There are ingredients to success in college; hard work, dedication, and something many students take for granted: food.
"I talked to many people on this campus that were food insecure," Texas Woman's University nutrition and food science student Alexandra Mack said. "So that's why I started working with Minerva's Market."
Minerva's Market in TWU's on-campus food pantry is located in the Hubbard Hall Student Union.
Mack used items that are commonly found on the shelves as inspiration for two cookbooks she wrote; Dorm Friendly Cooking, and Apartment Friendly Cooking.
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"The problem with a lot of cookbooks is there are just a lot of ingredients and you have to have a lot of different equipment," Mack said. "That's just not feasible for a lot of college students."
Mack says students who often have only a microwave for cooking, and little money to spend on ingredients were who she had in mind.
"I wanted to fully understand what students here who are food insecure were going through before I tried to create something like the cookbook or some kind of tool to help them," Mack said.
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A recent federal report estimates about 23% of college undergraduate students experience food insecurity. That's more than double the number of households in the general public.
"I'm talking about students who haven't had a meal in 3 days," Amy O'Keefe said.
O'Keefe is Executive Director of CARE at Texas Woman's University, which runs Minerva's Market. Donations from the Tarrant Area Food Bank and food drives help keep the pantry shelves stocked.
"Having visible spaces like this help increase awareness that college student hunger is a real thing," O'Keefe said. "If you're hungry, it's hard to concentrate. It's hard to study. You have to take care of that basic need first before you can achieve why you're even in college."
"A lot of people struggle with healthy eating, not necessarily because they don't want to eat healthy. It's just expensive," Mack said. "They don't have to do it all on their own."
