Food Systems & Security Survey
From the minds of over 50 participating Binghamton University students, this small survey conducted through the Qualtrics Survey Service provides important insight into the student body's perspective of the campus's food system and how it supports and combats food insecurity. The survey was taken in the semester of Fall 2023 and featured 13 questions that focused on understanding student's experiences and relationship with food and their opinions on the current campus meal plan.
Survey Questions
Survey questions and their most popular and least popular answers, count, and average.
1. About how often in a month do you purchase food off campus? (Fast food, groceries, etc.)
ONCE A WEEK NEVER
2. Where do you typically get food on campus?
MARKETPLACE OTHER
3. Have you skipped meals due to financial concerns or other factors? (If so, please list it out.)
YES: 22
NO: 33
4. You feel pressured to eat less when you have a budget constraint?
SOMEWHAT AGREE SOMEWHAT DISAGREE
5. If your meal plan runs out of money how likely are you to add more money or replenish it?
SOMEWHAT LIKELY NEUTRAL
6. How do you feel about the current meal plan system on a scale of 1-10?
4.3
7. Which factor do you prioritize the most when choosing what you are going to eat on a typical day: finances, health, desired taste/preferences, religion, or something else?
DESIRED TASTE/PREFERNCE
RELIGIOUS/
CULTURAL/OTHER
8. Do you have access to healthy/organic food?
SOMEWHAT ADEQUATE EXTREMELY ADEQUATE
9. When you are purchasing healthier foods from the dining hall, do you find them to be more, less, or just as expensive as other foods?
MUCH MORE MUCH LESS
10. Do you feel that you have to trade nutritional value/quality of food for the sake of eating enough to get through the day?
SOMEWHAT AGREE
STRONGLY DISAGREE
11. Are you aware of any food assistance programs on campus? If so, please list them.
YES: 31
N0: 22
12. Do you feel you have adequate access to food?
EXTREMELY ADEQUATE
NEUTRAL
13. Do you feel that you are following a healthy schedule of eating meals?
PROBABLY YES
DEFINITELY YES
Significant Findings
13. Do you feel that you are following a healthy schedule of eating meals?
10. Do you feel that you have to trade nutritional value/quality of food for the sake of eating enough to get through the day?
9. When you are purchasing healthier foods from the dining hall, do you find them to be more, less, or just as expensive as other foods?
Importance
While the findings showed a large proportion of students who are not experiencing characteristics associated with food insecurity, as seen in the figures, there is an equally large proportion that do. With these results it is ultimately important to remember that food insecurity is episodic and has no face for each student who experiences it.
Full Survey Results
