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Indian-American student’s fight against hunger lands congressional internship
The 21-year-old said she moved campuses to operate in a region aligned with her interests.
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Anushka Pathak - Sat, 06, Dec 2025
- 15:09 EST
- 14
Rutgers senior Prachi Shashidhar serves up vegetable sambhar, a South Indian stew, in her parents' kitchen / Courtesy: Jeff Arban/Rutgers University
Indian-American student Prachi Shashidhar has taken her fight against hunger from Camden’s community kitchens to the halls of Congress, earning a 10-week Zero Hunger internship with the Congressional Hunger Center.
Selected from over 800 applicants, she worked with Oxfam America on research and strategic initiatives shaping federal anti-hunger policy.
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The internship included advocacy on Capitol Hill addressing domestic and global hunger issues, which she described as a defining experience. “Every part of it was amazing,” she told the university press. “We are assigned specific organizations where we work with and conduct research and support various initiatives at a very high level,” she said.
21-year-old Shashidhar, a Rutgers-New Brunswick senior, built her academic path around food and nutrition after arriving from Mason, Ohio, initially studying at Rutgers-Camden before transferring to Rutgers-New Brunswick to major in economics with a minor in culinary nutrition.
“I really wanted to be in the New Jersey-New York area mainly because of my interests relating to one of my biggest passions, which is food,” she said.
Her early work centered on Camden, which she referred to as “one of the largest food deserts” in New Jersey, where she established Cooking for Camden, a student-led initiative that produces meals for guests at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. She developed the project as part of a “First-Year Forum” course that mandated service-oriented community initiatives.
After transferring to New Brunswick, she broadened her academic focus toward economics, policy, and research. “Throughout my time here, I’ve been able to deepen my knowledge by attending office hours with professors conducting research in areas that excite me,” she said.
Alongside her advocacy work, she contributes as a food writer and recipe developer for Spoon University and The Gleaner, highlighting chefs, restaurants, and recipes across major cities.
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