Food Security Commons^™

Food System Resilience In Nigeria: Farmers Perspective, Azariah Lawal

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Disturbances are inherent in every socio-ecological system (SES). However, the spate and scope of upheavals in contemporary SES has increased dramatically in recent years. Agricultural systems are perhaps the most impacted when disasters occur because different aspects of agricultural production are directly affected. The burgeoning farmers-Fulani herdsmen conflict in West Africa is a manifestation of these challenges. When faced with events like these, contemporary food systems are faced with two options: collapse or transform. It is essential to have resilient agricultural systems because these systems lie at the nexus of resolving emerging global issues.

Nigeria is an important country in …

Assessment Of Grain Safety In Developing Nations, Jose R. Mendoza

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Grains are the most widely consumed foods worldwide, with maize (Zea mays) being frequently consumed in developing countries where it feeds approximately 900 million people under the poverty line of 2 USD per day. While grain handling practices are acceptable in most developed nations, many developing nations still face challenges such as inadequate field management, drying, and storage. Faulty grain handling along with unavoidably humid climates result in recurrent fungal growth and spoilage, which compromises both the end-quality and safety of the harvest. This becomes particularly problematic where there is little awareness about health risks associated with poor …

Detroit Food Metrics Report 2019, Alex B. Hill

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

This report provides a snapshot of data and information on Detroit’s food system as well as trends over time. The report includes a broad range of programs and initiatives that local organizations, the Detroit Food Policy Council, and the City of Detroit are undertaking to address food insecurity, increase healthy food access and awareness, and support a more sustainable and just food system.

The Impact Of Dietary Egg Intake On Metabolic Health In Food Insecure Households, Sam Walker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food Insecurity (FI) is defined as a condition in which individuals lack access to adequate food due to limited financial resources. FI is estimated to impact 12% of households in United States. Adults and children who experience FI are an increased risk for developing metabolic disease such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. The negative health outcomes associated with FI are multi-factorial, however, many of them may be caused by limited nutritional intake and poor diet quality. Efforts to better understand the obstacles food insecure populations face is critical in order to improve nutrient intake and minimize …

What Does A "Just" Local Food System Look Like? Views From Worcester In A Changing Climate, Marguerite Cawley

Capstone Collection

Food and climate are closely intertwined, with the high-emissions U.S. industrial food system contributing to climate change, while a changing climate produces new food system vulnerabilities, which will particularly impact those of the least means. This research is premised on the need to transform our food system, and to define what this vision looks like at the local level, while centering questions of power, justice and rights. It explores how groups, organizations and individuals engaged in local food system change envision transformation and understand corresponding social justice concerns, in a changing climate. It looks at opportunities for food and climate …

Redesigning Our Conception Of Local Food Utilizing A Value-Based Approach, Heather Riesenberg

Sustainability and Social Justice

The goal of this study was to design a new method of evaluating and building local food systems which is based on a new conception of how we view local food. Beginning with a review of the current literature on how local food is defined and its apparent goals, I begin to pick apart the dated idea that local needs not be more complex than the 400-mile limit offered by the USDA. Utilizing the literature review, I bring together a host of values that local food seems to (want to) embody and use these to form a pathway toward the …

Food Accessibility Related To Double Your Dollar Program, Julia Carlson

Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Double Your Dollar (DYD) Program is a program that gives Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries and Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) participants match dollars to spend at local farmers markets. Users are able to spend these dollars on fruits, vegetables, eggs, meats, dairy, jam/jelly, honey and food producing plants. DYD’s goal is to incentivize healthy eating among individuals of low income, promote local purchases, and increase spending at farmers markets. Food insecurity effects over 60,000 individuals in Washington and Benton county. With food accessibility being an area of concern in Northwest Arkansas, programs like SNAP and SFMNP …

Do Recipients Of Cash Transfer Scheme Make The Right Decisions On Household Food Expenditure? A Study From A Rural District In Pakistan, Aminah Jahangir, Shehla Zaidi, Jai K. Das, Shifa Habib

Community Health Sciences

Objective: To assess spending by beneficiaries of Benazir Income Support Programme on monthly food commodities, and contribution of the cash grant programme on purchase of nutritious foods.
Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional survey of households enrolled in the Benazir Income Support Programme was conducted during July and August, 2013, in Matiari district of the Sindh province of Pakistan. Monthly household food expenditure on food commodities and use of the cash grant on type of food purchased was assessed through structured interviews of the beneficiaries. Results were computed in 2013 Pak rupees and converted to 2018 United States dollar. Women beneficiaries were …

Fighting Waste And Feeding People: Exploring The Context Of Campus Food Waste And Student Recovery Efforts, Sarah Becker, Max Stout, Maddie Kuklentz, Savona Cerra

Environment and Sustainability Presentations

Wismer on Wheels is dedicated to our mission of not only reducing food waste on campus, but also reducing food insecurity in our wider community. The work of our team of over 35 student volunteers reflects that dedication. This past year we became the official Food Recovery Network chapter for Ursinus, broadened outreach efforts on- and off-campus, and boosted food waste education, all while recovering unprecedented quantities of food. In this presentation, we celebrate the accomplishments of our dedicated volunteers while exploring deeper questions about food waste on the Ursinus campus. Why are we seeing such massive food recovery numbers …

Food Frights: Covid-19 And The Specter Of Hunger, Maggie Dickinson

Publications and Research

Worries over widespread food shortages in the first few weeks of the COVID-19 lockdowns in the United States eclipsed the real hunger crisis on the horizon—one intimately tied to already existing inequalities. In the midst of the pandemic, the specter of hunger is haunting the same people it always has—the poor, the undocumented, low wage workers, the un- and under employed. It is not our supply systems that are breaking down and causing hunger, but our systems for ensuring people can access the food that exists which have been broken for a long time.

