Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
This seems appropriate for the moment.
Exhibit 1. Percent of college students who are food insecure, by gender, disability, and income.
Food insecurity (hunger) is a growing epidemic in American society. Food insecurity can be defined as a lack of consistent access to nutritious food for an active, healthy life. In the US, 13.5 percent of U.S. households were food insecure in 2023, equivalent to 18 million households or 47 million people.1 The scarcity of food doesn’t escape students in higher education.
This EPIGraph provides illustrations based on data from the 2020 NPSAS survey. There are three basic levels of food insecurity: “Low or very low food security.” “Marginal food security.” And “High food security.” We will use the term “food insecure” to refer to the highest level of insecurity, which is illustrated in the two charts below. All data are provided in the final table.
What to learn:
- Almost 1 in 4 (23 percent) of all college students are food insecure.
- 36 percent of students with disabilities are food insecure compared to 19 percent of other students.
- 31 percent of Pell students were food insecure compared to 17 percent of other students.
- 35 percent of Black students, 33 percent of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, and 30 percent of American Indian/Alaska Natives were food insecure.
- Women were more likely to be food insecure than men (24 vs 20 percent).
- The most “food secure” students were White, Asian, and non-Pell students. Still, almost 1 out of 5 White students were food insecure.
- The most food insecure students were Black, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, American Indian/Alaska Natives, students with disabilities, and Pell Grant recipients.
Grab and enjoy that turkey leg. Really. Enjoy it. It’s a great opportunity to take in family and friends and just lay back and be thankful for what we are afforded in this life. Just take a moment to acknowledge the challenges faced by millions of Americans and billions across the world who have lesser.
Food. Water. Life.
Exhibit 2. Percent of college students who are food insecure, by race/ethnicity.
Exhibit 3. Level of food insecurity of college students, by gender, race/ethnicity, disability, and income. 
1https://www.risehealth.org/insights-articles/article/usda-report-reveals-alarming-rise-in-food-insecurity-in-america/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20report%2C%2013.5%20percent%20of,larger%20jump%20from%2010.2%20percent%20in%202021.