With grocery store prices increasing at record highs, college students are finding new ways to make dollars stretch to fill their pantries.
Inflation is decreasing but food prices are still high. The annual inflation rate fell from 7.1% in Nov. 2022 to 6.5% in Dec. 2022, according to Market Watch.
The cost of food is only expected to continue increasing. For 2023, USDA predicts a 3.5 to 4.5 percent increase in all foodstuffs, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A full 2023 prediction for food cost changes will be released on Jan. 25.
College students have cooked at home as a cost-effective alternative to university meal plans. Now, both options are expensive to do regularly.
“Without my parent’s help, I wouldn’t be able to do it,” student Thomas Gardner said. “Even with them, it’s still way too much money that I can’t afford to spend every week or every other week. I scrape whatever food I can together.”
With the price of basic food necessities on the rise, many students have made changes to their grocery shopping routines to help save funds.
“I try to ration what I have to the very best of my ability,” student DJ Lyles said. “I also try to plan when I go to the store so I’m more conservative with my items.”
According to Reader’s Digest, Wednesday mornings are usually the best times to hit the aisles. Markdowns of products are more likely to be available then, and crowds aren’t as packed.
Some students, however, have not been affected by the inflation of grocery store prices.
“Honestly, I didn’t notice that grocery prices went up until I saw it on TikTok and some news articles,” student Solange Aniekwu said. “Everything seemed to stay the same at my grocery store or it didn’t go up enough for me to really notice. My grocery purchasing habits didn’t change.”
Students at KSU can take advantage of the many resources offered for food. KSU Campus Awareness, Resource & Empowerment is a program that supports KSU students and the community. Their campus pantry provides food to “ANY KSU student experiencing food insecurity.”
There are bins around both campuses for people to donate food. They can be found on the Kennesaw campus in the: Carmichael Student Center, 2nd floor in Scrappy’s Rotunda, Kennesaw Hall on the 2nd-floor landing near the elevators, Social Sciences Building on the 1st floor near the main elevators, Prillaman Hall on the 1st floor South elevators and Town Pointe on the 1st floor near the main elevators.
On the Marietta campus, there is a bin in Building B in the Enrollment Customer Service Center.
KSU Cares also partners with MUST Ministries regularly by hosting a mobile pantry that has free groceries for KSU students, faculty and staff. The next pop-up pantry event is on Feb. 7. Registration is available on Owl Life.
Students can get more information about KSU Cares by emailing: careservices@kennesaw.edu.
