Groceries for gophers: Nutritious U Food Pantry debuts St. Paul Campus location
March 19, 2025
BY NETANYA SADOFF, BS ‘26, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, POLICY, AND MANAGEMENT
Here at CFANS, food is integral to who we are as a college. It’s one-fifth of our College's name, the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences. And yet, nearly 20% of University of Minnesota students are food insecure—a coincidence as ironic as it is grave for our academic establishment. With food being such an intense focus of our college, the prevalence of food insecurity on St. Paul Campus often finds itself a topic of taboo. Fortunately, if there is one aspect of CFANS that is stronger than our connection with food, it is our connections with one another: our CFANS community. This semester, CFANS students, faculty, and staff join together to help bring Boynton Health’s Nutritious U Food Pantry to the St. Paul campus— and in tandem, bring an end to the food insecurity taboo at the school.
In a food desert, an oasis emerges
Operating out of East Bank’s Coffman Memorial Union, Boynton Health’s Nutritious U Food Pantry has brought UMN students access to free and healthy grocery staples since 2017. Over the intervening years, Nutritious U firmly established its reputation as a reliable source for gophers in need. Widespread support and generous donations from the community paved the way for the program to significantly expand the quantity and scope of the items available at their bi-weekly markets. Today, not only can students find staples like dry pasta and beans, but also specialty items such as frozen meats and multicultural foods. In short, Nutritious U provides dignified access to food with a low barrier of entry, all in order to ensure the utmost accessibility to any student in need.
In 2024, the East Bank Nutritious U location fed an average of 900 students per day of operation. While the St. Paul Location is not expected to see quite as many students through their doors as the main location, the demand for affordable and accessible food for students and community members is certainly still alive on our smaller campus. This fact was made adamantly clear during the pantry’s busy opening day last month, where despite frigid temperatures and a daunting windchill, the pantry still managed to give away nearly their entire stock come closing time, to the pleasant surprise of the day’s Nutritious U volunteers.
The CFANS connection
More than a just food shelf, the Nutritious U Food Pantry thrives on a tradition of excellence—a value highlighted and shared in tandem with the mission statement of the University of Minnesota itself. In practice, this commitment to excellence shows up in the people, foods, and practices of the Nutritious U Food Pantry; all areas uplifted by the CFANS community’s steadfast involvement with the organization.
Here are just a few of the many ways CFANS contributes to Nutritious U’s continued success:
- Nutrition major student volunteers spend hours of their time collecting items, stocking shelves, and hosting Nutritious U Food Pantry events
- Members of the Student Organic Farm donate a portion of their harvest to the pantry, supplying students with fresh, local, and organic seasonal produce.
- The Student Organization of Nutrition and Dietetics (SOND) partners regularly with Nutritious U to provide fresh and healthy foods for students
- Multiple alumni of the CFANS Nutrition program are now employees of Nutritious U Food Pantry
Get involved
The next Nutritious U Food Pantry event is Thursday, March 20, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. in the Harvest Room of the St. Paul Student Center.
