It is the university’s mission to ensure that the entire Illinois community has access to nutritious food and key necessities in a welcoming and educational space. We collect demographic information and a variety of other data to improve processes and ensure that it is equitable, inclusive and accessible to meet the needs of the diverse student population at Illinois.
The pantry is focused on the development of students in a supportive and inclusive space. The ARC Student Food Pantry is staffed by student volunteers from Food Science Human Nutrition and we work closely with faculty to provide educational resources to pantry shoppers while developing our student volunteers to provide food support and community building skills.
The ARC Student Food Pantry is a shopping style pantry. Food is set up on shelves by food groups. Shoppers walk through the space and take food off shelves according to pantry guidelines. This model allows shoppers to handle food, choose items that they will eat and enjoy, and look at the labels just as if they were shopping in a store. Food Science and Human Nutrition Students will be available to answer shopper questions and to provide resources to prepare the food. The ARC Food Pantry is located in the rear of the ARC Instructional Kitchen (beside the indoor climbing wall).