For students like Belle* and her roommates, the cost of food on campus significantly eats into a large portion of their already tight budget, leaving them uncertain if they can afford their next meal. With the university building food hubs that prioritize spaces for large businesses, the cheapest meals students can buy start at around P100. 

The struggles that students face are part of the larger problem of food insecurity affecting many Filipinos.  From 2020 to 2022, nearly 51 million Filipinos—the highest in Southeast Asia—grappled with food insecurity, per a United Nations report. The most affected are those from poor households with unstable incomes, making it challenging to meet their dietary requirements, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. 

The increasing prevalence of food insecurity in the Philippines extends to the university setting, where access to nutritious meals is hampered by students’ limited budgets and high costs of living. Several countermeasures to address the crisis have employed ineffective solutions, signaling the administration’s lack of urgency in addressing these concerns. 

Pricey Options 

With UP’s thrust toward creating spaces for private corporations on campus to generate income, students grow increasingly wary of their ability to stretch their budget to purchase meals. 

“The price of the food [in UP Diliman] is actually why I don't usually buy food within the campus unless I am really hungry or forgot to pack my own food,” said Pia*, a second-year film student living in the same boarding house as Belle. They share the unit with two other students, each paying a P2,500 monthly rent. 

Belle finds it more practical to buy meals from a nearby eatery, priced between P65 to P80, instead of buying on campus, where prices start at P80. To save money, she makes her meals last from breakfast to dinner by dividing the food into four portions.

Food insecurity is pervasive among university students, with UPD students exhibiting a 29-percent prevalence, according to a 2016 study by former College of Social Work and Community Development (CSWCD) Dean Sylvia Estrada-Claudio. “Noong 2016, isa sa nakitang prevalence ay dormers [ang pinaka-]food insecure. Sila kasi yung malayo yung place at kaunti ang social networks,” said Pauline Pagaduan, a graduate student researching food insecurity on campus.  

Limited financial support, high tuition fees, expenses for educational materials, and the responsibility of covering meals increase the susceptibility of dormitory students to food insecurity. Consequently, despite acknowledging the health risks of portioning or skipping meals, students still resort to it due to limited budget. 

Countless Filipinos, similar to UP students, bear the brunt of food inflation. In 2023, the 6 percent overall inflation and 6.7 percent for the poorer population resulted from higher transportation costs and a 19.6 percent rise in rice prices in December. With Filipino families already spending about 43 percent of their money on food, increasing food prices significantly affects their ability to afford other essential needs.

Lapses and Oversights

The continuous increase of individuals experiencing food insecurity is an indictment of the administration's failure to adequately address the crisis.

Creating structural change to the Department of Agriculture (DA) and guaranteeing sufficient food supply and affordable prices were plans President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. promised when he temporarily assumed the post as the department’s chief. But the price of a nutritious diet in the country has steadily increased from P226.60 in 2017 to P242.53 in 2020, according to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization. 

As the government relies on import-inducing policies like the Rice Tariffication Law to augment supply and lower prices, domestic production diminishes and inflation is controlled temporarily but eventually surges beyond the pre-reform level, per a 2020 International Rice Research Institute study. These policies also disproportionately plunged local rice farmers into precarity and hunger as their incomes dwindled by 35 percent from 2018 to 2020.

Despite Marcos’s promises to strengthen the agricultural sector, the national government only allotted about P1 billion to give P3,000 in fuel subsidies to 312,000 farmers and fisherfolk in 2023. This aid covers only a small fraction of the approximately 10.5 million Filipinos working in the sector, many of whom require financial assistance, accessible social services, and higher salaries.  

To ease financial strain from insufficient subsidies and rising food prices, Marcos imposed rice price ceilings in September 2023, inadvertently causing farmers to struggle to sell their rice and resort to compromising quality. Another response involved a loaned food stamps program from the Asian Development Bank, providing short-term food aid to the poorest Filipinos with one or two meals per family. 

Addressing the severity of food insecurity, however, demands long-term solutions focused on achieving food sufficiency. Marcos’s ineffective policies as the DA chief have only worsened food insecurity for Filipinos, highlighting a lack of inclusive measures for the poor. 

Sustainable Solutions

Rather than resorting to solutions that only provide temporary relief, the government must prioritize the development of policies integrating comprehensive food and nutrition security. Alleviating widespread hunger entails adopting measures such as implementing wage increases and adequate subsidies, according to Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP). 

In the university, research initiatives like EatUP, a stigma-free canteen project, aim to provide students and faculty access to nutritious and affordable meals. Pagaduan, involved in the project's launch, highlights that clients will have the agency to choose their own meals and eat without paying. Crucial to supporting the university’s initiative is its investment in research projects that forward students' food security.

These initiatives at the university level must be supplemented by the government’s prioritization of policies that support local farmers and food producers in the nation. Implementing measures such as the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill supports providing adequate assistance for farmers to achieve self-sufficiency and lowering food prices, as highlighted by KMP. 

Implementing these robust policies provides a more favorable future for all, ensuring no more students like Pia and Belle face the challenges of food insecurity—standing as a commitment to the nourishment of every Filipino. ● 

*Not their real names. The case studies have asked the Collegian to conceal their real names due to the sensitive nature of the article.

First featured on print on February 7, 2024, issue 11, with the print headline "Struggling for Sustenance." This article has since been updated from its print version.