The Student Government Association Senate unanimously encouraged The University of Alabama to join a coalition of universities across the South to pass the Hunger Free Campus Bill in each state’s legislature.

The resolution is an official SGA request sent to UA administrators.

The bill allows universities to request grant funding from their state’s governments to initiate student hunger relief programs on their campuses.

Madeline Martin, the unofficial SGA president-elect and the current vice president for student affairs, said The University of Alabama could use the funds to expand current projects, including Martin’s expansion of food availability to UA students through the Arboretum.

“There’s room to expand with land that could be options for fresh food, like fruit and vegetables, to really teach healthy options,” Martin said.

Martin said she hopes the University will use the funds from the bill to add fresher, healthier options to campus food pantries instead of traditional, nonperishable foods if it endorses this bill. The funds each university can receive differs from state to state.

Swipe Out Hunger, a California-based nonprofit organization, originally authored the bill and encourages state legislatures nationwide to pass it while tweaking the bill according to each state’s needs.

“SGA joining this coalition and encouraging the University to partner with Swipe Out Hunger is the best possible way to ensure that students who are food insecure are receiving proper care and maintaining that their experiences matter,” said Ciara Callicott, founder of Unite to Fight Poverty, a student advocacy group that trains students to advocate for those in poverty.

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