International students receive aid to attend Ohio State, but sometimes not enough to feed them.

These students have been so desperate for food that they have been going to food banks to get it, said Patricia Cunningham II of Unplugging Society, during a recent meeting.

Cunningham is the consultant of the US Women’s Think Tank, which advocates on behalf of student issues.

“International students are really suffering as a result of not enough funding from Ohio State,” Cunningham said. “A lot of international students do not have the funds right now to eat food, so they are going to food banks as a result.”

Students have even asked OSU for land so that they may grow their own food, Cunningham said.

“Five years ago, international students went to the OSU board to request land so that they may grow their own food because they didn’t have money,” Cunningham said. “It never registered in the minds of those in power that there must have been an issue with regards as to why they are growing their own food in the first place.”

Many international students come to America not understanding the American way of life, and the Office of International Affairs says it does what it can to establish these students so that they can be comfortable at OSU.

“If it is an issue, I haven’t heard of it,” said Dieter Wanner, interim associate provost of the OIA, during a phone interview.

He said that the OIA hopes students are in stable conditions during their stay at the university, but ensuring that they have the proper supplies is not necessarily their responsibility.

In many instances, international students take part in a work-study program. This means they work on campus to pay for their education and receive credit at the same time.

“Many of our students have contracts with us as graduate associates,” Wanner said. “They receive a stipend, but they cover utilities for themselves.”

Gifty Ako-Adounvo is the director of the OIA and said that she has received anecdotal feedback about this issue.

“I don’t doubt that this is a problem, but we don’t have any statistics or facts to go off of,” she said. “I am part of a working group that is trying to focus on this problem. We are going to survey the student body to see who this problem is most affecting.”

She said that the university is not required to solve this problem, but it will step in and help because it is the right thing to do. She also said the working group is going to come up with a feasible strategy for all students, not just international students.

Upon enrollment at the university, international students are required to prove that they have sufficient funds before they are granted a student visa. They are not supposed to be a burden on the country’s system, Ako-Adounvo said.

Cunningham said that OSU and the OIA should provide adequate resources until these new students are settled in.

“Ohio State is not doing enough and the food banks seemed to be concerned on not being able to provide for the community and now there is a transient community that needs help,” Cunningham said. “It complicates the way the banks view us.”

One of the food banks is the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, located at 1625 W. Mound St. Attempts to reach a Foodbank representative were unsuccessful.

Although the agency offers assistance to those who cannot provide food for themselves, its leaders have complained that the university is not doing enough for these students.

Cunningham recently spoke to a group of women at a US meeting in an effort to involve them in the problem. US consists of undergraduate women who are studying a variety of majors.

The group recruits students because of their cultural and ethnic backgrounds and because of their accomplishments at OSU. Weekly meetings encourage these students to get involved with human rights causes and campaigns, Cunningham said.

Issues affecting international students are of high priority to the group, Cunningham said.

“Having such a diverse student population in this think tank encourages us as humans to get involved with the needs of others,” Cunningham said.

According to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank Web site, the agency has been active for nearly 30 years, working with grocers, food companies, Ohio farmers, the United States Department of Agriculture and community members, to ensure that there is enough food for everyone.

Most of its funding comes from individuals, with 85 percent of the profits going directly toward food.

The food is distributed to soup kitchens, shelters, after-school programs, senior housing sites and about 500 food pantries in central Ohio.

Mid-Ohio Foodbank is a member of the largest non-governmental, domestic hunger relief organization, known as Feeding America.

“Mid-Ohio Foodbank and the program Feeding America have supported our students, and we are grateful, but they need relief and Ohio State can help solve this problem,” Cunningham said.

There are about 3,800 international students enrolled at OSU. “We definitely need to research this issue more, so that we can have a better idea of what we can do to help,” Cunningham said. “We ask our members to bring in two or three cans of food to be donated to the Foodbank.”

Unplugging Society members and OSU should get involved, Cunningham said.

“If Ohio State can’t help those international students for whatever reason, we are part of the community and can certainly help the Foodbank,” she said.

Mariam Khan can be reached at [email protected].