre campus in Monterey Park, California. He lugs his backpack, filled with $200 textbooks, his pockets as empty as his growling stomach.

Ibarra is forced daily to decide between transportation to get to school or food to feed himself through the day 鈥� his budget does not allow him to have both. He doesn鈥檛 go to the school cafeteria because he doesn鈥檛 have a meal plan and the food items that were once moderately priced, Ibarra says, now cost $2 to $3 more.

鈥淚f I鈥檓 in class and I鈥檓 hungry, I just stick through it,鈥� he explained. 鈥淣ow that I don鈥檛 have financial aid, it鈥檚 a bit more difficult. Sometimes I rely on friends. The hope of someone or some [school] event coming along, you know you鈥檒l get free food.鈥�

He is not alone: Students who are food insecure are more likely to miss a class, drop a class, or not purchase required textbooks. Not having enough food to eat is associated with poorer health and lackluster academic performance, as well as anxiety and depression in some cases 鈥� all of which place additional barriers for low-income students determined to make it to and through college.

The dire situation some college students face when it comes to having enough to eat received national attention in November after students at Spelman and Morehouse colleges in Atlanta staged a that prevented them from giving their unused meals to classmates in need. Student protesters ate vitamins and drank water in solidarity with the roughly 1,400 students on both campuses who did not have a meal plan or regular access to food at school.

The strike lasted for about a week when Aramark, the $9 billion food service giant, and Spelman reached a solution to reduce food insecurity on campus. Spelman president Mary Schmidt Campbell released a saying the college will provide up to 7,000 meals during the second semester to students who live off campus and are facing hunger. A circulated proposing that Spelman and Morehouse implement a Swipe Out Hunger system allowing students to share excess swipes on their meal plan cards.

Rachel Sumekh, founder and CEO of Swipe Out Hunger, told 蜜桃影视 that she is working closely with student leaders and administration to bring the 鈥淪wipes鈥� program to campus. The longtime hunger-free-campus advocate believes that a basic need like access to food should not stand in the way of a student and his diploma. The nonprofit works closely with colleges to implement meal-sharing programs, serving over 1.4 million meals to food-insecure students on 36 campuses since it was created in 2009.

Sumekh points out that the students her organization helps are the same ones who qualified for free and reduced-price lunch when they were younger.

鈥淒o you accept that it鈥檚 OK for us to give free food to K-12 students? [We need] to carry that same compassion that we have for a middle schooler to college,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat changes when that same kid hustles and gets to college that no longer makes them worthy of getting food so they can study in school?鈥�

Sumekh, named to in 2017, believes that her organization is shepherding a breakthrough and hopes to share and recreate its success elsewhere. 鈥淲e鈥檙e championing this idea that [colleges] are responsible to consider the basic needs of their students.鈥�

In June, California governor Jerry Brown signed the to develop Swipe Out Hunger meal-credit sharing programs, create campus food pantries, and train college employees to assist students with enrolling to receive food stamps.

Sumekh said she received an email a few weeks ago from a higher education official in New York governor Andrew Cuomo鈥檚 administration interested in setting up a Swipes program at SUNY Albany.

The ramen noodle myth

Ibarra, 23, lives with his grandmother and has a part-time job working security at a nightclub to pay for school. When he did receive financial aid, Ibarra said he still struggled.

鈥淭he common misconception was that I had money 鈥� It鈥檚 not like I can just freely spend that money on whatever I want,鈥� he said. The funds had to cover tuition and supplies, and last for the fall and spring semesters, along with intersession and summer.

College is expensive. , with the average price now ranging between $200 and $400 per book.

鈥淎fter paying for my school supplies, fees that I have to pay up front for my health insurance and other incidental expenses, usually half of it is gone by the first two months of the semester,鈥� Ibarra explained.

While the cost of higher education skyrockets, financial aid programs could be shrinking. Congress is in the process of rewriting the Higher Education Act. The GOP-controlled House has put forward the 鈥淧romoting Real Opportunity, Success, and Prosperity Through Education Reform Act鈥� 鈥� known as 鈥斅爓hich, among other things that could hurt low-income students, would eliminate the . That grant provides as much as $4,000 for those with 鈥渆xceptional financial need鈥� and was used by more than 1.5 million students in the 2015鈥�16 school year.

College student hunger is a pervasive issue, one that Sumekh thinks is perpetuated by worn-out stereotypes that glorify the hardships of university life.

鈥淭hat narrative is a distraction from the reality. In many conversations, people have painted that sort of struggle 鈥斅爐hat, of course, you struggle your way through college 鈥斅爐o be almost like a rite of passage,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 almost respected in the narratives today, and I think that鈥檚 really preventing us from seeing the problem.鈥�

鈥淥ne of the things we really believe in at Swipe Out Hunger is, how do we change the narrative there?鈥� Sumekh said. 鈥淥ne of our images we鈥檝e been using a lot lately was the ramen noodle cup and replace the words 鈥楥up of Noodles鈥� with 鈥楽wipe Out Hunger鈥� to kind of say, 鈥榊o, this isn鈥檛 OK anymore.鈥� It鈥檚 destructive to the work, that we have that narrative of the broke college student.鈥�

Giving students a hand up, not a handout

Ibarra is the first in his family to attend college. Coming from a family with origins in Mexico and Peru,聽he says, there is a disconnect between what they think college is like and the reality of it all.

鈥淢y family always says, 鈥楪o ahead and study, do your best.鈥� But it鈥檚 not always about studying. Because they never had this opportunity 鈥� it鈥檚 difficult for them to relate to you,鈥� Ibarra said. 鈥淓ven though they鈥檙e not really helping, you still say thank you and acknowledge that they鈥檙e trying to help you. It鈥檚 not to hurt their feelings to let them know that I鈥檓 doing the best I can.鈥�

Sumekh, a first-generation American born to Iranian immigrant parents, experienced childhood hardship and difficulty navigating college as well. When she was applying to school, she did not fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) her first year simply because her parents did not know what it was.

Being the CEO of Swipe Out Hunger has made her acutely aware of the challenges that food- insecure students face, and for her, the support and resources that her family eventually received literally were the difference between an American dream realized and a dream deferred.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not trying to give handouts. My family grew up on food stamps and it was what gave my parents the capacity and the mental space to pursue the American dream that they moved to this country for. Before I finished middle school, they were thriving, they achieved the American dream because there was this public service that allowed them to do that,鈥� she said.

鈥淔or people who hustled and got into college, that鈥檚 the best investment we can make. These people are on the path to greater earning potential, to living out their dreams, and food, this very simple low-cost thing, might be the thing that鈥檒l stop them.鈥�

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