The cliché of the poor college student surviving on Ramen noodles is not funny now and it never was, and that is why Students United has made food insecurity a priority issue in the Minnesota State system.

This is because Food insecurity impacts all aspects of a student’s life. The issue has become a priority for St. Cloud State University as well, which convened a committee to look at the issue last year. Those efforts have resulted in the opening of the Huskies Food Pantry and in an effort by the university’s food service provider, Chartwells, to reach food insecure students through the Huskies Swipe Share program. This issue came to my attention recently when I wrote about the efforts to get the food pantry started for the St. Cloud State University news blog.

Chartwells set up Huskies Swipe Share program at the start of fall semester, when it was known as the Food Insecurity Program.  I wrote about the meal share program at the time through my role for St. Cloud State.

The program is designed to help students, faculty and staff help their students in need of a meal by donating unused meals from their meal plans to the program. The meals are then given out to students who have self-identified as needing a meal.

Accessing Huskies Swipe Share

Huskies Swipe Share is about helping to provide food security for students without stigma.

When students signs up for the swipe share program, they do so in their Dining Services account, just as they would when adding to their meal plan. They get three meals added to their account, and they can use them for any meal at any time simply by swiping their card in Garvey.

No one knows that the meals are any different than anyone else’s meal access. After the initial three meals are used, they receive an alert as meals become available via donation. Once they receive a notification meal are available, they can use them in the dining hall simply by swiping their card, according to the Huskies Swipe Share webpage.

When I first heard about the program, I wondered how helpful it would be since it can only be used in Garvey Commons, which is a much more expensive option than making food at home. I thought food or cash donations to a food pantry would make more sense.

But thinking about the matter further has changed my mind. Access to Garvey is about a sense of belonging on campus. Eating in the cafeteria with your friends develops and strengthens relationships that help you enjoy and thrive in college. Eating in the cafeteria also gives someone who lives in the residential halls a chance to have fresh vegetables, salads and meats that are not often available from a food pantry or difficult to cook in a dorm microwave.

The Huskies Food Pantry is also now offering vouchers to eat in Garvey Commons for students experiencing food insecurity and wanting a hot meal. Students just need to show their Student ID and can receive three or four vouchers for meals in Garvey Commons along with groceries to prepare at home.

Sharing meals provides a sense of belonging

Thinking about Huskies Swipe Share got me think back to my own undergraduate experience. I was lucky enough to have family financial support and guidance, but even with that my meal plan was never enough to cover every meal during my school year.

When signing up for my first meal plan my parents asked whether I’d really eat every meal in the cafeteria. I agreed I wouldn’t eat every meal there because I liked to sleep in and was never much of a breakfast person. So we went with a smaller plan, and I knew starting the year I wouldn’t have enough meals to cover the full year. When the end of the semester approached, I was always left planning out how I’d use my meals. When I could I’d head back to my room for lunch or eat a dinner of Easy Mac if I wasn’t very hungry. I planned out my meals, but I still always ended up being short at the end of the year and would generally end the year only eat in the cafeteria when I was really hungry or when my friends wanted to grab dinner together. I supplemented with meals of Easy Mac, eggs or Rice-A-Roni prepared in my dorm microwave.

Even having family support I ended up eating so much Easy Mac during college that I couldn’t eat it for years after leaving school. Remembering that experience makes me see why Husky Swipe Share would really be valuable to a student who doesn’t have the family financial support to fill their dorm fridge or add money onto their meal account if they ran out of funds completely.

The program offers them the chance to eat a nutritiously-balanced meal or join friends for a meal instead of eating alone in their room. In this way, Huskies Swipe Share and efforts like the food pantry work together to support student needs.

How to help

If you have a voluntary or residential meal plan and would like to donate simply stop into Chartwells office located in Garvey Common to ask for a donation form and fill it out with your name, account information and the number of meals you would like to donate. Unfortunately, those with the Husky Anytime Plan cannot donate any of their meal swipes at this time. I’m hopeful as the program evolves Chartwells will find a way for those students to participate as well such as the option to donate their guest passes or premium meals to the swipe program.

If you don’t have a meal plan and would still like to donate, the easiest way is to purchase a meal plan and donate a few meals. If you’re feeling generous, you could also purchase a full meal plan and donate it in its entirely to Huskies Swipe Share.

Since I have chosen to purchase Blizzard Bucks as my voluntary meal plan for the flexibility they provide, I checked in at the Chartwells office before spring break to see if I could donate by cash. My idea was to donate funds to purchase one meal, but when I went in to inquire staff in the office told me the program was not yet set up for cash donations. I hope they will have develop cash donation process in the future.

As the end of the semester approaches, one more experience from my undergraduate years comes to mind. I remember seeing at least one student each spring stocking up on whatever they could in the campus store to use up their remaining meal plan dollars. I usually thought they were a little crazy because I didn’t understand how anyone had extra on their account. One guy even bought my friends and I our meals one evening because he didn’t want to see the money go to waste. I think he would have been happy for an opportunity like this to benefit a fellow student in need.

Although there won’t be students in that situation this year with the coronavirus emptying much of campus, donating to the Huskies Swipe Share program is an option for students who want to donate meals instead of receiving a refund or credit for the meals they can’t be on campus to enjoy.