Cats' Cupboard

About Cats' Cupboard

Cats' Cupboard Initiative is a collaborative effort among students, faculty, staff, and community focused on promoting food security at K-State. We provide direct food access through an on-campus food pantry, in addition to education and engagement opportunities. Cats' Cupboard is accessible to all K-State students and employees.

Cats' Cupboard Mission

Providing access to nutritious food and support through initiatives that promote health, success, and well-being.

Cats' Cupboard Vision

Our vision is to prevent food insecurity from being a barrier to student success. In order to do this, we build awareness and the capacity of our campus community to address this challenge from a holistic perspective. A pantry with healthy and accessible food is essential, but we do not limit our vision to operating the pantry. We strive to create ties with our academic programs as we provide an active learning place for many disciplines that work directly with the issue of food security. This collaborative effort of student life and academia will lead the way for practicing real change and enhancing K-State’s land-grant mission.

Guiding Principles

  1. WE believe access to nutritious food is a basic human right.
  2. WE respect the dignity of every human being.
  3. WE collaborate to effect change and support student success.
  4. WE practice good stewardship of knowledge and resources.

Evidence of Need

The American College Health Association - National College Health Assessment (NCHA) was administered in early Spring 2022. A total of 10,000 students were randomly selected from those students enrolled for Spring 2022 at the Manhattan campus. The final sample was 1,230 completed surveys for a 12.3% response rate. The ACHA-NCHA included a validated scale measuring food security, the US Household Food Security Module: Six-Item Short Form (2012) from the USDA Economic Research Service.

Data from the NCHA revealed the following regarding K-State students in Spring 2022:

  • 60.1% report high or marginal food security
  • 25.6% report low food security
  • 14.3% report very low food security

In other words, 39.9% or almost 40% of surveyed participants at K-State report food insecurity, consistent with national trends.