Riley Cudahy organizes food at the Student Produce Drop. The produce drop happens every Tuesday from 3:00–5:00 p.m. Free for students. (Kai Kanzer/Emerald)

UPDATE as of Nov. 28, 12:34 p.m.:

Angela Seydel, a UO spokesperson, said that the Ducks Feeding Ducks is not part of the Basic Needs Program. Seydel said there is criteria for students to apply for DFD, which can be found here.

The photo used in this article features the Trillium Plus Produce Drop, not the Basic Needs or Ducks Feeding Ducks program. The Trillium Plus Produce Drop is run through UO’s Sustainability Center in the EMU.

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The University of Oregon supplies resources to UO students experiencing food shortages through the Basic Needs Program. The Ducks Feeding Ducks project, which is operated at the EMU, supports UO students by supplying them with $12 in Duck Bucks up to twice per term.
Ducks Feedings Ducks provides a safe avenue to students who are out of meal points or low in funds. With a $12 transfer of Duck Bucks, students can purchase meals on campus.

“Students aren’t eating. One of their basic needs are not being met, which is harming our students more,” Emmally Evans, Ducks Feeding Ducks program manager,  said. “It [Duck Feeding Ducks] is an essential support system that students are receiving now.”
In October, the program increased their original transfer of $10 once per term to two transfers of $12 per term. According to Evans, the program got criticism with respect to the transfer amount, therefore, they adjusted the amount by $2.
“We were aware that $10 was not working, so we’ve been working at managing our budget and trying to get donations up,” Evans said “The hope is that now that there is $12, while it’s only still a $2 increase, that it is more accessible for more places and more amounts that they can purchase on campus.”
Ducks Feeding Ducks is dependent heavily on student and community donations. However, they also receive an annual sum from the university. Consequently, funds are set in view of the ongoing budget.
“It [transfer raise] is a matter of ‘What does our funding look like?’ [and] ‘Will we have more donations coming that will make that possible?’ We are working with what we got,” Evans said.
While UO students are encouraged to donate to the program, they aren’t able to help fellow individuals by donating their spare meal points.
“When it comes to meal plans and with Duck Feeding Ducks, those are two separate entities. They are operated under different systems,” Evans said. “That is not something we can currently do, but something that has been looked into in the past.”
Evans explained the dining points is a service through UO Housing, while the Ducks Bucks is a card service through ID Card Services. Therefore a donation of meal points is not currently possible, because UO Housing and ID Card Services are two separate bodies.
Evans said the program acknowledges the excessive costs of food on campus and understands that $12 can only go so far. However, “we don’t have unlimited funding,” Evans said.
“Depending how you’re choosing to use that [$12] and where you’re choosing to use it [$12], there could be spots where you could get a meal out of it [$12] or you could get supplies too,” said Evans.
Although there are abundant resources for students through the Basic Needs Program, there are currently no funding resources for faculty.
“All of our funding is for students,” Julia Morrill, Director of Basic Needs and Off Campus Community Support, said. “Our program and all of our subsidies are paid by student fees, so it’s a really important distinction that we are serving students,” she said.
Many students who have a devotion to helping others with food needs are in support of the Ducks Feeding Ducks program.
“It is [Ducks Feeding Ducks] definitely something positive for the students, especially for people that don’t live on campus and who have the food plan,” said Dora Schmidt, a UO student and Trillium Produce Plus Produce Drop volunteer. “It’s a big passion of mine to get people fed.”
Trillium Plus Produce is another food scarcity resource via the Basic Needs program.
“There’s an opportunity for each individual person to make an impact on another person,” Morrill said.