Building Resilience: Food and Nutritional Insecurity Among University Students in Buenos Aires, Argentina amidst Inflation and Escalating Poverty

This paper examines how university students (aged 18 and older) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, navigate the challenges of escalating food insecurity amidst food price inflation and poverty. Utilizing a resilience framework, the research explores the coping strategies of these students. The study integrates semi-structured qualitative interviews and questionnaires. The findings reveal that university students in Buenos Aires are affected by food and nutritional insecurity, impacting their ability to manage their academic responsibilities, and leading some students to question their ability to complete their education. To cope, students adopt various strategies: price comparison, reducing out-of-home expenses, altering food purchasing habits, compromising on food quality and seeking alternative income sources. I also argue that pursuing higher education itself serves as a resilience strategy. The study reveals that while social networks and government aid are crucial for building resilience, the latter is often unsustainable, and pervasive stigma surrounds the act of seeking assistance. Addressing the disconnect in understanding the needs of those experiencing food insecurity—often influenced by socio-economic status, and personal biases—is essential to call upon collective action and systemic change. Lastly, the paper highlights the need for enhanced institutional support from universities to ensure students have access to adequate resources, particularly when one’s coping strategies and personal support systems prove insufficient. Keywords: Food Insecurity, Nutritional Disparities, Buenos Aires, Food Price Inflation, Poverty, Resilience Framework, Adaptive Strategies, Higher Education Resilience