January 27, 2023

Discover the work of the UW food pantries

Each of the three UW campuses has a dedicated food pantry for students, staff and faculty experiencing food insecurity. Your support can help alleviate food insecurity. 

UW food pantries provide food to UW community members who are having a hard time putting food on their plates. This need could be the result of a short-term disruption in finances, a food desert in the local community, a lack of access to other financial assistance, or other issues.

A nationwide shift in college student demographics is seeing greater numbers of low-income students enrolling at UW’s three campuses in recent years. Coupled with systemic economic issues like the lack of affordable student housing and the high costs of living in the region, as well as the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic on the national food supply chain, increased food insecurity among UW community members has resulted.

The USDA defines food insecurity as the reduced quality, variety and desirability in a person’s diet, sometimes alongside lower food intake.

Join the UWCFD Feb. 15 for a virtual lunch & learn about our UW food pantries: how they work, funding needs, sustainability efforts, volunteering and hosting donation drives

Support the UW pantries

You can support the success of our campus pantries through volunteering, financial contributions, donations of food and hygiene items, and helping to spread the word in your networks.

Donate funds: Help support our campus food pantries with a payroll donation through the UWCFD. You can set up a one-time gift or a recurring monthly gift of any amount.

Donate food: Each pantry accepts non-perishable and perishable foods and hygiene items as donations, which can be dropped off during open business hours. Please do NOT donate: items that are damaged, expired, or open, home-cooked or home-grown items such as bread, eggs, or dairy products.

Greatest needs: pasta (including wheat alternatives), canned or dried fruit, canned soup and vegetable broth, peanut butter and nut butters, nuts, tortillas, rice and other grains, chips, granola bars or protein bars, shelf stable milk and milk alternatives, cereal.

Related: Support local food pantries with essential non-food items

Volunteer: all three UW pantries need volunteers! Attend the lunch and learn to hear about some of the opportunities, or click on the pantry links below to learn more.

About the pantries

UW Seattle Food Pantry: The student-run UW Food Pantry provides food to students, staff and faculty experiencing food insecurity. The UW Food Pantry values providing hunger relief in a stigma-free environment that emphasizes sustainability and cultural diversity. Watch the UW Food Pantry introduction video. 

UW Tacoma Food Pantry: Housed in the Office of Equity and Inclusion, the pantry exists to provide free supplemental, nutritious, and culturally relevant food as well as hygiene items to any UW Tacoma student who needs it. We serve a diverse student population, which calls for services that can fit their needs. We provide culturally relevant food items to foster a sense of belonging.

Check out UW Tacoma’s Pantry Wish List and Amazon Wishlist! If you purchase items from this list, you can have them delivered directly to campus.

UW Bothell Food Pantry: Housed in the Health and Wellness Resource Center, the Husky Food Pantry may be accessed by any UW Bothell student who is facing food insecurity. Husky Pantry is a resource for all UW Bothell students who might be between paychecks or just need some extra resources to get through the week or month. During open hours, students can shop for grocery staple items, as well as seasonal products, hygiene and toiletry items (all items are non-perishable). Learn more about food access programs in Snohomish County.