Sin Acceso A Alimentos Seguros, Saludables Y Económicos: El Modelo Agroindustrial Dominante Y Sus Efectos En Los Consumidores En Salta, Argentina / Without Access To Safe, Healthy, And Affordable Food: The Dominant Agroindustrial Model And Its Effects On Consumers In Salta, Argentina, Sara Paulsen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper analyzes the effects of the hegemonic food system on low income consumers in Salta, Argentina. Results from previous literature indicate a relationship between the dominant agroindustrial model in Argentina and the concentration of power in the food production system. This paper seeks to contextualize the reports of malnutrition in Salta, a province in northwest Argentina, within larger social, cultural, and nutritional trends. To answer the question of how the hegemonic food system affects access to safe, healthy, and affordable food in Salta, I analyzed reports of various health outcomes (including malnutrition, cancer, birth defects, and obesity) and contextualized …

Los Comedores Populares Argentinos En Tiempos Del Covid-19: El Rol De Los Comedores Durante La Pandemia: El Sistema Alimentario Y La Acción Del Gobierno Argentino, Katrina Frei-Herrmann

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Durante la pandemia mundial de COVID-19 a principios del 2020, muchos países enfrentaron enormes desafíos desde el punto de vista económico y de salud pública. Argentina tomó las medidas rápidas y drásticas para combatir la propagación del virus, que incluyó un largo período de cuarentena con controles muy estrictos. Esto llevó a un alto costo económico en el cual muchos trabajadores perdieron sus empleos y fuentes de ingresos. Como resultado, un creciente número de personas debieron depender de ayuda de instituciones sociales para sobrevivir o atender sus necesidades básicas como el alimento. Los comedores populares – que han existido desde …

Alimentando A México: Los Movimientos Indígenas Y Agrícolas Contra Las Políticas Neoliberales, Sofia Buchler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Para analizar la complejidad de la agricultura en México en este momento, es necesario analizar las políticas neoliberales de México. El Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (TLCAN) marca un punto de inflexión para la privatización de las tierras agrícolas y los cambios de la dieta mexicana. Las políticas de los últimos cuarenta años han destruido la dieta de la milpa en México y la tradición del policultivo. Los cambios en la agricultura han destruido el suelo, y forzado a los pequeños agricultores a abandonar sus tierras y buscar trabajos diferentes. Hay una gran historia de resistencia indígena …

The Impact Of Income On Nutrition: A Case Study Of Northern Mozambique, Hunter Swanigan, Lawton Lanier Nalley

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

In 2017, Mozambique ranked as one of the least developed countries in the world by measures of health, education, and income. With a minimal annual income, purchasing adequate food to meet recommended levels of nutrients for a healthy diet is difficult, leaving 40% of the country undernourished. This study analyzed what foods are available during the dry months (hungry season) of May through October in the Nampula province of Mozambique to determine if it is possible to meet recommended levels of nutrients from purchasing and growing food. Three different levels of income were used to determine what percentage of the …

Food Deserts In Urban Areas, Regina Bellian

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

This paper illustrates the issue of food deserts faced by urban areas in three parts. Part one focuses on defining food deserts and what exactly the term denotes as well as who is affected by their present existence socially, physically, and economically. Part two presents research on some of the current policies and programs in place to address the issue of food deserts and discusses a few of the difficulties in implementing them. These approaches are then further analyzed for effectiveness in varying regions. Part three explores a handful of alternative methods to combat this urban issue in order to …

The United Nations Declaration On The Rights Of Peasants And Other People Working In Rural Areas, Marc Edelman, Priscilla Claeys

Publications and Research

In December 2018, the United Nations adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. UNDROP is the product of 17 years of struggle by La Via Campesina, other transnational agrarian movements and allies that included NGOs, states, UN mandate holders, and academics. It recognises the dignity of rural populations, their contributions to global food production, and their ‘special relationship’ to land, water and nature, as well as their vulnerabilities to eviction, hazardous working conditions and political repression. It reiterates rights protected in other instruments and sets new standards for individual and collective rights …

Innovative Collaboration To Further Community Self-Determination, Matthew Currie, Amaha Sellassie

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The built urban environment is the product of more than a century of policy decisions that have both intentionally discriminated and have had the effect of discriminating, against African Americas, immigrants, the work class, low income individuals and other undesirables. While more than fifty years have passed since the passage of civil rights legislation in the United States, individuals in today’s cities are living out our discriminatory legacy.

