The Associated Students of Madison (ASM) passed a resolution at a meeting Wednesday night calling on the University of Wisconsin-Madison to provide financial support for Open Seat Food Pantry.
ASM created Open Seat in 2016 as a pilot initiative to address food insecurity on campus. This year, the food pantry faces record-level demand for food amid a significant increase in visits. Over 2,500 visits occurred in September 2025 compared to 550 visits in September 2023, an increase of about 355%.
The Associated Students of Madison in an Instagram post Nov. 11 shared a message from The Open Seat, stating that they saw an exponential increase in shoppers among FoodShare uncertainty.
“The Open Seat is under-resourced and cannot handle the increasing level of need on campus,” the message said. “Even with increased financial support and the resumption of FoodShare benefits, our team will continue to struggle balancing our own education with the needs of our shoppers.”
ByHeart, the company linked to a botulism outbreak in infants, shut down one of its manufacturing plants this year after federal investigators found a series of safety violations, including a leaking roof and hundreds of dead bugs where infant formula was produced.
Around 20 people gathered on Library Mall Friday afternoon to demand that University of Wisconsin-Madison leadership reject the Trump administration’s plan to give institutions preferential federal funding who agree to policy changes aligned with addressing their critique of higher education.
