Food Insecurity Among University of Nebraska-Lincoln Students

Authors

Lindsey Bremer, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Date of this Version

Spring 5-2019

Abstract

A survey of 38 University of Nebraska-Lincoln students was conducted to determine the food insecurity levels of respondents. Food insecurity is defined as limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (Bickel et al, 2000). A systematic review of 8 food security studies on college and university students found an average food insecurity level of 43.5%, (Nazmi et al, 2018) while the national level is 11.8% (Coleman-Jensen et al, 2017). The research was driven by the question, What is the food insecurity rate among University of Nebraska-Lincoln students? A goal of this study was to analyze what effects having a meal plan had on food insecurity for students. The study utilized the Usda 10 item food security survey and was distributed on SurveyMonkey and received 38 responses. The survey found that 29% of respondents experienced food insecurity with 33% food insecurity for those with a meal plan.