Rural communities across the United States often face barriers to accessing healthy food, leading to elevated food insecurity and obesity-related health issues. Geographic and environmental challenges, high food costs, limited availability of healthy options, and low health literacy hinder informed nutritional decision-making. This study examined…

While early childhood educators' mental health is important, it may also affect the well-being and education of their students. Yet, little research has described the stress and stressors of early childhood educators (ECEs), particularly as the pandemic wanes. This pilot study aimed to (1) describe ECEs' psychological and physiological stress and…

Student well-being has emerged as a topic of considerable interest to researchers and educators. Recent work has sought to examine relationships between measures of student well-being and other constructs such as academic achievement, physical health, relationships with peers, and engagement in learning. Reading assessment and context…

Food insecurity affects every aspect of student development. Cultivating food security through education can be implemented through the culturization of food security in nature schools, and it is encouraged to be managed at the elementary level. Research relating to differences in the influence of nature school management on food security has not…

Free school meals provide support to vulnerable families in the Republic of Ireland. Funding is allocated as part of an anti-poverty strategy. An investigation was carried out to discover if the school meal could be used to provide nutritious scratch-cooked food as well as providing opportunities for increased socialisation and pedagogy. Food…

Addressing food, energy, and water issues through a systems approach is essential for Native American communities, where climate change, natural disasters, and pandemics further strain access to these vital resources. Tribal communities experience a disproportionate impact from these global crises, which heightens and exposes existing…

Campus surveys consistently demonstrate that roughly 40 percent of students surveyed report some food insecurity. As with the general population, poor students struggle to purchase sufficient and nutritious food. Data also show how family support, while protective against food insecurity, is no guarantee that students will eat well or eat enough.…

Purpose: College and university campuses serve as a vital test bed for sustainability solutions of various types. To date, though, campus sustainability efforts have focused more on the environmental and economic aspects of sustainability, with less attention to its social aspects. This paper aims to draw on a study of student food insecurity to…

Background: The closure of schools in response to COVID-19 compromised access to essential meals for many students. The Emergency Meals-to-You program, a public/private partnership, was set up to address this challenge. More than 38.7 million meals were delivered between April and August 2020. This study explores lessons learned and identifies…

In "Hood Feminism," Mikki Kendall critiques mainstream feminism arguing that the feminist movement does not focus on the basic needs of all women. Kendall defines feminism as "the work that you do, and the people you do it for who matter more than anything else" (Kendall, 2020, p.xiii). She focuses on the experiences of…

Unmet social determinants of health (SDOH) needs impact college students' general and mental health, however research is lacking in the cumulative impact of unmet SDOH needs. Utilizing a cross-sectional research design, researchers investigated SDOH, depression, and mental and general health with college students (N = 301). Thirty-seven percent of…

Community-university partnerships are increasingly being used to address complex, systemic problems, such as food insecurity. However, this form of research is highly labour intensive and requires substantial time and energy. Several community-university partnerships have begun to appoint individuals who act to 'bridge' such partnerships to…

Basic-needs insecurity is not a new hurdle, but one that is exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it was only recently that more institutions began identifying basic-needs insecurity--the lack of access to, or ability to pay for, adequate food and shelter--as a significant challenge keeping students from obtaining credentials, such…

This year, Newark Kids Count looks a bit different. Rather than a comprehensive data report, Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) will be releasing smaller "snapshots," showing the impact of the pandemic on children and families with data currently obtained that can provide some insight for stakeholders in Newark. This first data…

COVID-19 posed little danger to children. Nevertheless, the South African government imposed lockdown measures that impeded children's education, play and food. Schools were closed, feeding schemes were halted and organised sports were banned. In this study of South African children's experience during the 2020-22 pandemic, we use the capabilities…