Creating a Sense of

Belonging Through Food

Justice
NEDRALANI LOGOTALA, BA, M.Ed (candidate)
PROGRAM SUPPORT SUPERVISOR
CENTER FOR EQUITY AND INCLUSION, UW TACOMA

CHRISTINE A STEVENS PHD

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON TACOMA

PLEASE SILENCE ALL PHONES AND DEVICES.

Land Acknowledgement

Puyallup Tribal Lushootseed Land Acknowledgement

Community Agreements

Share only what you feel

comfortable sharing

If you are using a camera, please Utilize chat

keep it on when possible box for Q&A

Please mute *6 to Raise hand to

mic when not mute/unmute join the
speaking on phone conversation
INTRODUCTIONS AND ROLES
Nedralani Logotala (she/her)
Student Retention and Community Development
Specialist
Center for Equity and Inclusion, UW Tacoma
mailon@uw.edu

Christine A. Stevens, Ph.D. (she/her)

Associate Professor
School of Nursing & Healthcare Leadership, UW
Tacoma
cstevens@uw.edu
WHAT IS FOOD JUSTICE ON COLLEGE
CAMPUS?
Food justice
Food security
Democratic control over food system
“communities rather than corporations make decisions regarding the
food system”

Carter, C (2021) The Spirit of Soul Food: Race, Faith, & Food Justice
HISTORY OF THE UW TACOMA PANTRY
Administration at the time did not feel
we had the need for a pantry. “if they
cannot afford food, then maybe they
do not belong”

The Center for Equity and Inclusion

• Saw the value of providing basic needs

Shifting the language from charity

to food justice
UW TACOMA IS A FOOD DESERT
> Commuter campus with no cafeteria

> No affordable healthy options near

campus

> One store on campus is expensive

> No halal options near campus

> Student orientation or student events

• Cultural foods are not considered
 UNIVERSAL DECLARATION
OF HUMAN RIGHTS
• The right to food is a human right recognized by
international human rights law.
• “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
recognizes: “Everyone has the right to a
standard of living adequate for the health and
well-being of himself and of his family, including
food,...”
• The right to adequate food is realized when
every man, woman and child, alone or in
community with others, has physical and
economic access at all times to adequate food or
means for its procurement.
 ELEMENTS FOR RIGHT TO FOOD
Food must be available, accessible, and adequate
Available Accessible Adequate
• Available from natural • Economic • Satisfy dietary needs
resources accessibility means
that food must be • Energy-dense and
• Food should be affordable low nutrient, which
available for sale in can contribute to
markets and shops • Without compromising obesity
other basic needs
• Cultural traditions of • Culturally acceptable
the people • Physical access
 MYTHS

The denial of the

right to food is NOT
a result of a lack of
food in the world…
 FOOD PRODUCTION: DISTRIBUTION
Attitude towards food
• Food is treated as a commodity and not a nutrient

• Those who can afford to buy food or grow their own do not go hungry

• The world’s poor become

increasingly unable to afford either
to grow their own crops or to
buy enough food
CREATING A SENSE OF BELONGING

• Sense of belonging is not a marketing strategy!

• Sense of belonging is not about having students fit in
• Creating a space and service that welcomes you as
you are in all your identities.

• Create the space that you want that will meet your needs.
• Research on food justice
• Student focus groups with grant

Underlying message:
You don’t have to leave your culture at the doors of the institution.
 RESPONSES FROM
CULTURAL FOOD RESEARCH
One participant echoed many times during
the focus group: “I cannot believe that you
are even asking this question…this
question about foods that remind me of
home…makes me feel seen.”

“Spices are expensive and I cannot afford

them but if I had spices so I could have the
taste and smell of home…it would change
how I would feel about the food.”
 BREAKOUT GROUP DISCUSSION

•Please split up in groups 4-5 people

•Each group will have 10 minutes to discuss the prompt.

Define Sense of belonging

Share about ways your campus is creating a sense of belonging through food justice

What are ways that you promote food justice on your campus?

