Florida College Students Lean on Campus Food Pantries as Hunger-Free Campus Bills Stall and SNAP Stays Out of Reach

Students at Florida's public universities and colleges are increasingly relying on campus food pantries to get through the semester, as rising living costs squeeze budgets, federal SNAP benefits remain out of reach for most college students and state lawmakers have repeatedly failed to pass a "Hunger-Free Campus" program. A WUFT report published Nov. 14 found students at Florida A&M University, Florida State University, the University of Florida, the University of Central Florida, Santa Fe College and Valencia College skipping meals, stretching groceries and visiting pantries several times a week.

The demand is measurable. UF's Alan and Cathy Hitchcock Field & Fork Pantry recorded 32,167 visits during the 2025-26 academic year, according to WUFT. Santa Fe College's food share program in Gainesville reports that demand rises every fall and climbs again whenever SNAP benefits are cut.

Students describe skipped meals and long lines

Eleanor Ferrier, a 20-year-old music education senior at FAMU from Pensacola, visits the FAMU Food Pantry about twice a month. When heavy rain in Tallahassee in early August made her 30-minute electric-bike commute impossible, she posted an Amazon wish list on a Reddit assistance forum, and strangers filled it. "No one should be going hungry at all," she told WUFT. "As college students, we're not always going to want to tell people when we're struggling."

At FSU, meteorology junior Patrick Healy, 21, said his family earns too much for most need-based federal grants but cannot cover all his costs. He works at Walmart, eats cereal and snacks at home and pays the $12 dining hall entry fee two to four times a week. Marketing junior Bernard Coleman, 21, from Amelia Island, described "brain fog" and lightheadedness on days he has not eaten and said he uses the campus pantry several times a week.

At UF, wildlife ecology freshman Autumn Haggard, 19, of Jacksonville, earns minimum wage at a pet supply store and shops at Aldi, using the pantry to fill gaps and maintain a vegetarian diet "without having to worry about my bank account." William Bizotto dos Santos, a 28-year-old design graduate student from Brazil, arrives about 45 minutes before the UF pantry opens each Monday. He lives on a nine-month stipend, saves to cover the other three months and budgets $20 to $25 a week for groceries the pantry does not supply.

Why SNAP is out of reach

The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program largely excludes college students. Most students enrolled at least half-time cannot receive SNAP unless they qualify for an exemption, such as working at least 20 hours a week or holding a federal work-study job. International students like Bizotto dos Santos generally do not qualify at all.

Even students who might be eligible often never apply. A 2024 U.S. Government Accountability Office report found that about two-thirds of potentially eligible students were not receiving benefits. Healy told WUFT he has not applied because the paperwork and income verification are too burdensome on top of a full-time job and a full course load.

Nationally, about 23% of undergraduates experience food insecurity, according to the same GAO report. In Florida, roughly 1 in 6 residents face hunger, and the statewide food insecurity rate of 15.4% is slightly above the national rate, according to Feeding America. No research has measured hunger specifically among students in the Florida College System, WUFT reported.

Food costs are still rising. U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed food prices nationwide were 2.5% higher in September 2026 than a year earlier. Florida's public universities rank among the most affordable in the country on in-state tuition, but tuition is only part of what students pay.

Bills that keep dying in Tallahassee

Legislation to create a state Hunger-Free Campus program has been filed in several sessions without becoming law. The most recent versions would have created a pilot program rather than a full statewide effort:

The 2026 bill would have directed the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to create hunger task forces at the three state universities or colleges with the highest share of Pell Grant-eligible students. Those schools would have helped students enroll in SNAP and kept campus pantries stocked.

In 2023, the Board of Governors called the pilot redundant because most campuses already operate pantries, which contributed to the bill's death in committee, according to WUFT. Valdés, a Tampa lawmaker who switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in 2024, said UCF student government leaders first brought the issue to her. "When you're hungry, you cannot study, you cannot function," she told WUFT, adding that she had been unaware of how widespread the problem was.

How campuses are filling the gap

Without state money dedicated to the problem, pantries are adapting on their own. UCF's Knights Helping Knights Pantry in Orlando dropped the word "emergency" from its name and messaging after a UCF master's-level communication class found students viewed the pantry positively but were unlikely to use it because of its branding. The pantry now calls visitors "shoppers" instead of "customers" and has expanded outreach through tabling and club events, according to Jeannie Kiriwas, an associate director in UCF's dean of students office. The pantry is managed by Nancy Rubio, a 21-year-old public administration senior from Broward County.

At Santa Fe College, the Saints Food Share grew after receiving a U.S. Department of Education Basic Needs for Postsecondary Students grant and moved to an online system where students schedule pickups and choose items using points. "Now we're prioritizing client choice for the students," manager Brianna Shallenberger said.

Valencia College's Osceola campus in Kissimmee runs VCentials, a "market" whose name was chosen to reduce stigma. First-year accounting student Tahir Hamid, 18, a student leader there, hands out free food kits that include dumpling kits, juice boxes and raisins.

Why it matters for students

Research links hunger directly to academic outcomes. A 2023 study published through the National Library of Medicine found that food-insecure college students had higher stress, lower GPAs and a lower likelihood of graduating than their food-secure peers. Students interviewed by WUFT said stigma still keeps some classmates from asking for help.

What's next

Student advocates say they are not giving up on legislation. Natalie Gonzalez, a 22-year-old FSU master's student from Miami who led a group pushing the 2025 bill, said food insecurity ranks high in the student survey FSU uses to set its annual legislative priorities. "We have a lot of students who are still interested in it," she said. The 2027 regular session will give supporters another chance to file a Hunger-Free Campus bill, though previous versions have stalled in the budget committees that control new spending. Until then, campus pantries remain the main safety net for Florida students who cannot get SNAP.