Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor
Last week, from Feb. 24 to 28, was Food Insecurity Awareness Week at Western, which coincided with the Governor’s Food Drive and the Food For Fines event. Students at Abby’s House, who volunteer at the Food Pantry, planned educational events — like discussions about nutrition and sustainability — to bring awareness to food insecurity on campus and reduce the stigma related to it.
Rachel Bayly, the Community Coordinator for the Food Pantry, says she believes that Western is “already a fairly aware campus,” citing the two full barrels and three boxes of food collected for the Governor’s Food Drive as proof that Western is aware of and is contributing to solutions regarding food insecurity.
Western has been the highest contributing Oregon university to the Governor’s Food Drive for the past 13 years.
However, Western’s food insecurity rate is higher than the national average, according to Bayly, and there’s always ways in which the campus can improve its practices to reduce it.
“I’ve been working with someone who’s on the ASWOU Senate and works at Valsetz and she came to me because she was appalled with the amount of food that was thrown out there and wanted to see what we can do as far as a leftover program with the pantry or something like that,” Bayly stated, adding that they’re likely to bring this issue to the Head of Dining in the future.
According to Bayly, there is an additional plan to combat food insecurity through a bill in the Oregon House of Representatives, which ASWOU lobbyists are currently trying to push through in the short session.
“If you are struggling with it, it’s not something to be ashamed of … There’s a problem with the system and I hope that people can feel proud that they are a part of a community that supports that and access that resource when they need that and go on later to give back in whatever way they can,” Bayly said.
Bayly stated that students interested in alleviating food insecurity on campus can help through volunteering at the Food Pantry, participating in food drives and being a supportive individual to anyone who is experiencing food insecurity by sharing the knowledge of the resources available one campus.
Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu
Photo by Sage Kiernan-Sherrow
