Between the hustle and bustle of a busy schedule, one will often find students chatting with classmates in Starbucks, the dining hall, Atherton Market or Butler Brew. However, many may be unaware of another dining option on campus — the Butler Food Pantry.
Designed as a resource for all students no matter their level of income, the food pantry is stocked with a wide assortment of useful products. Mac and cheese cups, pasta and pasta sauce, beef jerky sticks and more are available for free, resting on neatly stocked shelves maintained by the students of the Volunteer Opportunities Council (VOC).
Junior biology major Lucas Drew is the food pantry special operations coordinator. During a typical shift, Drew can be found restocking shelves or writing grocery lists for the food pantry’s next Costco run.
Drew emphasized that the food pantry is a resource for all Butler students, regardless of their background.
“It’s available to every student and not just those who might lack the financial resources to actually go out and get groceries, or lack cars or access to affordable food,” Drew said. “We are here for everyone, including the people that can go and just want to get free food … I think a lot of people that I’ve talked to about the food pantry view it as taking from people in need, and it’s not that. A lot of this food ends up not being used otherwise, so it’s better if more people use it than none.”
Experts at the College and University Food Bank Alliance (CUFBA), along with other organizations, deemed food insecurity a “hidden epidemic” on college campuses. Prior to the pandemic, CUFBA found that 22% of respondents to their survey experienced the lowest levels of food insecurity. In a post-pandemic survey, The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs discovered their number was higher, with 41% of college students reporting they had experienced some form of food insecurity.
Other food pantry staff mentioned they have noticed the impact. Oyinda Solanke, a sophomore political science and strategic communication double major, also works for the food pantry and is the civic engagement coordinator for VOC. Solanke described the influence of the food pantry on the populations that it serves.
“I’ve just seen it become a routine for lots of commuter students, which I think is really great,” Solanke said. “[There are] snack options between classes since they have the center down here in the building, so I think it’s really great for them, especially, and also just students that don’t live too close to their parents or have access to go to a grocery store. You can always just come grab snacks and stock up your dorm.”
While food is the main attraction, the pantry is also stocked with hygiene products and utensils. Student workers said they note down any requests as they work, ensuring that the needs of those they serve are readily met. In addition, the pantry offers meal vouchers for students who request them.
Sophomore neuroscience major Grace Krejci expressed a desire to lessen the stigma on campus around using the food pantry.
“There’s nothing to be ashamed about — like, I use the food pantry,” Krejci said. “I recently went gluten-free, so the food pantry has been really good for getting snacks that I know are gluten-free.”
According to Drew, the food pantry is also looking to expand its products to have a refrigerated section sometime in the near future. With this new option for food storage, the pantry will be better suited for a wider variety of products.
Drew added that the food pantry has opened his eyes to just what a pantry means, even on a small scale.
“The people that do come in, I’m on a first-name basis with,” Drew said. “It just opened me up to understanding why food pantries really work as well as they do, and the social aspect as much as the actual food aspect.”
The Butler Food Pantry is located on the third floor of Atherton Union. It is open from 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Friday and is closed on the weekends.