Consider, are we asking students to fit in and leave their culture at the door or are we creating a space
for students to explore and express their whole selves?
UWT PANTRY BACKGROUND
Established: March 2016

Mission: The Pantry aims to ensure that all students have access to healthy
food and basic need items. We serve a diverse student population, which
calls for services that can best fit their needs. We provide culturally relevant
food items to foster a sense of belonging. We continue to consult with
students on food item suggestions to ensure their voices are being heard.

Values: Community – Advocacy – Social Justice – Cultural Humility –

Accountability - Joy
UW TACOMA
PANTRY OPERATIONS
• Pantry is staffed by student employees funded through SAFC
• Operation hours: Monday – Friday | 9:00am-5:00pm
• Available for in-person shopping only | discontinued deliveries and pre-orders
• Available to all current UWT students
• What can students receive?
• Food | perishable and non-perishables
• Hygiene Products including baby products
• Budget – no state budgets allocated
• Funded by donations and grants
• Several campus community members are
enrolled in payroll deductions
 UW TACOMA STUDENT POPULATION
5,040 Students

36% experience food 93% of students are from WA state

insecurity (2019)
77% are from the “South Sound” region
48% experience food 8/10 alumni remain in WA
insecurity (2020) post-graduation

56% 39.6% of full-time 34%

st
1 -Gen 65% students undergraduates underrepresented
college students of color received need-based aid minorities
APPLYING A SENSE OF BELONGING TO
FOOD PANTRIES ON CAMPUS
• Customer Service
• Combining programming, cultural values, and
education around food insecurity
• Nourish Pierce County – farm that grows
cultural foods
• Giving Garden – fresh fruits and vegetables
• Greenhouse produce
• Gateway into accessing other resources for basic needs
• Cultural foods (Halal, etc) offered and available
 DURING THE PANDEMIC
• How to access food?
• Pre-packaged bag options available for pick-up
• Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, kosher, omnivore

• Additional food option: halal food

• Student focus group: Muslim Student Association

• Deliveries to students living within 30 miles of campus

• Volunteers – pilot program with AT&T
• UW Tacoma staff and faculty
BREAKOUT GROUP DISCUSSION

• Please split up in groups 4-5 people

• Each group will have 10 minutes to discuss the prompt.

We know you here have made transitions and shifts during the
pandemic.
• How did you encourage a sense of belonging for students during the
pandemic?
• What changes have you made that you think you will continue in the
future?
PARTNERSHIPS
Community Partners Campus Partners

1. Nourish Pierce County 1. West Coast Grocery – Costco food

2. Farmers Market orders
3. Food Preservation 2. The Giving Garden – Fresh fruits
and vegetables
4. Dress for Less
3. The Office of Student Advocacy
5. Northwest Harvest
and Support – Provides other wrap
around services and/or basic
needs
4. First-Generation Initiatives -
Breakfast for Finals
PARTNERSHIP WITH NOURISH PIERCE COUNTY
• Learn the ethnic demographics of users at UW Tacoma Pantry and
Pierce County Community Food Banks
• Document requested culturally relevant foods
• Increase access to cultural foods for all of community colleges and
universities in Pierce County
• Use this data to revise intake forms used by Nourish pantries and UW
Tacoma Pantry to target food and signage
• Share this information with local farmers and food suppliers to
increase the availability of culturally relevant foods to communities
utilizing food justice services.
NEXT STEPS
• Areas we hope to explore more
• SNAPS benefit workshop
• Volunteer system to pick up and deliver food
• Support for basic needs initiatives for transition from high
school to college
• Extend hours of Pantry operations
• A hub for basic needs - wrap around services
• Support for staff and faculty who may be experiencing food
insecurity
FINAL REMARKS
• Takeaways
• Rates of food
insecure students
are rising
• Cost of housing is
rising
• Sense of belonging
can be considered
in basic need
services
STAY IN TOUCH
Nedralani Logotala (she/her)
Student Retention and Community Development
Specialist
Center for Equity and Inclusion, UW Tacoma
mailon@uw.edu

Christine A. Stevens, Ph.D. (she/her)

Associate Professor
School of Nursing & Healthcare Leadership, UW
Tacoma
cstevens@uw.edu