CampusDiningTodayFall/Winter2021 - 29

Prioritizing Community Impact
and Inclusiveness
Emily Elpes
Strategic Marketing
Everytable
In 2019, nearly 40 percent of college
students in California reported food
insecurity. In the following years postCOvId,
those numbers grew even higher.
Colleges and universities across the
country are responding with continued
efforts to revamp their current basic
needs initiatives, including optimizing
their food pantries, extending support
and resources campus-wide, and
focusing on building key partnerships
within the community.
One southern California institution,
santa Monica College (sMC), jumped
to respond when its campus closed and
eLearning commenced. As their student
population relied on campus resources
to provide their meals on a daily basis,
sMC started a home meal delivery
program in partnership with LA-based
food service company, Everytable,
whose mission is to transform the food
system to make fresh, nutritious meals
accessible to everyone, everywhere.
" santa Monica College serves over
27,000 students, with over 54 percent
of our students experiencing a lack
of basic needs, " said Lizzy Moore,
sMC Foundation president and dean
of institutional advancement. " The
partnership between sMC Foundation
and Everytable allowed us to respond
within 72 hours of the college moving to
remote classes and services by ensuring that
our most vulnerable students had immediate
access to nutritious, fresh, and tasty meals
delivered to their homes. An added value
expressed by students receiving the weekly
meals is the sentiment that sMC cares about
them and their academic goals. "
In addition to home meal delivery, sMC
incorporated these new efforts into its food
pantry program and opened tech-enabled
fresh food vending machines that offer
affordable, wholesome meals at half the price
of most " healthy " restaurants.
Among other campuses combating the rising
rates of food insecurity, California state
University-dominguez Hills complemented
their on-campus storefront with a drive-thru
meal pantry, student ambassador programs,
scholarships, and student job opportunities.
While the overall goal of most campus
foodservice programs is to increase
convenience and accessibility for its student
body, it is abundantly clear that basic needs
initiatives are essential to serving vulnerable
student populations. By partnering with
like-minded organizations and leaning on
the direction of college leaders, we can
continue to address food insecurity within
our institutions and drive change in providing
good food for all.
gUEsT INTERACTION | CAMPUS DINING TODAY
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