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A Plate at The Table: Student Stories & Recommendations Regarding Hunger and Basic Needs Insecurity

The UC Student Association considers food security, affordable housing, and readily available, culturally competent mental health services all to be basic needs of students pursuing a degree at the University of California. A recent study by the University of California Global Food Initiative found that 19% of student respondents had very low food security, while another 23% were considered to have low food security, as defined by the USDA. Further, the study showed that the prevalence of undergraduate students systemwide who faced a reduced quality of diet or reduced food intake was 49%. The report concedes that food insecurity has the “potential to widen disparities in students academic achievement, overall health, and future success.” The UC Global Food Initiative survey did not examine the relationship between student food insecurity and time to graduate or failure to graduate. It also fails to capture those students who have already left the UC system because of a lack of basic needs.

Read the report, “A Plate At The Table”.

As Executive Director, Salih leads our staff team and organizational strategy, keeps the UCSA office in operation, supports the Board and other student leaders, and fundraises to maximize the potential of our organization. Salih also oversees planning for UCSA’s annual statewide conferences.

 

Raised in Oakland, California, Salih Muhammad strives to embody the principles of service, sacrifice, and selflessness. For much of his life, he has been committed to living toward the liberation of Black people, at home and abroad.

 

In 2009, he continued the pursuit of knowledge at the University of California, Berkeley, where he excelled as a Black student and organizer on campus. His favorite quote is from Franz Fanon, who stated, “Each generation must discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it, in relative opacity.”