Food Security Initiatives include:

1. Contact the Dean of Students Office and find Single Stop Resources:

UMass Dining works closely with the Dean of Students Office to identify, prioritize, to allocate resources to students most in need of assistance. If you are a student experiencing a personal, financial or life challenges, contact the Dean of Students Office HERE to learn more about all of their resources.

Emergency Supplemental Meals 
The supplemental meal swipe program provides immediate assistance to any UMass student experiencing food insecurity. The program is intended for meal plan students without meal swipes. To access the meals, log into SPIRE and activate the supplemental meal option under the main menu, finance tab; three days of meals automatically loaded to your U-Card; meal swipes can be used in any of the dining commons on campus. Once activated, your meals expire in 3 days and the Dean of Students office will be notified and reach out to you with additional resources. For instruction, reference our How-To Guide HERE.

2. Retail & Cafe Value Meals
Value meals at Retail locations with prices starting at $5.00. Reduced food prices at all cafés one hour before close; menu items include sandwiches, salads and baked goods and are 50% off one hour before close. The program allows students to stretch their dining dollars and meal exchanges. Additionally, graduate students can take advantage of the half-priced items one hour before close at the campus cafes— the half price brings many menu items down to $2.50 to $4.00.

3. Meal Plan Assistance Fund
The UMass Amherst Undergraduate Student Meal Plan Assistance Program seeks to provide emergency support to matriculated undergraduate students in good standing for unexpected emergencies, hardship, and/or unforeseen personal/family emergencies. The Assistance Program is an emergency supplement designed to assist current meal plan students facing food insecurity. The Meal Plan Assistance is not a cash award and is not tied to financial aid or grants.  Students applying for the assistance are eligible to receive meal swipes/ dining access. A student may be awarded Meal Plan assistance funds only once per academic year.  Contact the Dean of Students Office to get more information about eligibility for these funds. 

Other Partners

Food Recovery Network
UMass Dining is partnered with the student-run Food Recovery Network to reduce food waste and redistribute surplus meals to those in need within the campus community. By recovering surplus food from Franklin Dining Commons, the Network is able to redistribute free meals to the UMass Community on a weekly basis during the semester. 
For the Spring 2026 semester, meal services will restart on Wednesday, February 11, and run through May 7, with no service during Spring Break. The Network will host two meal services each week on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5–6 p.m. Wednesday meals are free and open to UMass community members with a UCard or proof of UMass affiliation, while Thursday meal service is reserved for University Village residents.

Wednesday Meal Service: 472 North Pleasant St. Amherst, MA 01003; Lower Level. Entrance is located on the west side of the building, leading into the parking lot.

Thursday Meal Service: University Village Community Center 990 North Pleasant St. Amherst, MA 01003

To volunteer with the Food Recovery Network contact them here. For updates about the Food Recovery Network's meal services follow them on Instagram @umassfoodrecovery or email [email protected]

UMass Gives On-Going Donations
The Food Security funds are not limitless and are made up of generous donations by members of our broader campus community. We invite you to be a part of supporting food security on campus. Please join us with a donation of any amount. Your donation helps support sustainable food access solutions for students.