Food Accessibility at Chapel Hill

Written By: Diya Mool

When people think of UNC Chapel Hill, most people do not think to associate the word food desert to it. However, it is arguably a food desert. With the campus having dining halls with limited dining hall hours and limited options for underclassmen who do not have cars, it presents accessibility challenges. While this campus may not initially present itself as a food desert, patterns of food access reveal disparities that closely align with definitions of food access.

Scope of the Problem

Food insecurity is defined as a lack of consistent access to sufficient, affordable, and nutritious food. The USDA identifies food insecurity as a critical public health issue affecting diverse populations, including college students.[1] While this concept is applied to both rural and low-income communities, it can also occur in college campuses like our very own. At UNC, people may have many food options, but they are definitely not equal. Dining halls operate within fixed schedules and may not accommodate students with late classes, jobs, or other commitments. While these options are unavailable, students are left with limited other options. Food access is shaped by not just accessibility but also time and structural constraints.[2]

Transportation is a major factor when it comes to this issue. Many first-year and even second-year students may not have access to a car. While there is public transportation, it may not always be practical or reliable for frequent grocery trips or late-night needs. This limits food options when it comes to going off campus. From a public health standpoint, this emphasizes the social determinants of neighborhoods and built environments.[3]

Evidence

Last semester, my EPID 600 project was focused on exploring this relationship, and it examined how access to a personal vehicle impacts food access among UNC undergraduate students. Our results found that 37.25% of respondents lacked access to a vehicle, and of those participants, 45.10% reported experiencing food inaccessibility in the past week. What was more striking was that time constraints emerged as a leading factor at 77.38% when it came to food accessibility, and it was followed by time constraints and distance at 11.90%. While these results showed a trend suggesting that those without cars may experience more food inaccessibility, the presence of this issue was what took me aback.

Structural Factors

Addressing this issue means addressing the upstream factors that affect this issue. At an institutional level, UNC could work on expanding dining hall hours and increasing the flexibility of meal plans for students. Additionally, creating more transportation options or creating grocery access easier, like through a partnership with Instacart or DoorDash, could make it easier and less of an accessibility issue for students. It is worth mentioning that universities across the nation are having this same issue, and it is a national public health issue as opposed to a failure on the behalf of students.

Conclusion

Ultimately, this issue is a public health issue, and looking at it from a public health standpoint allows us to understand that food access is more complex than it was previously thought to be. It is pertinent that we recognize and work to address this issue, as this is essential to bringing about health equity on campus.

References: 

1. United States Department of Agriculture. Food Security in the United States. USDA Economic Research Service. Accessed April 2026. https://www.ers.usda.gov

2. Bruening M, Argo K, Payne-Sturges D, Laska MN. The struggle is real: food insecurity among college students. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2017;117(11):1767-1771.

3. World Health Organization. Social Determinants of Health. WHO. Accessed April 2026.