Solution to the Problem of Providing for Better Nutritious Food Accessibility on Campus for Students - Research Paper Example

A Research Proposing a Solution to the Problem of Providing for Better Nutritious Food Accessibility on Campus for Students in Your School and Staff That Are at the Poverty Level and Receiving for Food Subsidy Payments On every college campus it is important to provide nutritious food. There should be an abundant availability of quality food so that students can easily get the health benefit out of it. It is important for every college to provide sufficient food to the students and staff so that they can study well with energy and build up a better future. This research in particular is dealing with the condition where students and staff dwelling at the poverty level could get proper quality food. In this respect, a few measures should be taken so that poor students and staff can get food easily at a lower and affordable price. It is necessary for the college campus authority to administer such situation and provide possible solutions. On Bellevue College campus they concentrate on the food services which are authorized by the state law. Their main purpose is to provide good food to all. This research has been conducted to deliver a better solution to the problem of providing sufficient and nutritious food on campus for students and staff who are at the poverty level. It is needed to clarify here how they can access better quality food with subsidized products along with the other students. Need for a Food Program in Bellevue College (BC) Availability of food on college campus has become popular in recent times. Even the choice of food is wide and makes it seem as though one were eating in a restaurant. However, campus food needs more care and monitoring than in a restaurant (“Admissions: UP and Food Sustainability”). College campuses are battling to provide and maintain safer and healthier food. However, it is quite a common phenomenon where college administrators consider cafeterias as a source of revenue to support administrative or other activities. This perception has been changing in recent times as more and more young adults from low income families are joining colleges. It has now become imperative to provide quality food at affordable prices to these students. With a rampant hunger and infections caused by stale food and diseases caused by diet, colleges are getting the scope to promote health consciousness among students (Freudenberg). Another phenomenon that is increasingly gaining prominence is the demand for organic food on college campuses in US. However, one factor that is still leading to many people rejecting the idea of organic food is its high cost because of its labor intensive farming process. Regular foods are grown by farmers by using insecticides and other chemicals, while organic foods are grown by natural methods such as crop rotation. Therefore, there are high levels of health risks associated with normal food that are absent in organic food (O’Bryan). Colleges are taking increasing measures to maintain quality food on campuses. According to Princeton Review, the college that has been considered as having the best campus food is Wheaton College in Illinois followed by Bowdoin College in Maine (“The 10 Colleges”). Bellevue College in its mission statement has clearly mentioned that it is very much concerned about a healthy environment. Its mission statement provides: “Bellevue College is a comprehensive and innovative college that advances the life-long educational development of its students consistent with their needs, interests and abilities while strengthening the economic, social, and cultural life of its diverse community. The college accomplishes this purpose by providing high-quality, flexible educational programs and services that are academically, geographically and financially accessible. Committed to teaching and learning excellence and employee growth and development, the college nurtures a supportive environment throughout its programs and services.” (All-College Council) So from the given statement it is clear that Bellevue College is very much concerned about their college environment. To provide a better future to their students and employees while developing their education, it also concentrates on other needs and interests that will reflect in the society and economy as a whole. The mission statement clearly mentions that the college will provide services that are financially accessible or affordable to general people. From these points it can be identified that the college is stressing the needs of the students apart from education. So these needs can be related to availability of healthy and quality food in a prominent way so as to build up a healthy environment. The purpose of the study is to identify the solutions for the food subsidy problems which poor students and staff generally face in colleges. This mission statement, however, supports the fact that Bellevue College anticipates easy, financially accessible services which definitely can be argued as easy availability of quality food with affordable prices for all. To justify the statement, it is obvious for them to deal with the situation where everyone can share their course of meal at a lower price. This will help not only to bring up the value of the college but also to signify a great future. Most importantly, it is needed to mention here that the food services of Bellevue College are authorized by state law. Their aim is to provide healthy, instantly available, reasonable food and beverages to the students, faculty, staff and visitors who come to the campus. There are various people who are taking care of the food section. The director of food services of the college is the person who takes care of the food prepared inside the college premises. He constantly checks the quality of food so that it is safe for public consumption and meets all state licensing requirements. Because of this limitation, no one from outside can use any food service or equipment inside the college premises for food safety purposes. It is mandatory on Bellevue College campus to take permission from the Bellevue College food service director to make arrangements to cater food from outside vendors when necessary. Any food related services including campus vending etc. are usually coordinated by the director of food services. Problems and Solutions Keeping in mind the poverty level of students and staff, complimentary food may also be provided by Bellevue College employees, which they can share with their co-workers (“6700 Food Services”). But apart from considering this system, BC’s low budgeted students and staff still face certain problems in availability of sufficient food at a lower price. The Sustainable Food Access Advisory Group (SFAAG) believes that availability of good food on campus for all students is an important goal for the college. Bellevue College supports and maintains equality inside its