The Joy of Food

Kat Cowley, UM Food Pantry founder and Director of Bear Necessities, sees clearly that food should be about more than staying alive or getting by.

“Hunger is absolutely not a rite of passage for college students,” she told me when I visited the Pantry.

“My mom taught me my whole life that food is love and food is an expression of joy. For folks on really limited income or tight budget, the first thing that goes out the window — oh, I'm just gonna eat rice this week because that's what I can afford. So what we hope to do in the food pantry, and the reason we operate on the choice-based model is that students can come in not only pick up food to make sure their nutritional needs are met, but also find a way to experience joy through food…Whether that's sharing their culture with their roommates or their loved ones, or learning about a new recipe, or trying delicata squash for the first time.”

The PEAS Farm partnered with the UM Food Pantry two years ago, and have become their most abundant source of fresh food. It has been a wonderful connection for the Food Pantry, but also for the students who take classes and grow food at the PEAS Farm. They get to see how and why the food is grown, and see it in action at their university, too. Since the Food Pantry opened 4 years ago, we’ve lived through a pandemic, and are in the midst of a housing and cost of living crisis. They’re users per month have gone from maybe 20 to over 300.

Watch the video to hear more from Kat about the impact local food makes at the UM Food Pantry.