Students Tackle Food Insecurity with Digital Cookbook

UNC Charlotte’s student American Marketing Association (AMA) chapter is raising awareness for food insecurity among college students through a new recipe book.

The digital book, “Easy Affordable Recipes for Everyone,” offers easy, affordable meals for students, including chicken pesto pasta, sweet potato quinoa bowl, and avocado fried egg bagel.

Taylor Gantt, AMA vice president of marketing and a senior communication studies major from Statesville, said the organization decided to take on food insecurity as its fall social impact project because the issue resonated with so many students. They contacted the Jamil Niner Student Pantry and came up with digital recipe book idea.

Taylor, who transferred to Charlotte from the University of Alabama, said food insecurity became real for her early in her college career, when she was away from home and faced tough decisions about balancing a tight budget and eating healthy.

“The phrase ‘broke college student’ is not something to laugh about, especially when considering the health and wellbeing of students who are unable to afford basic necessities, such as food,” Gantt said.

Gantt worked on the project with Mallory Dewhurst, Destiny Faggart, Brittney Graff, Taylor Myatt and Victoria Torres.

“In the future, we really hope to continue this recipe book and potentially reach more students,” said Torres, AMA vice president and a senior double majoring in marketing and communications mass media from Concord. “Our goal is to bring awareness to food insecurity for years to come.”

The digital recipe book is just one way AMA is raising awareness for food insecurity.

Gantt and Dewhurst, a junior marketing major originally from Lutz, Florida, also recently co-authored a Niblock Student Center blog article to highlight the issue.

The student organization also supported a food drive for the food pantry as part of UNC Charlotte’s Giving Tuesday, the global day of giving. The student pantry which serves Charlotte students, is still experiencing an elevated need, serving around 215 clients per week, according to its website.

AMA is one of 16 business-focused student organizations on campus. The faculty advisor for the organization is Cindy Fox, a lecturer in the Belk College’s Department of Marketing. Fox also is tackling food insecurity this semester in her Marketing Strategy classes, with a focus on identifying solutions for food deserts in Charlotte.

Victoria Torres (left) and Taylor Gantt with some of the items collected during a food drive for the the Jamil Niner Student Pantry.