Guest Column: Growing demand, crowded shelves, why SNAC needs room to serve
On any typical afternoon at Utah State University’s Student Nutrition Access Center, or SNAC, it’s common to see a line forming about an hour and a half before the doors even open. That line is often 50-60 students long. Instead of grocery carts, students carry backpacks as they move between refrigerators and shelves, picking up essential groceries to help them get through their next exam, project, athletic event or assignment. The vibe at SNAC is always positive, but the space has become strained.
SNAC was designed years ago to serve a fraction of the students who rely on it today. SNAC moved to its current location in 2018 and served 1,447 students across 5,478 visits that year. This academic year, one in four students enrolled at the Logan campus has already visited SNAC. September alone surpassed all of 2018’s totals with 5,952 visits from 2,786 students. October surpassed 2018’s marks again, as SNAC served 2,543 students in 5,497 trips through the pantry. Rising housing costs and inflation have reshaped the landscape of college hunger. What was once an occasional safety net has become a weekly necessity for hundreds of students. The pantry has expanded its services to include nutrition education, fresh produce, dairy items and products for students with dietary restrictions. SNAC also launched a monthly mobile distribution at Maverik Stadium available to any Utah resident. SNAC has accomplished all of this and more within the same space.
The result is a logistical Rubik’s Cube: always moving and shifting, hoping that eventually everything lines up. Increased physical space would allow SNAC to accommodate larger donations from community partners, which could contribute to reducing the frequency of shortages by allowing SNAC to build a larger inventory going into busy periods. Since July 1, 2025, the start of USU’s current fiscal year, the pantry has distributed a total of 214,867 pounds of food, averaging 6,714.6 pounds per week. SNAC has faced challenges in securing additional donations due to limited storage capacity. Most importantly, it would let students feel comfortable when they shop without feeling like they are competing for space.
Research shows food security can affect academic success as much as any textbook or lecture. When students skip meals, they miss opportunities to study, participate in clubs and attend athletics and other events. A student facing food insecurity is 40% less likely to graduate. Providing students with food security is an investment in retention and higher GPAs across the university. SNAC has proven it can meet this challenge with compassion and creativity, but compassion requires capacity.
SNAC has always benefited from an amazing university community always ready to rally behind the pantry with food drives and volunteer hours. Now, SNAC needs the next level of support: a physical space that matches the scale of the problem it is solving. Expanding the pantry is not just another project. It is an investment in healthier, more successful Aggies and a stronger USU.
Until that happens, the line will keep forming earlier and earlier outside a space that has become too small for the size of the need and too important to ignore.
Jonathon Walters is the SNAC Program Coordinator at Utah State University.
— jonathon.walters@usu.edu