The ASUO senate approved a financial request from its executive counterpart at its Nov. 11 meeting, creating a new food security line item in the ASUO executive branch’s budget. The motion also affirmed its commitment to food security work, as the senate had requested in a resolution two weeks prior.
More recently, the senate published a means for student organizations to help fund that line item on Engage. Student organizations and department-based programs can fill out a form to return incidental fee funding in their food line item to the executive branch for food security work.
Since incidental fee money is allocated a year in advance, ASUO allocated funding to a number of organizations and departments for events — and food for those events — that they are now unable to host due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Related: ASUO looks to expand food security work on campus
ASUO’s Programs Finance Committee allocated more than $150,000 to various student organizations under food line items for the 2020-21 fiscal year, according to the ASUO budget book. In addition, the Department Finance Committee delegated just under $50,000 to food for the programs it works with. Although groups can transfer this money to other line items in their budget, if they don’t use the money it goes back to surplus just the same.
“Our thought process was, ‘Okay, well, what do we do with all this money that we’re getting back?’” said Senator Kyle Geffon, who heads the senate’s food security committee. “It was already going towards food, so it would make sense to try to keep it in that area.”
Although groups have only been able to return food money in this manner since the beginning of winter term, ASUO Vice President Semeredin Kundin said he hopes the executive branch can use the funding to quickly address food security needs on campus.
Normally, the executive branch finances food security work through the ASUO Street Faire. With COVID-19, however, it has had to cancel both the Faire’s fall and spring iterations.
Kundin and ASUO State Secretary Maya Ward also alluded to the possibility of drawing from the senate’s surplus to help students.
Related: ASUO Senate looks at options for abnormally large surplus
Kundin said the executive branch has been in touch with UO’s food security task force about how it can aid existing efforts. Part of that is using ASUO’s platform to promote and increase accessibility to existing food security programs like the Student Sustainability Center’s produce drops.
“One of our biggest goals within our administration is to provide more accessible programs and be transparent with our goals,” said Kundin. “We’re trying to do that with all of our varying projects” — including food security.
The executive branch can’t directly donate sums of money to support the task force per ASUO rules, but the executive hopes to provide fiscal support by purchasing needed items on the task force’s behalf, Ward said.
She said other efforts include helping the task force recruit student representatives. ASUO is also in conversations on how to support existing food security work with UO’s student food pantry, the Lylle Reynolds Parker Black Cultural Center and the Many Nations Longhouse — among other affinity groups.
In addition to supporting existing programs, Ward said the executive branch is also looking to start a self-sufficient food pantry for low income students.
Although the specifics of plans aren’t yet set in stone, both Ward and Kundin are hopeful about the food security support that ASUO will be able to provide — both immediately and in the long term.
“It’s a bad year, obviously,” Ward said, “but it’s a good year for food security momentum-wise. People seem really excited about it.”
