The Market @ VT Announced

In the summer of 2020 as the risk of food insecurity among students increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia Tech launched its innovative program called The Market at Virginia Tech designed to increased students’ access to safe, affordable, and nutritious foods. This program was made possible by a generous gift by Hema and Mehul Sanghani, two Virginia Tech alumni. Since 2017, I have been working on a team studying food access and security at VT’s Blacksburg campus. The Market was developed in response to the report we published on our findings in 2019, that found approximately 33% of Blacksburg-based undergraduates and graduates have low or very low food security.

More information on the report and evaluation of The Market program can be found at the newly launched Food Access website. In talking with students who have participated thus far, it is clear that making visible the invisible issue and the willingness to respond has profound impact on the psychological well-being of such important members of our community.