ADDRESSING BARRIERS TO FOOD ACCESS AMONG UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES: REDUCING STIGMA AND RAISING AWARENESS THROUGH A COMMUNITY-BASED PILOT INTERVENTION

Abstract

A significant portion of the global population experiences moderate to severe food insecurity, affecting individuals across cultures, regions, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The city of Fort Collins, Colorado is home to Colorado State University (CSU), which includes a large population of both university students and employees, making up a large proportion of the overall city population. While student food insecurity has been widely studied, there is far less research focused on the food insecurity of university employees. Evidence suggests that CSU employees, particularly those who are low-wage earners, primarily Spanish-speaking, or from historically marginalized communities, are at risk for food insecurity. Although CSU provides access to food through on-campus programs like the Rams Against Hunger (RAH) food pantry, employee utilization of the pantry remains relatively low compared to student usage. Given the need by campus partners to understand and address the barriers preventing employees from accessing available university resources, this study aimed to explore the barriers affecting food pantry utilization by CSU employees and examined if a community-specific nutrition intervention can address these barriers and lead to increased pantry utilization by CSU employees. In collaboration with CSU’s Basic Needs program, a multipart community-specific intervention was implemented during the fall 2024 semester to address perceived barriers to food pantry usage by decreasing stigma and increasing awareness among a sample population of CSU employees. A post intervention survey assessed the impact of the intervention on the perceived barriers. Results showed regular emails with intentional messaging, nutrition education and resources were the most impactful in addressing lack of awareness. Additionally, most survey responses voiced themes of increased awareness (68%) while 31% of responses were attributed to decreased stigma. Findings suggest that different methods of information dissemination, accessible nutrition education, and regular efforts that create a welcoming environment, could be helpfuliii strategies in addressing barriers to employee usage of university food pantries. However, further research is needed to explore additional nutrition-based strategies that integrate culturally relevant education, foster social connection, and offer sustainable support to improve food security among university employees.