MSSU instructor involved in study of food insecurity among students | Local News

An instructor at Missouri Southern State University who leads the Lion Co-op food pantry on campus is working with a coalition on a statewide study to better understand food insecurity among college students.

Andrea Cullers, an associate professor of kinesiology at MSSU and director of the Lion Co-op, hopes to dive deeper into the causes of food insecurity among Missouri college students where research has been limited.

The Missouri Council for Activity and Nutrition — a coalition that fosters and supports healthy eating and active living through policy and environmental changes — worked with Cullers, who’s also a member, to secure a nearly $25,000 grant.

Cullers said about 18% of MSSU students are eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, while nationally fewer than 1% who are eligible access those benefits.

“I work with MOCAN, and there’s different members on it,” Cullers said. “With MU Extension and a colleague at UMKC, we decided to look at food insecurity and SNAP knowledge among college students across the state of Missouri. We’re going to be surveying about 1,500 students to understand what does food insecurity look like, do they know what SNAP is or how to access it.”

The Lion Co-op, located in the Federal Emergency Management Agency storm shelter near the residence halls, offers food and personal hygiene items to the Missouri Southern campus community. The pantry was established by Cullers and two of her colleagues in fall 2018 to assist with food insecurity — the lack of access to adequate food for an active, healthy life because of limited money or other resources.

The $24,695 research grant was awarded by the Fahs-Beck Foundation. The project will survey students enrolled in public or private schools, community colleges and technical schools throughout the state.

“We thought we needed to reach out to our campus community and try to really get students accessing SNAP,” Cullers said. “We just really want to learn how to help these students who are eligible for SNAP get enrolled, what are the barriers, why aren’t they enrolling — is it transportation or stigma?”

Under regular SNAP eligibility requirements, students with at least half-time enrollment in an institution of higher education are typically ineligible for SNAP benefits unless they meet certain specific exemptions.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed into law in December, temporarily expands SNAP eligibility to include students who:

• Are eligible to participate in state or federally financed work-study during the regular academic year, as determined by the institution of higher education.

• Have an expected family contribution of zero in the current academic year. That includes students who are eligible for a maximum Pell Grant.

SNAP is the largest federal nutrition assistance program and provides benefits to eligible low-income individuals and families at grocery stores and farmers markets.

Causes of food insecurity for college students include financial reasons, lack of family support and transportation issues.

Cullers said the research findings will help in development of a toolkit to assess food insecurity that can be used by other schools and states. The goal is to give every college student the opportunity for success without having to worry about hunger.

“We really believe that hunger and food insecurity reduces or inhibits someone’s success,” she said. “It decreases their likelihood of graduation. If we can help people have food regularly and take away that stressor, they’re more likely to graduate.”

Those eligible for SNAP benefits also automatically have access to the Double Up Food Bucks Program, which matches SNAP dollars. The matching program allows participants to receive twice the amount of fruits and vegetables; local markets such as the Webb City Farmers Market and Joplin’s Empire Market participate in the program.

“Malnutrition isn’t just not enough calories, it’s inadequate nutrition,” Cullers said in a statement. “Someone can be getting plenty of calories, but if they’re not nutritious calories they can be malnourished. SNAP can help with that. We can’t perform at our full potential at school or in our life if we’re hungry or not getting the nutrition that we need.”

Missouri Southern is the school sponsoring the research study. Former Lion Co-op intern and MSSU graduate Gil Salgado has been hired as a research assistant to aid with the project. Salgado, who graduated from MSSU in May 2020 with a degree in social work, currently serves as a caseworker with Jasper County Children’s Division.

As the SNAP researcher, Salgado will help plan out the project, interpret data and brainstorm ideas.

“I think it will be a great experience,” he said. “It’s two-handed. On one hand, it will be really good for any kind of doctoral program that I want to apply for. On the other hand, working as a social worker, sometimes we don’t have time to dive deep into different programs, so it will help me understand SNAP benefits and what it takes to be eligible. I hope the research can show the gap there might be in college students in either their awareness or eligibility for SNAP benefits.”