In-person speakers, panelists, and moderators for the Campus Hunger Forum (left to right): Samantha VanKooy, Assoc. VP of Community Engagement & Human Services, RCSJ; Lisa Pitz, Director, Hunger Free New Jersey; Greg Loder, Director of Marketing & Advocacy, Food Bank of South Jersey; Maura Sanders, Chief Counsel for Public Benefits, Legal Services of New Jersey; Kristen Wilson, Director of Behavioral Services, RCSJ; Laura O., Health Science/Nursing pathway student, RCSJ; Juan T., Psychology student, RCSJ; Robert Abbamondi, Assis. Director of Neighborhood Impact, Community Foodbank of New Jersey; Kaya Durkee, SNAP Outreach Coordinator, Food Bank of South Jersey; Denyelle Burgess, Assis. Director of Advocacy Outreach, Community Foodbank of South Jersey; Mark Dinglasan, Exec. Director, N.J. Office of the Food Security Advocate; Jake Farbman, Exec. Director, Economic Mobility Initiatives, N.J. Council of Community Colleges.
Rowan College of South Jersey (RCSJ) recently hosted a College Hunger Forum, in collaboration with the Community Foodbank of New Jersey, the Food Bank of South Jersey, the Hunger Free New Jersey program, and the New Jersey Council of Community Colleges. The forum brought together students and leaders from across the state to discuss campus food insecurity and how colleges can work with legislators and community impact groups to make a difference.
“We were proud to be asked by Lisa Pitz, director of Hunger Free New Jersey, to host today’s session, despite how sad it is that we’re all here to talk about food insecurity on college and university campuses,” remarked RCSJ’s president, Frederick Keating, Ed.D. “But this is a necessary conversation and I’m grateful to my colleagues for showing up and pledging themselves to a world where we take care of our students.”
“According to the NJ Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, one in three students in New Jersey lack consistent access to adequate food sources, and that’s based on a survey from spring of 2024,” Pitz said. “We have so few of our likely eligible college students getting SNAP (supplemental nutrition assistance program), according to the Government Accountability Office. They estimate that fewer than two in five food-insecure students met SNAP eligibility criteria; but six in 10 students who are both food insecure and likely eligible for SNAP are not participating.”
“I remember the very first day that I went to the advisement office, and I just broke down and cried,” said Laura O., a health science/nursing pathway student at RCSJ’s Gloucester campus. “The person I spoke to took me straight to the Wellness Center and my life changed from there on out.”
Juan T., a psychology major at RCSJ’s Cumberland campus, said, “Growing up, I had a lot of friends who were afraid, or shy—or embarrassed, really—that they were from families that had SNAP. I saw bullying happen in schools [over it] . . . That can really damage someone’s dignity, you know?”
“I’m a first-generation college student, graduating this May. I have four daughters and in 2017 when I decided to go back to school to try to make a better life for me and my kids, I was not quite sure how I was going to swing it,” said Melissa L., a sociology major and public administration minor at Rutgers University’s North campus who participated in the forum virtually. “I definitely used SNAP throughout that process. I was just able to get off of SNAP last year, and moving towards self-sufficiency is a huge accomplishment, I think.”
A panel featured NJ Assemblyman William Spearman (D-5th) who serves as chair of the Commerce, Economic Development, & Agriculture committee and vice-chair of the Children, Families, & Food Security committee; and NJ Assemblyman Cody Miller (D-4th), who serves on the Higher Education committee and as executive director of RCSJ’s Foundation. They, too, shared their experiences of growing up in food-insecure families.
“I think it’s amazing that these students spoke here about the issues they have personally experienced. There was a time where we didn’t share those stories,” said Miller. “I always try to talk to people about my own experience. You don’t know it until you hear other people’s stories that you were in those similar situations. So, we need to continue to talk about it, because the more we talk, the more students will know that there are resources available to them.”
Spearman said, “I think the challenge for us at a state level is to figure out how we can use the resources that we have more efficiently, and I’m speaking about our farms. We’re working on a way to replace [recently cut] funding so we can make sure food banks are able to purchase food from farmers in advance . . . We will be able to make sure people get healthy food and that our farmers get a decent price for their food.”
Jake Farbman, executive director of the NJ Council of County Colleges discussed the scope of the problem and how legislators, advocates, and educators can work together. He encouraged everyone to join the Hunger Free Campus Network, a coalition convened by Hunger Free New Jersey to address the derailing effect hunger has on college students’ efforts to obtain their degrees at colleges and universities across the state.
Applying for SNAP can be complicated, especially for college students who may struggle to meet the required exemptions. Having a SNAP navigator with specialized knowledge of available programs in their county and the associated requirements can streamline the process.
