By Lauren O., Edited by Leslie L.

From St. Edward’s University located in the heart of the Capital of Texas, we are a group of Communication majors passionate about food accessibility and affordability for college students, specifically in Central Texas. Each member of our group has struggled with affording and finding healthy food options during their time in college. Thus, We are excited to share our research with the internet on how to fight the daily struggle we all face. 

Laura Chappell, one of our founding members, shares why she is passionate about this topic: “As a college student this affects me directly. I often find that sometimes I have to pick between making a simple meal that won’t be as beneficial for me or taking the time to make a healthy meal and risk being late for something. I think it’s super important to make accessible food for all and make healthy, fast options for all and being a part of a group who are on a mission to do this is important to me.” This is a compelling narrative that reflects onto our central consensus of how we intend on using these goals to address the issue of food scarcity.

Food insecurity and budgeting for healthy meal options is not only relevant to just our school, but also a number of different colleges. Many of the surrounding college students and similar groups within the area could potentially benefit from our ideas. Purchase College, shares data that states that nearly 44 percent of students cut the size of their meals or skip meals because there wasn’t enough money for food. This is a concern as students struggling will lose weight by not intaking enough food, or gain weight by taking in the all of the wrong kinds of food. More data states that 95 percent of college students fail to eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables have been an essential part of our diets since we first went to the doctor as children. However, the importance of having the proper nutrients and diet is essential regardless of your age.

In this blog we are going to be highlighting more of these concerning statistics, as well as giving our perspective on how to fight food accessibility and affordability for college students in Central Texas. Leslie Lehman another founding member of BOAB states, “When you are listening to your gut health, you feel your best and can perform your best in your academic studies.” We all are striving towards a greater diet not only for our physical health but our mental health as well. 

In conclusion, what you put in your body affects your mental health. As a college student, dealing with both of these components can be a difficult thing to balance. It is through these approaches that we hope to inspire you, our audience, to take action in your own life. We have been through many of these struggles firsthand. Therefore, we aim to contribute to the narrative, the conversation, and provide resolutions to this call to action. 

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