HOUSTON - Lone Star College-University Park will host a SNAP Challenge for faculty, staff, students and community members April 23 - 27 in an effort to raise awareness of food insecurity among college students and the community. The challenge asks participants to attempt to live on a food budget of $6.40 per day for five days in order to experience first-hand the constraints of purchasing food with only aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

SNAP is a federal aid program administered by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). Benefits are distributed through the state, but eligibility and certification policies are determined by the USDA. A number of factors, including income, household size and dependents, and expenses, are considered to determine benefits. This challenge assumes a family size of one, which allows for a monthly benefit of $192 for food. Since the challenge is five days in April, $6.40 is allowed per day with a total of $32 for duration of the challenge. 

Though students enrolled in higher education institutions have additional eligibility requirements for SNAP benefits, the college hopes that the challenge will shine a brighter light on the struggles facing students and the community.

“At LSC-University Park, we deeply care about our students and employees and foster an empowering environment in which they can reach their goals,” said Dr. Shah Ardalan, LSC-University Park president. “Part of ensuring success is removing barriers, including unmet basic needs. Because we do not understand our students’ challenges, our dedicated faculty and staff will meet our students where they are and help them find solutions.”

The Wisconsin HOPE Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison released their study, “Still Hungry and Homeless in College,” in early April. The study is the largest national survey of university and community college students and their unmet needs. The report estimates that 42 percent of community college students were food insecure. 

“With the SNAP Challenge, we want to increase understanding of what people go through on a daily basis and the difficult choices they have to make,” said Cassandra Khatri, professor of political science and campus coordinator of civic engagement at LSC-University Park. “Yes, it is possible to live on $6.40 per day, but there are other necessities that may have to go by the wayside. What we might take for granted would be a luxury a person on SNAP or with a limited budget could not afford.” 

Students, faculty and staff can either participate in the challenge or sponsor someone who will participate. In order to make the experience more authentic, participants are asked to include all food purchased during the week, including dining out, to be included in the total spending. Participants should not eat any food purchased prior to the start of the challenge and should avoid accepting any free food from family, friends and coworkers.

Participants are encouraged to share their experiences via social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube, using the hashtag #LSCUPSnapChallenge or tagging LSC-University Park’s profiles. 

LSC-University Park plans to implement a digital food pantry and farmers market in coming semesters to provide students with readily available resources that are convenient and discreet. 

“In my time with LSC and Communities In Schools, I have seen first-hand the stressors students endure in order to obtain their educational goals,” said Linda Leon, Communities In Schools counselor at LSC-University Park. “Food insecurity is a stressor common across college campuses, which can lead to health and other issues. This can adversely affect a student’s ability to successfully complete degrees and programs.”

“As a college community, we cannot adequately meet the needs of our students without fully grasping the breadth of those needs,” said Khatri. “To be judicious in our resource allocation and impactful in our solutions, we have to have a deeper-level of understanding above and beyond simply knowing the problem exists. This is not about sympathy, but empathy, and from there we can have effective conversations."

[1] https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/facts-about-snap
[1] http://wihopelab.com/publications/Wisconsin-HOPE-Lab-Still-Hungry-and-Homeless.pdf

For more information about the challenge and to join, email Khatri at Cassandra.G.Khatri@LoneStar.edu.