First SWC food pantry to relieve student hunger

Southwestern College students are hungry for knowledge.

Thousands are just hungry.

Patricia Bartow, director of Child Development, started to realize this when she taught evening classes.

“I noticed that in class at night my students would be tired or not feeling so well,” she said. “In conversations with them, it was brought up that they hadn’t eaten that day.”

Bartow said she surveyed 700 SWC students. About 80 percent reported some level of food insecurity.

“I’m an unemployed single mom and I’m kind of ashamed to admit that I sometimes don’t have enough,” wrote one student. “I try to do what I can, but I pray that a pantry opens up soon.”

Bartow, the Associated Student Organization and the Child Development Center created a food pantry. Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank have been contacted about support.

Brett Robertson, SWC Director of Student Development, said he will work with Bartow and the ASO to develop an SWC food pantry.

UCSD and San Diego City College already have food pantries, he said.

“Food insecurity is a problem for more and more college students each day,” he said. “A big challenge for ASO was space. There was no place to put it. Patie had the space, so it all kind of came together. Now we can make this happen.”

ASO President Mona Dibas said ASO senators and faculty visited pantries at other colleges.

“Last spring, we went to City College and got to see their food pantry,” she said. “They also have free clothing. If you had an interview, they would have suits and ties for $10 only. They do haircuts. They do makeup. They give you the whole package to get you started with your life.”

Jade Espina, ASO Vice President of Outreach, said she aimed to provide similar services to SWC students.

“We noticed that a lot of other schools were doing it,” said Espina. “So we were wondering why SWC wasn’t doing it since we are the last campus before Mexico and the center of a lot of things here.”

A ribbon cutting event officially unveiled the food pantry as the “Jag Kitchen” in room 554.

Interim President Robert Deegan spoke at the event, thanking Bartow and the ASO for bringing awareness to food insecurity.

“I’ve been so impressed with the strong commitment that people have made to our students,” he said. “Almost 80 percent of our students receive BOG waivers, so it’s not surprising that many find themselves experiencing food insecurity.”

Dibas said fighting food insecurity is top priority.

“I hope we can do other things, but food is a basic human right,” she said. “No one should have to question that. When I go back to Palestine, they are literally scavenging for food and water. To know what it feels like to see children starve and to die from not having enough food, that’s not something we should accept.”

Espina agreed.

“(Food security) is so taboo that no one talks about it,” she said. “It’s like talking to a depressed person and saying ‘get over it.’ It’s very difficult to concentrate in school when you’re hungry.”

Bartow said she knows how it feels to struggle with nutrition.

“Food insecurity is not knowing when your next meal is,” she said. “For me, it was always choosing. Maybe I could afford the burrito, but not the drink. I was living in a motel at the time. Putting myself in that position, I know how hard it is for students. We focus so much about the academic part, we forget about their primary needs. We can have have a ton of programs, but if their needs aren’t being taken care of, they can’t be successful.”