Join us for this conversation with Nina Mukerjee Furstenau to explore food through themes of history, culture, and community. Nina Mukerjee Furstenau is a celebrated journalist, author, and editor of the FoodStory book series. She was a Fulbright Global research scholar, is on the board of directors for Media for Change, and has won the MFK Fisher Book Award, the Grand Prize Award for Culture/Culinary Writing from Les Dames d'Escoffier International, and a Kansas Notable Book award.

Over the past decade, the impact of poor access to food on student wellbeing and academic performance has become a growing concern at institutions of higher education across the U.S. This presentation will explore the results from the 2021 food access survey at Virginia Tech. The survey was sent to 35,337 undergraduate and graduate students on all university campuses and built on a prior food access study completed in 2019, with additional questions covering student wellbeing and housing security. A total of 2,116 complete responses were received, for a 6% response rate. This presentation will explore the important socio demographic correlates of food insecurity and interpret these findings through the lens of 176 written comments provided by students. Recommendations for further enhancing student awareness and access to food, housing, and mental health services will be discussed.