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Sage Kiernan-Sherrow<\/strong> | News Editor<\/span><\/p>\n Under the Trump administration, the Food and Nutrition Service department \u2014 a subset of the U.S Department of Agriculture \u2014 proposed a revision of the categorical eligibility in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on July 24. The proposal called for stricter criteria when determining eligibility as well as a nationwide program consistency. It would eradicate \u201c<\/span>a loophole that allows states to make participants receiving minimal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits automatically eligible to participate in USDA\u2019s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),\u201d according to the USDA website, and is portrayed as a system that will heretofore ensure universal fairness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This proposal would have a particularly strong effect on Oregonians as Oregon is the fifth state with the highest number of SNAP recipients. In 2017, 16% of Oregon\u2019s population was reported to be on food stamps; that accounts for 681,000 individuals, of which 55% of participants are in families with children, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities\u2019s website. Under the proposal, an estimated 35,000 families would be losing their benefits in the state of Oregon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This affects students at Western, too. Bilingual Advocate Outreach Coordinator and Supervisor of the Food Pantry, Lisette Servantes, as well as two of the Coordinators from the Food Pantry, Josh Salisbury and Rachel Bayly discussed food insecurity on campus and how this new proposal might affect Western\u2019s students.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Food Pantry is a free resource dedicated to alleviating food insecurity on campus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Servantes stated, \u201cfood insecurity happens at every college and we see that need \u2026 some students are missing meals to pay for books or classes. We definitely don\u2019t want that to happen.\u201d Of Western\u2019s student population, Bayly had mentioned that \u201cmonthly we average around 900 visits and 350 people \u2026 if you break it down to students specifically, about 60% of people coming in are students, so about 200 people per month.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, Servantes also wanted to highlight some of the positive changes made within the Western community to address and provide assistance to those suffering from food insecurity including \u201ca new student voucher program\u201d where if \u201cWestern students come have a quick conversation with (her) just to assess their needs and determine if it\u2019s more of a long-term or short-term solution that we need to find \u2026 (students) are able to get a $25 certificate to Waremart or WOU Dining.\u201d In addition to that, there is a \u201cnew student criteria where if students go meet with the DHS representative \u2026 and state their specific intentions and career goals \u2026 that waives their student criteria, (making) it easier for students to get approved for SNAP benefits.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n As a parting thought, Salisbury commented, \u201cIn our country for college students, we expect them to sacrifice a lot to go to college in terms of time, money, and energy \u2014 you shouldn\u2019t have to add your nutritional health to that list. I think that even if our country as a whole doesn\u2019t support our college students as a whole that doesn\u2019t mean that we can\u2019t try to make a difference on our campus.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Food Pantry hours and information: wou.edu\/foodpantry<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n