Over the summer, multiple organizations came together to address summer food insecurity at Carleton. 

“Summer food insecurity has been an issue for years, but there were more students staying this summer than years before,” said Juan Garcia Reyes ’26, a senator of the Carleton Student Association (CSA).

Garcia Reyes is one of many students who have advocated for addressing food insecurity at Carleton over the summers, especially considering the greater number of students who chose to stay on campus this past summer due to internships and travel restrictions. 

“There are so many different things that can contribute to someone being food insecure,” said Theo Borowski, the Educational Associate for the Office of the Chaplain and the Division of Inclusion, Equity and Community. “There’s a lot of little things that add up into a big problem for students.”

While students are required to be on a meal plan during the school year, the school is largely uninvolved during the summer.  

“Summer is not the easiest at Carleton,” College Chaplain Schuyler Vogel said. “Dining halls are closed and the food that is on campus is sporadic.” Vogel, who remains active on campus over the summer, has seen how these changes can make consistent meals a challenge for student workers. 

“The students who are here work long hours. They’re doing a lot of things that take a lot of energy and time,” Vogel said. “It seems like a kind and just thing to do to make sure that they’re also not having to worry about where their next meal is.”

Most students who remain on campus over the summer are employed by the college. Student workers get paid $13.25 per hour and usually work 40 hours a week. 

“[The administration] says that students are paid a livable wage,” CSA president Vivian Agugo ’26 said.

Still, students experience different situations that impede their use of these funds to access nutritious and affordable food during the summer break.

“A lot of low income or [JUMP] first-generation students are saving for tuition or they’re supporting family back home, either in the U.S. or abroad,” Borowski said. 

The cost of housing between June 10 and Aug. 25 is $14 pera night without a meal plan, which amounts to approximately $430 per month. Approximately 10% of student workers’ income is withheld for taxes. 

“Students’ full wage is not really getting them very far,” Borowski said. 

Transportation costs and limitations also contribute to summer food insecurity. The Hiawathaland Express Route, which goes to different grocery stores such as Cub and Target, is only available during the school year. Other transportation methods, such as the ZipCar service or the Hiawathaland Transit Red and Blue routes, either do not go to affordable grocery stores or come at a cost for students. 

These issues all contribute to food insecurity over the summer, an issue felt by 41% of students according to a CSA survey with 244 responses.

“We feel that there’s food insecurity because students are saying there is,” Vogel said. “It’s important for us as a college to not try to second guess the students’ experience, to trust folks.” 

Last school year, a wave of community advocacy for administrative action to support food insecure students led to movement on the issue.

“There were a number of conversations in the spring that involved different stakeholders, representatives from CSA, students and staff from the Chapel [and] people from the Division of Inclusion, Equity and Community,” President Alison Byerly said. “The goal was to try and identify the different elements that might contribute to food insecurity for students during the summer and some solutions that might address them.”

On May 26, the CSA created the Resolution In Support of Financial Funding for Addressing Food Insecurity for Summer Student Residents, which was presented by the CSA president to the College President, Dean of Students, the Office of the Chaplain and other relevant entities. 

“It was really encouraging toward the end of the spring for President Byerly to really come to the side of the Chapel and other organizations and divisions that are helping us pull this off,” Borowski said. 

The resolution allocated $40,000 to address food insecurity at Carleton during the summer, which would be divided among different offices to address the various contributing factors. Of these funds, $28,700 was allocated to the Grab and Go Food Source and Community Meals, coordinated by the Office of the Chaplain and the Chapel Summer Justice Intern. 

“The Grab and Go Food Source was in the Chapel lounge twice a week,” Vogel said. “There were nonperishable foods stocked, and people could come in without judgement.”

“The Community Meals were more or less three times a week, and they were prepared by our intern Isaac,” Vogel, referring to Isaac Kofsky ’27. “There were groups ranging from 30 to 90 people, so they were also community spaces where people could gather together.”

“Every area of the college contributed to this effort,” Vogel said. “Faculty, staff and folks from across divisions felt that they wanted to be part of a project that made sure students had community, had full bellies and felt cared for by the college.”“The Alumni Relations Office was really supportive over the summer,” said Borowski. “Professors volunteered to drive Isaac to the grocery store or to actually cook meals themselves, and Dacie Moses covered Sunday brunches.”

Additionally, $10,000 of the CSA funds were allocated for the purchase of transportation vouchers coordinated by the Dean of Students Office. These vouchers allowed students to arrange on-demand transportation with First Class Shuttle. The remaining funds were used to fund 20 cooking kits that were located in different spaces or available to rent. 

“One of the strengths of the approach was to recognize that there were different reasons why students were having trouble getting to food,” Byerly said. “Trying to make some things a little bit more convenient, we hope it made it easier for a lot of students.”

On Sept. 20, the CSA Executives published a survey to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and inform future initiatives.

“We heard a lot of great feedback from staff and students about the community meals, about having that great way to connect with fellow peers during the summer,” Agugo said. 

The resolution also acknowledged that addressing food insecurity must be a campus-wide endeavor and must continue into the school year, in order to fill in the gaps in the existing solutions and implement new initiatives. 

“Our goal as a college is to take that data with an open mind and allow ourselves to really hear what students have to tell us and respond to it,” Vogel said.

Conversations on the issue of food insecurity will include students’ opinions on this summer’s program, which raised awareness to the different factors that contribute to food insecurity. 

“I would like there to be an acknowledgement that [food insecurity] exists, and it’s okay. It’s not our fault,” Garcia Reyes said. 

“At Carleton and beyond Carleton, there’s still an idea that people are food insecure partially or completely because of their own doing,” added Borowski. “I think that if we shift that mindset, we can come to a more complete solution that meets people’s actual food insecurity needs, but also makes them feel comfortable to use the resources available.”