Food Insecurity Pipeline: How Latinx Immigration-Impacted Students in Higher Education Navigate the Food Insecurity Cycle (2024)
Systemic inequities increase the risk of material hardships, including food insecurity, among
immigrant households. Informed by 33 qualitative interviews with Latina/o/x undergraduate
students who are undocumented or U.S. citizens with undocumented parents, we examine
their experiences of food insecurity in their day-to-day lives. We find a food insecurity pipeline as
students’ experiences of food insecurity begin early in childhood in their homes and continue
in their adulthood on their college campuses. Food insecurity has implications for their wellbeing, and they rely on their strengths and networks to survive food insecurity. The study
has implications for immigration policy, practice, and higher education institutions serving this
vulnerable population.