This information was updated on October 5th, 2022
Please also visit the Graduate School’s Food Resources Page!
Free Options:
UFunds Covid-19 Relief
“The Graduate School has established a dedicated COVID-19 E-Gap Fund for graduate students with high demonstrated financial need to assist with emergent expenses related to this crisis.”
Regardless of location, one can apply through UFunds to receive financial support for many items, including food, from the Graduate School. The application takes ~10 minutes, and you should receive a response in 2-3 days. Funding is limited but is open through the semester. This is also how you should apply for the Meal Gap Program, which provides students with routine warm meals from Brown Dining Services.
A food pantry run by the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life is available to anyone struggling with food insecurity. It is located on the 4th Floor of Page-Robinson building (across from Room 411).
The Graduate Student Council is piloting a pantry program located in the Graduate Student Lounge (GSL) starting in the summer of 2022 as another mechanism to address food insecurity among graduate students. Within the GSL, two cabinets across from the sink (cabinets 3 and 4) have been dedicated to the pantry contents and will remain unlocked and accessible to all graduate students 24/7.
Brown Market Shares
For Spring 2022, the Graduate Student Council aims to continue our partnership with the Brown Market Shares Program and the Graduate School to assist students facing food insecurity. This program is need-based. If you are able to pay for a full-priced vegetable share directly through Market Shares, you are still more than welcome to sign up for a subsidized or full-cost fall produce share!
Brown Market Shares Program connects the Brown and neighboring communities with weekly shares of local, sustainably-grown food. This fall season, we are offering produce shares as well as additional shares of dairy, eggs, bread, mushrooms, coffee, and meat.
Paid Options:
Brown Meal Plan
You can add a meal plan at any point in the semester, however canceling it will cost $50. The cheapest option is buying 35 meals for $976 (including $375 in ‘flex points’).
Faculty Club
Membership is $60 for graduate students and meals are offered grab-and-go from the Stephen Robert Campus Center. You can buy family meals or individual meals to be billed at the end of the month. This is a more expensive option.
Project Hand Up
This program helps working people and those who receive a monthly check to shop for groceries, toiletries, and over-the-counter medication. During COVID-19, they are doing curbside pick-up of 3 bags of prepacked groceries for $6 (1 bag of non perishable food, bread & pastry, 1 bag of fruits & veggies, & 1 bag of frozen, dairy & meat if they have it). Located in West Warwick, open 2:30-5:30pm on: Tuesdays for last names beginning with A-K, Wednesdays for 55 and older, and Thursdays for last names beginning with L-Z. Please visit their Facebook page for updates.