‘I just want to live a normal college student life’: Student Government report finds one-third of UT-Austin students are food insecure

Going out to eat with friends is not a decision Maria said she gets to make anymore — she can’t afford it. Instead, she’s had to choose between purchasing textbooks or buying groceries. Maria is a part of the 32% of UT students surveyed who are food insecure, according to a report released by Student Government’s Food Insecurity Action Team at the end of the spring semester. The report found that the rate of food insecurity at UT is over three times higher than the national average of 10.5%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.