For some students, a grocery run is just another Sunday chore. For many others, it’s a source of anxiety and impossible choices. The skyrocketing cost of groceries is national news, but for students at UNC-Chapel Hill, it’s not just a headline—it’s an everyday burden that impacts their health, academics, and futures.
At a top-five public university, Tar Heel pride runs deep. But beneath the surface, hunger is a daily reality. Local nonprofit PORCH estimates that 25 percent of UNC undergrads face food insecurity, a staggering number that comes into sharper focus when you consider that North Carolina ranks 12th in the nation for highest average grocery costs for college students: $307 a month. For a student earning minimum wage, covering that bill alone requires over 42 hours of work per month—impossible when balancing tuition, rent, books, and basic survival.
This isn’t just about empty stomachs; it’s about empty classrooms and unfulfilled potential. Students who are food insecure are 43 percent less likely to graduate. Hunger affects concentration, memory, and energy levels, while increasing risks for chronic health issues, depression, and anxiety. If we want young people to succeed, they need access to nutrition, not a daily fight to afford it.
UNC has taken small steps to address student hunger through promoting student-run initiatives like the Carolina Cupboard food pantry and limited emergency meal swipes. But these efforts, while well-intentioned, are Band-Aids on a gaping wound. The Carolina Cupboard’s offerings are mostly canned goods, inaccessible for students without kitchens, and the pantry is closed on weekends and breaks—when many students need it most. This past semester’s announcement of a new meal-swipe donation program is promising, but limiting donations to one swipe per student falls short of the real need. If every undergrad donated one swipe, food-insecure students would receive only five swipes each—barely a week’s worth of meals.
One of us is cofounder of the Chapel Hill Community Fridge and has seen firsthand how hard it is to get food to students who need it. The fridge, which recovers prepared and fresh food that would otherwise be wasted from local restaurants, faced unnecessary roadblocks from university bureaucracy. Carolina Dining Services refused to allow recovered dining hall food to be redistributed through our fridge, prioritizing rigid partnerships over hungry students. Bureaucracy should never stand in the way of feeding people.
Government aid isn’t a solution either. Most college students are excluded from SNAP (food stamps), and for those who qualify, the benefit barely stretches to $3 per meal. Meanwhile, grocery prices continue to climb, pushing students further into impossible trade-offs between food, rent, and tuition.
The rising cost of groceries is more than an inconvenience; it is a structural barrier that keeps low-income students from succeeding. Universities and policymakers can change this. UNC could implement a meaningful, flexible meal-swipe sharing program, modeled after the University of Iowa, allowing students with excess swipes to donate them freely. Expanding grocery options near campus could reduce prices through competition, and legislators should broaden SNAP eligibility so students aren’t forced to choose between staying in school or staying fed.
Young people are our future, but we’re failing them if we let them go hungry while pursuing their education. The cost of groceries shouldn’t be a reason students drop out or go to bed hungry. If we truly care about supporting the next generation, it’s time to address the hidden hunger crisis on our campuses—and ensure that every student has the nourishment they need to build a better future for themselves and for all of us.
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