college campus. They make continuous efforts in order to maintain equal opportunities for all (“Equal Opportunity”). BC is totally against any kind of discrimination related to caste, creed, religion or social status. In this sense it could also be understandable that supply of quality food at low prices is very much important to sustain. However, from the above explanation on the BC food system it is clear that the college campus is not a “food desert.” There is a plenty of food available but sometimes it is not affordable for all. As the students are not allowed to use outside catering, sometimes this category of students and staff might face problems with food, which is anyway not good for their sustainability and educational development. So at times, because of the restrictions, people might face problems which would lead to the term “food desert” suitable for the college. So to avoid such situations, the college authority should arrange for alternatives so that all can get the desired amount of food. The EBT card system is an important facility which can benefit the students. This Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) is a food assistance card. Those who will be issued an EBT card from the government or any institution will receive food assistance. This card can be used as a debit card to purchase food items at stores or other places where there is provision to use the same. The EBT card is the electronic way the government gives out “food stamps” (“EBT and EFT Make Getting Benefits Easier”). Food stamps were actually meant for the poor but now they are commonly getting used by the college students. In such cases it is important for the college authority to know the people who are really needy and cannot afford food. There should be provision for food stamps to the poor people so that they can avail food at a reasonable price in the college campus (Hogan). However, another problem here is that BC does not have an EBT card terminal on campus. This is because federal law has prohibited the use of such cards at restaurants. And because of this, Bellevue College is also unable to install one on their own college campus. The SFAAG, on the other hand, is still trying to implement this idea. But it is not successful yet. So it is difficult for the needful students of BC to pursue this option. As the college could not get an ET card reader authorized for the cafeteria, it has become important for the SFAAG to identify some alternatives out of that. A feasible solution is required to serve the ultimate purpose so as to justify the research topic in a better way. It is important to look into the matter of EBT issue so that college authority, with the help of the government, can get permission to install it. Thus, at this point it is important to deal with federal laws so that they pass the provision soon. Another alternative feasible solution for this can be to keep, as low as possible, the cost of food for meals. As the campus budget is also a vital matter, it is important to keep balance with that so as that the food system of the college also gets benefits out of that. If the college makes profit, then it will be able to give subsidy on food services to the needy. So assorting low cost food is very much necessary. But one thing should be kept in mind while providing low cost food: there should be no compromise on quality of the food. The head chef of BC’s cafeteria and the director of the food services play a vital role in this context. They are the ones who will help to form the food budget and make easy accessibility of food possible. Food coupons might be distributed to selected groups of students and staff, and therefore a benchmark of income level for the staff and that of the children’s parents should be determined first. One sixth of the total funds of the college can be invested to finance this. Fresh food should be ascertained and quality should not be compromised for low affordability. The food items distributed to them need to be monitored by Mr. White and Mr. Gruen apart from the head chef. If there is any specific preference amongst the selected groups, it needs to be taken into account, and after a cost benefit analysis their food basket may be decided. However, it is important to avoid any show of bias in public. Therefore, they would need different menu cards which will be distributed to them after determining the specific dishes or food items they can order at a low price. This is because some food items might not be saleable at a low price affordable for the selected groups. This menu card can be produced at the cafeteria at the time of placing an order. Such measures can resolve the legal hindrance to activate an EBT card in the college. Conclusion Today, undergraduate students are becoming more health conscious than before. It is now being observed that students are already knowledgeable about food when they are joining college. They are becoming demanding about “new spices, flavors and cuisines” and they want their college to fulfill their demands; students also want to remain aware of the food source and whether the food is organic and sustainable (“Best Colleges for Food in America”). Most importantly, we need also to pay attention to affordability of the students. Works Cited “6700 Food Services.” Bellevue College, 2009. Web. 3 August 2013. ?http://bellevuecollege.edu/policies/6/6700_Food_Services.asp?. “Admissions: UP and Food Sustainability.” University of Portland, 2013. Web. 3 August 2013. ?http://www.up.edu/admissions/print.aspx?cid=10920&pid=5711?. All-College Council. “Bellevue College Mission Statement.” 2013. Web. 3 August 2013. ?https://bellevuecollege.edu/stupro/handbook/about/mission.html?. “Best Colleges for Food in America.” Fox News September 25, 2012. Web. 3 August 2013. ?http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/09/25/best-colleges-for-food-in-america/?. “EBT and EFT Make Getting Benefits Easier.” Social and Health Services. Web. 3 August 2013. ?http://www.dshs.wa.gov/onlinecso/ebt.shtml? “Equal Opportunity.” Bellevue College, 2013. Web. 3 August 2013. ?http://bellevuecollege.edu/about/equal/?. Freudenberg, Nicholas. “Healthier Food in College.” New York Times April 30, 2011. Web. 3 August 2013. ?http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/opinion/l01food.html?_r=0?. Hogan, Breanna. “Food Stamps.” The Root DC Live. 2012. Web. 2 August 2013. ?http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/food-stamps-once-associated-with-the-poor-now-commonly-used-among-college-students/2012/11/05/36971aee-275f-11e2-b4f2-8320a9f00869_blog.html?. O’Bryan, Jason. “Students Call for Organic Food on College Campuses.” Organicconsumers, n.d. Web. 3 August 2013. ?http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_476.cfm?. “The 10 Colleges with the Best Campus Food.” The Huffington Post August 10, 2011. Web. 3 August 2013. ?http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/10/the-10-colleges-with-the-_n_923113.html?. Read More