I am not an expert in food insecurity. However, I can say
that I grew up in a food-insecure household. We had access to social welfare
programs like food stamps, las estampillas. Through the program, my
mother afforded us the opportunity to have milk, eggs, cereal, and juice, among
other food items to ensure we ate a well-rounded meal. My parents are migrant farmworkers,
their income came once a year by working in the fields. This type of income
stream can be difficult for a family, especially a family with four growing
girls. Sure, they worked small jobs during Fall and Spring, but the
majority of our income came from working in the fields. My parents stretched
their income and provided us with a comfortable livelihood with the support of
government programs. If you asked me 13 years ago about my background, I would have
been ashamed because of how the media portrays families like my own. Today, I am
proud to say I was raised on welfare programs. It is because of those programs
that my mother knew she did not have to send us to bed with empty stomachs
(unless we did not eat our food). Like they say, “Ay ai comida en la casa”
and “es todo lo que ay para comer”. So, we ate what she made.
When I started graduate school and went back on a graduate
student stipend with a much more robust level of debt, I knew I would need to
find ways to supplement my eating habits and new student lifestyle. I went from
a full-time job to a part-time job, with work hours during the day and study
hours during the evening. Not only would I need to figure out how to afford
food, but when to find the time to make it and sit down and eat without compromising
my wellness. Surely, I thought I just need to spend my money wisely. However,
bills stacked up, tuition came in, and I found myself strapped for financial
resources to feed myself. I learned about my university’s food bank program through
friends and figured I had to check it out. I had thoughts of my own, however. I
wondered, "I have a job, will I qualify?", "I do not “look” poor (the type of poor
that you create in your mind based on the social constructions around you),
will they judge me?" Or, the opposite of that, "will I be judged for being “poor”?" All the shame I felt growing up as a result of living on social welfare
programs resurfaced. But still, I went. I needed food.
There was a call for participants to take part in a focus
group led by staff from the university’s food bank. I decided to attend because
I wanted to learn more about their program and its purpose. It is in this focus
group that I learned about food insecurity and all the meanings researchers use
to define it. (For more information, you can click here). I learned
that food insecurity is more than just not having money for food. It is that
and much more. Food insecurity is not having access to grocery stores or places
that have food for you to access, like an HEB right around the corner. Food insecurity
is also not having the time or place to make food, and in the case of college
students, that is not having a kitchen and not having time because we are
always studying, therefore opting for cheap, quick and unhealthy food habits. Given
what I learned, I eventually broke my own stigma associated with food banks.
Since then, I have participated in the program for 6 semesters
now. As a result, I have learned how to
manage my time around the distribution schedule so that I can make sure I am available
to access its services. In addition, I also plan my grocery shopping trips around
the distribution schedule so that I only buy what I need for that week or
month, essentially, I supplement my food bank wins with my grocery shopping
trips. And even more important, I use social media to help educate my followers
about the benefits of a food bank and how food banks can be transformative
spaces for college students experiencing food insecurity.
(My friend is from Texas too and we use our Texas canvas bags to get our food. Can you see our Texas and HEB pride?)
When I meal prep, I am taken back to my mother’s kitchen in our
trailer home in Minnesota when we would migrate up north. Con las estampillas,
she prepared for us potato and egg tacos for breakfast and bean tacos for lunch
when we went to the fields. As 9-year-olds, my sisters and I managed to work 10
hours a day alongside our parents with tacos in our bellies. All she needed was
potatoes, eggs, beans, and tortillas. You only need the essentials, and that is
what I see the food bank doing for students.
Breaking it Down
The MSU
Food Bank is the longest-running program of its kind in the nation. It
works with the local community food bank to supply its items, among other
efforts. In order for students to participate in the program, they must be enrolled
in classes for that semester. I will be on a summer fellowship this year and
unfortunately will not have access to its services, so I will be using Aldi
religiously over the summer (or HEB if I get to go home).
The food bank follows two distribution schedules. One week they
distribute generally non-perishable items like canned goods, pasta (like the kind to make sopita), beans, and
milk and juice, enough for a week. They also distribute some produce, but for
the most part its standard food items you can store in your own pantry. The alternating
week they distribute strictly produce like fruits and vegetables. Generally, I have been able to form my meals
from these two distributions. The best part, I have been forced to explore
recipes with vegetables, especially onions. I am not a vegetable person, I will
opt for a pasta dish any time, but the program is so amazing, I cannot let
vegetables go to waste.
(The semester's first wins! So glad they had eggs this time around, I LOVE eggs!)
One conversation piece I left out was that the food bank
also works to combat unhealthy diets by offering healthy foods. Since I do not
have to spend money on produce, I am left with the opportunity to buy chicken
and ground beef/turkey resulting in delicious, hearty meals for the week. For
more on what I cook with my food bank wins (I call them wins because I am truly
winning here), you can follow me on Instagram @aflor324.
