At Missouri State University, in the Plaster Student Union, is the Bear Pantry. It’s a food bank for students, staff and faculty: You can find canned vegetables and fresh produce from Ozarks Food Harvest, a couple of hydroponic setups from the Ag Department and eggs – a lot of eggs – from Vital Farms. There are hygiene products, period products and even a selection of greeting cards.
What really stands out is how conspicuous the space is; the Pantry is right by the Starbucks on the bottom floor, so if you’re entering from that floor, you’re going to walk past it, maybe every day. It sort of blends into the environment, which is important because a lot of people use the Bear Pantry. Last year they served more than 1,400 households and clocked about 10,000 visits. Those numbers go up every year.
The Pantry is a project of the Center for Community Engagement whose offices are next door. KSMU got the chance to sit down with CCE director Alex Johnson as well as graduate student Natalie Barbieri who helps run the pantry. What follows are some excerpts from those conversations…