Rep. Ilhan Omar (DFL) and Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley toured the new location of Boynton Health’s Nutritious U food pantry Tuesday at Coffman Union, following its opening at the start of the spring semester. 

Omar said that as University of Minnesota students deal with food insecurity on campus, she wanted to visit the food pantry, as they help provide food. 

“I’ve been talking to students for many years about the food insecurities they’ve been experiencing and the need for more access to nutritious foods,” Omar said. “When I’d heard that this was set up and so many students were benefiting from it, I wanted to come and see it and get the opportunity to chat with students.” 

This visit comes after the University announced a new partnership with Second Harvest Heartland, a hunger relief organization, to expand the food supply and hours at the pantry. 

Karla Schardin, the senior director of operations at Boynton, said her team was excited for Omar to see the pantry, as their food outreach program has developed within the last few years, which Schardin feels deserves to be heard. 

“We were excited to have representative Omar come here and visit the pantry and share with her how important it is for students to have access to food,” Schardin said. “We’re just thrilled that she wanted to visit it and see what we’ve done and how much it’s grown over the last couple of years.” 

As the lack of grocery stores on campus continues to be a point of conversation on campus, Omar said she hopes to see a change in the food deserts impacting many students.

“I do want there to be a change in getting rid of food deserts,” Omar said. “So even for those students that have the resources to afford to buy food, that they actually have a place to go to make that purchase in getting food with high nutrients.” 

Omar was given the tour of the food pantry by the Basic Needs Senior Student Lead for the Student Union and Activities, Gavin Long. He said the food pantry is meant for students as a nutritional support, as the University’s Twin Cities campuses are seen as food deserts. 

“Our Minneapolis campus and our St. Paul campuses could be considered food deserts, just because of the lack of grocery and restaurant availability,” Long said. “But, we are primarily a supplemental food source, so this is never intended to be a student’s primary source of groceries. It’s intended to supplement their nutritional needs.” 

This worry has been a focus for many members of the food pantry as the University community seeks greater food accessibility.

Schardin said food access is essential for students to have a successful college experience. Further ventures into food accessibility are on the horizon, she added, especially with the University’s planned expansion of student resources.

“We know that students need in order to thrive academically, they need to feel that they’re not facing hunger,” Schardin said. “This is a really important basic need and part of the [UMN] President’s Elevate Extraordinary 2030.” 

Omar said the changes to the pantry system came after students spoke up about their needs, and hopes to see students continue to advocate for themselves. She said she hopes this advocacy will continue through the University’s future.

“If you stay silent, no one is going to know what your suffering looks like, so speaking up often leads to change,” Omar said. “I do want them to be encouraged by the change they’re seeing and continue to speak up for themselves.”