Full Circle Food Pantry Represents U of A at Inaugural SEC Food Pantry Summit

Three U of A representatives recently attended the inaugural SEC Food Pantry and Basic Needs Summit hosted by the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. The summit brought together student leaders, community partners and professional staff to share ideas and best practices for addressing food and basic needs insecurity on college campuses. 

Representing the U of A were Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Food Pantry interns Eliana Adamos and Alexis Reardon, along with Delaney Farris-Dyer, the assistant director of the Center for Community Engagement. Full Circle Food Pantry, which averages about 400 visits per month, provides free food and hygiene products to anyone with a UARK or UAMS ID. 

Throughout the summit, attendees participated in breakout sessions that covered community partnerships, inventory management, food drive strategies and wraparound services that provide equitable access to student basic needs services. Attendees also toured USC's Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management Culinary Lab, where recovered food is repacked and redistributed to support food access efforts. Subsequent sessions were partnered with the Southeast Sustainability Network (SESN) Summer Summit to discuss sustainability efforts and food recovery. 

The conference also provided the opportunity to connect with peers from other schools across the SEC, including Louisiana State University, the University of Missouri, the University of Mississippi and the University of South Carolina. Participants were able to discuss the scope of their operations, as well as share tips and tricks learned through differing challenges and successes.   

"Learning from our peers across the SEC gave us new strategies to bring back to Arkansas, including implementing a catering recovery subscription email; expanding our reach to undergraduate students through intentional, de-stigmatized marketing; and increasing food drive participation through friendly competition," said Reardon, the upcoming budget and procurement intern for the pantry. "We returned with fresh ideas and a shared vision for expanding the impact of our own pantry, and we're excited to continue learning and collaborating with our SEC partners." 

Adamos, who will serve as Full Circle Food Pantry's chair for the 2026-2027 academic year, is eager to plan for the year ahead. 

"The pantry is essentially a grocery store where everything is free," Adamos said. "Anyone is welcome to use it, and I hope to fight the stigma that surrounds food assistance, as well as increase pantry visibility to the undergraduate population."  

Seeing the general scope and successes of pantries at other universities has expanded the pantry's vision for what is possible at the U of A. The ideas shared and connections made will help guide the way for student leaders at the Full Circle Food Pantry as they work towards improving the pantry as a campus resource.