Date of Award

1-1-2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology

Specialization

Behavioral Science

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Joseph S. Rossi

Abstract

There has long been a popular prototypical image of the starving college student surviving on cheap ramen noodle meals, but research suggests there is more to this than meets the eye. Food insecurity, the condition in which individuals are unable to secure enough food to support a healthy lifestyle, has been investigated and reported with increasing frequency on college campuses, including the university at which the present study is conducted. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to delve further into college student food insecurity to gain a better understanding of how students experience and perceive it. To achieve this, I conducted interviews with 14 students who met the USDA criteria for food insecurity and then employed reflexive thematic analysis to identify six key themes from these interviews. Participants described their experiences with not accessing enough food to support themselves and struggled to encapsulate their food situations in words. They often believed that food insecurity had to be chronic or brushed off their situation because “others” (real or imagined) had it worse. Participants experienced cascading financial, mental, emotional, social, and physical impacts of food insecurity despite not typically considering themselves food insecure. As such, they preferred using resources that were available to everyone regularly, such as a free farmers market, rather than those available to individuals in need, like food pantries. Accordingly, recommendations are provided to shift how students perceive the temporal nature of food insecurity and provide resources in a manner that appears more universal, thereby facilitating accessibility for all students who may need assistance. Further-reaching recommendations include expanding SNAP eligibility to college students by considering coursework, employment training programs, as well as expanding existing scholarship programs to expand college access and affordability to potential students.

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