Thousands of California university students are seeking help each month from food banks and free meal programs as higher tuition and living costs squeeze their meager budgets.
The issue is taking on more urgency as the University of California plans further tuition hikes, if state lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown decide against a UC request for millions more in state funding to cover operations.
For University of California student regent Sadia Saiffudin, the extreme hunger she sees today isn't the occasional empty-wallet experience that some remember from their college days.
Saiffudin said people use the term "starving student" lightly because they don’t realize how much of a harsh reality it is for many. "They weren’t the ones living out of their car or having to shower in the gym," she said.
Data aren't well kept on the number of students who go hungry. But Tim Galarneau, UC Santa Cruz food systems researcher, said organizations that track hunger in the United States have noticed “a significant rise of chronic to acute food insecurity for university and college students.”