SAN JOSE, Calif. (BCN) – As students return to San Jose State University, many rely on the campus pantry for their groceries.
Vinay Guda, a master’s student in software engineering, said he and his roommates shop in the pantry every week for essential groceries like eggs, milk and vegetables.
“We use it all the time,” Guda told the San Jose Spotlight. “We never missed a week.
Established by SJSU in 2016, the Spartan Food Pantry offers non-perishable products, products and refrigerated items to students facing food insecurity or with limited access to nutritious foods.
About 29% of students are food insecure, according to a recent basic needs survey conducted by SJSU Cares, the program that runs the pantry.
More students came to the pantry on Monday than on any day last year, according to an Instagram post from Spartan Food Pantry. The pantry is open Monday to Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Students began resuming in-person classes on Thursday after more than a year of distance learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Guda says he’s noticed the pantry is more crowded lately as the students return to campus. He likes to go to the pantry on Wednesdays to beat the crowds.
“We can get free food and it’s good and convenient,” Guda said. “We eat a lot of eggs (and other groceries), so we need this resource.”
It’s not just the students who use the pantries. A March report from the California Association of Food Banks shows statewide food insecurity more than doubled in 2020 from pre-pandemic levels, affecting 10 million Californians.
Pantry in San Jose has also seen an increase in the number of beneficiaries in recent months.
SJSU sociology professor Scott Myers-Lipton said he wondered if the pantry could accommodate the growing number of users now that students have returned to campus.
“I believe the need is going to be great,” Myers-Lipton told the San Jose Spotlight. “(When I was teaching on campus) I had students struggling… I wonder what’s going to happen now that there’s this huge line in the pantry. ”
Ben Falter, senior student affairs officer at SJSU, declined to comment, saying pantry workers are busy handling a “high volume” of students asking for help. Falter said anyone with questions about the pantry should visit the SJSU Cares website.
Diane Baker Hayward, spokesperson for Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, said it was important for students to have access to pantries near campus. The food bank supports the pantries of community colleges in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, as well as SJSU and two private colleges.
“Students are an often overlooked group of people who struggle to get enough nutritious food, especially in Silicon Valley where the cost of housing is so high,” Hayward told the San Jose Spotlight.
While students like Guda have leaned on the SJSU pantry for months, new students, including sophomore Everyck Bayaua, first found out about it on Wednesday.
After hearing about the pantry from a friend, Bayaua picked up cans and vegetables to keep him going for the week. He said he plans to go to the pantry in the coming weeks to save money on groceries.
“I’m trying to go to a grocery store (nearby), but I don’t want to waste my money,” Bayaua said. “I want to save as much as I can. ”
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