Author: Camden Rainwater | Major: Geology
My name is Camden Rainwater, and I am currently a senior at the Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences and am majoring in Geology with a minor in Sustainability. I plan to graduate in May 2022, and attend graduate school in the fall to further my study in environmental science. In the future, I hope to have a career that allows me to both spend time in the outdoors while also helping the world work toward a more environmentally friendly future!
This past semester, I worked with a team of five other students under the direction of Dr. Jennie Popp and Dr. Louise Hancox, both of whom work in the Honor’s College. Working with other teams at universities across the state of Arkansas, we attended weekly meetings over Zoom to study the causes, effects, hurdles, and possible solutions of food insecurity on both the national and state level. After expanding our knowledge on the issue, my team carefully crafted and sent out a campus-wide survey in order to identify the kinds of students who might be at risk of being food insecure. Our hope was that the information we learned could be used to better aid students and mitigate the effects of food insecurity on our campus.
I was first introduced to this project this past summer when I was recommended to Dr. Popp by my honors thesis advisor, Dr. Steve Boss. I was esteemed to have been recommended and intrigued when I heard the project would be regarding food insecurity in the state. Although I had no previous experience in this topic, I was eager to learn more about the issue because it has such a practical application in the real world. Through my sustainability studies, I was aware that food insecurity is a legitimate issue worldwide, even in developed countries like the United States. And because of its prevalence, food insecurity is something that can be combated pretty much anywhere, whether it’s on a large or small scale. So once I learned that our work would help to fight food insecurity on our campus, I was all in!
Through our Zoom meetings, we listened to have guest speakers who taught us both about the history of food insecurity in our country, as well as the current ways it is being countered. Some of these guest speakers included professors from other schools, current and former Arkansas legislators, and representatives from federal programs such as SNAP, which help provide nutrition assistance. I personally learned a lot of new information from these Zoom sessions; I didn’t realize how large of a problem food insecurity was in our nation alone, and I also learned more about what programs the government has in place to provide aid, as well as future plans that are currently being debated in our country’s legislature.
Using the information we learned in the larger Zoom discussions, my team set out to create a survey that we could use to poll our campus and figure what kind of students, undergrad and graduate, might be placed at a higher risk for being food insecure. We started by listing out different demographics that could help us better identify certain types of students. The demographics included race, gender, religion, sexuality, citizenship status, marital status, first-generation college student, Arkansas resident, disability status, and a few others. We also asked about students’ job status, as well as their housing situation. After drafting and revising our survey, it was approved by the U of A’s Institutional Review Board, and we built it online using the Qualtrics survey system. After it was sent out, our next step was to promote our survey and get a large number of participants in order to have an accurate sample size.
To promote our survey, we created a plan which focused on reaching students through Listservs, Greek Life, RSOs, campus Groupmes, and professors. In addition to these groups, there were a few miscellaneous campus organizations we contacted, and to provide an incentive for filling out the survey, we entered participants in a raffle for prizes that were donated from local businesses. We also advertised the survey on social media channels, primarily Instagram, and I was in charge of creating graphics that would be posted online and made into physical posters that we hung around campus. Finally, we tabled on campus to personally ask people to take our survey. This was arguably the most time-intensive part of our project because we wanted to reach out to as many groups as we could, but since the survey was only open for about a month, this phase was very condensed. We were also working with people outside of our team, so quick and effective communication was emphasized, and keeping up with all the different outreach channels was probably my biggest hurdle. However, Dr. Popp and Dr. Hancox helped keep our group organized through delegating tasks, and my teammates and I decided on jobs that fit each of our strengths.
Once the survey period was over, my team shifted our focus towards the analysis of our data. Our final survey count showed 2144 participants, about 7.7% of the roughly 28,00 students at the U of A. Qualtrics has an algorithm that automatically generates percentage data and allows for cross-referencing between questions, so Dr. Popp downloaded and organized the data for us, and we each chose cross-referenced questions to analyze, about 30 apiece. Our analysis yielded new information that will be considered when adjusting existing campus programs and implementing new ones that will aid students who are food insecure.
Overall, I am incredibly pleased that I was able to take part in this study of food insecurity this semester. Not only was I able to expand my view on this issue, but both my mentors and the other students on my team were a joy to work with! My hope is that our work these past few months will lay the groundwork for everyone in our campus community to have a brighter and healthier future!