Trojan Food Pantry remains closed due to understaffing

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the Trojan Food Pantry provided food, non-perishable items and other necessities to students facing resource insecurity. But this year, the pantry has remained closed.

The Trojan Food Pantry operated through Student Basic Needs, a department of USC Student Equity and Inclusion Programs at Student Affairs. Located in King Hall, the food pantry was available for students to access during weekdays.

Hunter Hinson, a senator and chair of the Affordability and Basic Needs Committee in the Undergraduate Student Government, communicates the needs of students to Student Basic Needs. According to Hinson, a combination of logistical factors  caused the pantry to remain out of operation.

“There were a lot of issues logistically with the food pantry in the past,” said Hinson, a junior majoring in political science and communication. “And that’s because it’s such a difficult endeavor. Imagine providing food to a large population — it’s not very easy.”

The pandemic also contributed Trojan Food Pantry’s closure, said Sen. Nivea Krishnan, a sophomore majoring in public policy and economics, because no one was available to operate the program.

Staffing also prevented the Trojan Food Pantry from reopening. At the moment, Student Basic Needs only has two full time employees who manage all of its programs, according to Hinson and Krishnan.

“[Student Basic Needs] is in the middle of trying to grow their staff,” Krishnan said. “Once they do that, they’ll have a lot more capacity. We just feel really bad because even though we’re in student government, there’s not much we can do on the hiring front.”

The pantry’s origins date back to 2016 when Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences professor Leo Braudy and his wife Dorothy Braudy donated money to fund a pilot food pantry project on campus as a way to help students. Over the next few years, the Braudys met with various groups on campus — from the USC head chef to USG to the Provost — and the pantry expanded, eventually moving into its former location near Parkside. 

With the coronavirus shutdown, the Braudys said they wondered what happened to the food pantry.

“We hope that [the pantry] opens up and that it continues to serve that kind of function that it served before,” Leo said.

Dorothy said the food pantry is a “necessary function” on campus. 

“It’s insane not to have everyone on campus well-fed,” she said. “It’s ridiculous.”

Despite the food pantry’s closure, local resources such as CalFresh are available for USC students, Senior Director of Student Equity and Inclusion Programs Naddia Palacios wrote in a statement to the Daily Trojan. Palacios said renovations to King’s Hall are scheduled to be completed in 2022.

“While the physical Trojan Food Pantry has been closed since the beginning of the pandemic, Student Basic Needs is providing resources for all students in the same ways it has been since March 2020,” Palacios wrote. “For example, instead of picking up groceries at the food pantry, Student Basic Needs is providing food resources in other ways, such as referring students to community programs focused on reducing food insecurity, connecting students to any available campus options, promoting local food pantries and facilitating access to the state’s CalFresh Program.”

Hinson said he is working with USG and Student Basic Needs to provide transportation for students to food pantries, as most operate outside of the hours of USC’s free Lyft service from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. 

“I’ve spoken to a few senators to try and see what we can do about the Fryft situation,”  Hinson said. “[We’ll] try and establish some meetings with USC transportation or other members of the university to see if there could be some sort of setup where certain students who are food insecure or need easy transportation within the Fryft zone at other times of the day besides nighttime are able to have that.” 

While the Trojan Food Pantry’s future remains uncertain, Krishnan said USG is working on helping students with other costs including housing, textbook and technology costs.

“We’re trying to address other mutual aid projects just because we don’t want to reinvent the wheel when there’s already something out there and we’re just waiting for it to get back up and running,” Krishnan said.