I Went Hungry in College Because Nobody Told Me About SNAP

Growing up living below the poverty level in the U.S., learning how to ration and get by was a concept with which I was familiar.

My mother worked most of the time and we accessed safety net programs. Often, people who are working aren't earning a living wage or a sufficient salary to be able to sustain their families. So, from a young age, I knew that having support was helpful and very necessary.

At that time when I was growing up, powdered milk, oily cheese, and the processed foods that were given to us were not healthy. A child like me was being reared on a low-cost, high-sodium diet that was low in nutrition because these foods were affordable.

This is what a lot of parents from low-income households offer their kids, not because they don't care, but because they're trying to get by. Generally, when one becomes an adult, trying to change habits, educate yourself, and break the cycle of diabetes, high blood pressure, and all of these health conditions that can run rampant in communities that are lower income can be challenging.

I went to college to study international politics in the 1990s. I was not aware that I was eligible for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) at the time, which is why I took more extreme measures to get by.

Some studies show that roughly one in five students who are eligible to take advantage of the program usually don't, primarily due to a lack of awareness.

When one fills out FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) forms, for example, or receives information at their colleges about programs that are available, typically, the SNAP program is not included or advertised.

So, if you're not able to afford an extensive plan, which was the case for me, then you either forgo a plan altogether or take the minimum option, which is what I did.

But the minimum option was roughly about five meals a week, and that wasn't enough to sustain a student for seven days, a student that required two to three good nutritious meals a day.

As a college student, I ate a lot of filler foods that are cheap, and have low nutritional value like ramen noodles and bagels. Because I spent much of my time in the library, it was easy to cover it up. It wasn't an embarrassment, because my friends weren't necessarily keeping track of how many meals I ate each day.

I ate things to make me feel full, not fully aware or thinking about the very low nutritional value of them. I experienced fatigue, and I think in some ways it was difficult to pinpoint all of the effects of eating these foods because there were so many stresses, like wanting good grades, maintaining my work-study program, and struggling financially.

I think that there were times when I wondered if I could make it through to graduation because of all of these stresses. There were times when I was working two jobs at a time with a full course load in a very rigorous college program, the kinds of aspirations we encourage kids to pursue.

We say, "go for that top college program, go for your dreams," not realizing that some people who are pursuing rigorous programs in hopes of getting a successful or lucrative career are also juggling many other stresses.

The day that I finished college, I took my last class and my parent came to pick me up. I collapsed walking on my way to their vehicle. When I finally made it to the vehicle, I thought: I will never put myself through that kind of stress again.

I'm ashamed to say I did not know that SNAP was available to me as a college student until I began working at Bread for the World, a Christian advocacy organization. Here, I learned that all of these options were available to me in college.

There is another study that shows that 40 percent of students come from families who are eligible for SNAP, but we know that 40 percent of students are not leveraging the SNAP program.

Food is a basic necessity, it's not a rite of passage. Students should be educated and then given the ability to access nutrition that they learn about.

The lack of awareness of SNAP eligibility among college students is an atrocity, especially when we think about what students may have endured during the pandemic or coming out of the pandemic.

At Bread for the World, we are trying to break these barriers. We are advocating to strengthen the GusNIP program (Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program) that is part of the Farm Bill. This bill, dedicated partly to nutrition, is scheduled to be reauthorized by U.S. Congress in 2023. GusNip incentivizes and increases the capacity of individuals to access fruits and vegetables through SNAP, which is marvelous.

We are also currently supporting a bipartisan bill, the SNAP Nutrition Security Act, that was recently introduced by U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), to do a study on how SNAP purchases may help improve nutrition and diet quality, which is essential for the general public to understand.

I speak to a lot of people who are in the food industry, like cafeteria workers. One mom, who is a cafeteria worker, loves her job and interacting with kids, but could barely afford to feed her own children. The expanded Child Tax Credit, a federal government program we advocated for during COVID, helped push her over the financial hump.

We know farm workers, for example, who take on the responsibility to feed us, are often struggling to be able to feed their own families, particularly smallholder farmers. Some U.S. federal government programs that we support have been able to help them too, which is inspiring.

Looking back, I would let my younger self know that she doesn't have to feel guilty or 'less than' or unworthy if she's not taking on so much on her own to survive.

I would also encourage my younger self to explore as many programs as possible, whether it's through social services or other referrals, to make sure that she has a solid understanding of what viable and respectable options may be available to her.

Heather Taylor is managing director of Bread for the World, a Christian advocacy organization urging U.S. decision-makers to do all they can to pursue a world without hunger. Heather oversees all of Bread's public policy and program divisions and operations.

All views expressed in this article are the author's own.

As told to Newsweek's associate editor, Carine Harb.

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