University addresses food insecurity with pilot meal plans

“Dear Columbia College,

Yes, we actually did some shit. Hopefully it works.”

That’s how Ben Makansi and Viv Ramakrishnan, president and vp of policy for Columbia College Student Council (CCSC) at Columbia University in Manhattan, began their first college-wide email of the academic year.

The email went on to announce the university’s pilot plan for addressing student hunger — or “food insecurity” — on campus.

Collaborating with senior administrators, Columbia’s First-Generation Low-Income Partnership (FLIP) and other students, CCSC presented two strategies for dealing with food insecurity: the Emergency Meal Fund and a new app called Swipes.

At Columbia, students use their IDs to “swipe” for meals at any of the three, buffet-style dining halls. Students may purchase meal plans with a maximum of 21 swipes per week, with unused swipes expiring at the end of each week.

Through the Emergency Meal Fund, students who have more meals than they think they will use can now donate up to six meals a semester to someone hungry, while students who need meals may receive up to six meal vouchers a semester, “no questions asked,” according to Makansi.

The student-developed “Swipes” app, released Sept. 20, also aims to match students who need dining hall meals with students who have extra.

Two Columbia College sophomores, Julio Henriquez and Helson Taveras, began developing the app in mid-July, with Henriquez managing business strategy while Taveras focused on coding. The two say they were inspired by the CU Meal Share Facebook group, which was created by FLIP to help students in need of meals to find free food on campus or connect with students with extra swipes.

“We’re low-income students ourselves,” explains Taveras.

“We’re fortunate enough that we’re not in this position now, but we can see it happening,” says Henriquez. “We got a lot out of (developing the app) because we learned so much, and we also get to have an impact that’s really, really satisfying.”