This year, ASUO’s executive team intends on improving many of the food security initiatives around campus. Through advocacy and improvements, the team made it a point within the Fulfilment of Duties document to try and grow different sections of already established programs.

After a president is elected to ASUO’s executive branch they must publish a document called a “Fulfilment of Duties;” as stated in the ASUO constitution. This document is meant to outline what the president of the executive branch intends to work on during the year they are in office.

This year, President Sabinna Pierre published a Fulfilment of Duties that outlined plans to address issues such as tuition engagement, mental health, and food insecurity on-campus. With the help of ASUO’s Julio Jaquez, Pierre’s appointed Food Insecurity Coordinator, Pierre hopes to improve on previous food security initiatives.

“The current food pantry is near [East 19th],” Jaquez said. “From there, they’re moving it to Grace Lutheran Church, which is on 18th and Alder.”

According to Jaquez, the food pantry is being moved in order to accommodate more students so they don’t have to stand in the rain as they wait in line. The new location is also more accessible to students and renovations are currently taking place at Grace Lutheran Church in order to accommodate these changes, Jaquez said.

“Ultimately, funding is the main issue that affects these initiatives.” Pierre said. “If we can have sustainable funding to continue adding and enhancing these initiatives, that’s really going to make a difference.”

Earlier this week, Pierre and other student government leaders from around Oregon went to Salem to advocate for House Bill 4055. According to Pierre, the bill would require the Higher Education Coordinating Committee to do statistical research annually on housing and food insecurities on various campuses across Oregon.

“It’s going to push institutions to really prioritize food security as well as having security initiatives on their campuses,” Pierre said.

For the past three years, food security initiatives have been a part of each executive cabinet’s Fulfilment of Duties. According to Becky Girvan, the ASUO director, the upward trend of addressing food security issues began with former president Amy Schenk during the 2017-18 school year.

“Amy [had] worked under the previous cabinet on food security. When she became president, she made that a huge priority,” Girvan said. “I saw her and her cabinet working on [food security] an extensive amount. That was the year that the UO Student Food Security Task Force was established.”

The UO Food Security Task Force was established after ASUO requested funds from the Office of the President in order to fund programs that would assist students who suffer from food insecurity. Today, the UO Food Security Taskforce oversees the Produce Drop, Ducks Feeding Ducks, Supplemental Nutrition Program and other food security programs on campus.

Since Schenk helped implement the initiative, other executive branches have followed suit, outlining the importance of addressing food insecurity issues on campus.

“We have heard from students, friends, and community members time and time again about how one of the resources the UO lacks is the access to a quality food pantry,” Gallegos’ Fulfilment of Duties document said. “This year, we will be working on locking down funding and space for the food pantry to be open longer and closer to campus.”

The trend continued this year as Pierre dedicated a paragraph in her Fulfilment of Duties to addressing food insecurity and her plans to improve the already existing programs that were started by Schenk and her cabinet’s efforts.

“We want to continue strengthening great food security programs such as the Produce Drop, Ducks Feeding Ducks, Ducks Leftover Textover,” Pierre’s document said. “Enrollment events and the Cooking Classes in partnership with Food for Lane County will be the focus of our fortification.”