In Dayton, Ohio, a new movement has risen from the community to disrupt the legacy of de jure and de facto discrimination by the collaborative efforts of the impactive individuals, neighborhood leaders, …

On The Path To A Resilient Urban Food System In A Rural State: A Mixed-Method Needs Assessment Of Urban Producers And County Extension Agents In Arkansas, Catherine Elizabeth Dobbins

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project utilized a mixed-method needs assessment approach to urban agriculture in Arkansas, a predominately-rural state. Chapter II was a qualitative study, using semi-structured, in-depth interviews, that investigated the perceptions, needs, and experiences of Arkansas urban farmers and their interactions with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service (CES). Interviews were conducted with 16 urban farmers in Northwest and Central Arkansas. The interview data revealed individualized needs based on the size, years in operation, and mission of each urban farmer interviewed. General needs were determined, such as market pricing, co-ops, and access to appropriate equipment, but generally …

Food Insecurity Awareness, Acknowledgment, And Actions On A University Campus, Heather Adams

Undergraduate Research Conference

The purpose of this pilot study was to understand student awareness of food insecurities. Subjects for the study were students enrolled in a Foundations in Human Sciences course at a university located in East Texas (n=55). Students were asked to complete an online survey concerning knowledge of food insecurities, impacts of budgeting on food buying, previous personal food insecurity, skipped or had less nutritious meals due to the cost, and the food pantry on campus.

Food Pantries And Stigma: Users’ Concerns And Public Support, Peter A. Kindle, Mckayla Foust-Newton, Marissa Reis, Margaret Gell

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

This study compares the perception of stigma measured as social distance between users (n = 40) and non-users (n = 202) of local food pantries in the Upper Midwest. Utilizing the concept of social distance to measure social disapproval and stigma with a new Food Pantry Stigma Scale, these nonprobability results indicated that users’ perception of stigma was significantly higher than the non-using public (Cohen’s d = 1.56). These findings suggest that public support for need-based use of local food pantries in the Upper Midwest is substantially higher than those facing food insecurity anticipate.

Food Deserts In Poor, Urban Areas, Isha Naik

Petersheim Academic Exposition

No abstract provided.

Criar Y Dejarse Criar: Trans-Situ Crop Conservation And Indigenous Landscape Management Through A Network Of Global Food Neighborhoods, Cass Madden

Capstone Collection

As climate change progresses, global food security is likely to become increasingly threatened and crop biodiversity will be a significant source of resiliency and adaptability. However, these adaptations will only be fully realized through cooperative in situ and ex situ conservation and cultivation of domesticated crops, crop wild relatives, and wild foods. This conservation is best realized in places where communities have the cultural resources to invest meaningfully in the cultivation of native crops, and where the cultivation of those crops can reinforce place-specific livelihoods and identities. To this end, the principal objective of this research is to propose a …

The Role Of Place In Community Cooperative Food Markets In Lexington, Kentucky, Emily Rodes Spencer

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Food justice movements focus on providing communities with local, sustainable, culturally appropriate, healthy food while empowering local economic systems that allow for autonomy of both producers and consumers (Caruso, C., 2014; Cadieux, K., 2015; Hayes, C. & Carbone, E., 2015). However, current food justice movements often price out and leave behind large portions of the population. Research has shown that engagement with local food systems contribute to feelings of place attachment and a sense of place (Solin, J., 2017; Alkon, A., 2011). The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between volunteers at two alternative, cooperative community food …

Farm To Label: A Critique Of Consumer Activism In The Sustainable Food Movement, Olivia Whitener

Pomona Senior Theses

“Local,” “organic,” “natural,” and “Fairtrade” are just several of the many claims adorning the food products that line grocery store shelves. These promises of environmental sustainability and social responsibility are pillars of the “good food revolution” sweeping the nation as consumers demand alternatives to the products of the industrial food system. Green consumerism, the premise that consumer demand for environmentally sustainable goods will bring about ecologically beneficial outcomes, is at the heart of the sustainable food movement. This thesis takes a critical look at the operation of green consumerism in the food system. It explores the ideology and shortcomings of …

Detroit Food Metrics Report 2018, Alex B. Hill, Amy Kuras

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

This report provides a snapshot of data and information on Detroit’s food system as well as trends over time. The report includes a broad range of programs and initiatives that local organizations, the Detroit Food Policy Council, and the City of Detroit are undertaking to address food insecurity, increase healthy food access and awareness, and support a more sustainable and just food system.

Using Social Media To Assess The Consumer Nutrition Environment: Comparing Yelp Reviews With A Direct Observation Audit Instrument For Grocery Stores, Ying Shen, Philippa Clarke, Iris N. Gomez-Lopez, Alex B. Hill, Daniel M. Romero, Robert Goodspeed, Veronica J. Berrocal, Vg Vinod Vydiswaran, Tiffany C. Veinot

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

Objective
To examine the feasibility of using social media to assess the consumer nutrition environment by comparing sentiment expressed in Yelp reviews with information obtained from a direct observation audit instrument for grocery stores.

Design
Trained raters used the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey in Stores (NEMS-S) in 100 grocery stores from July 2015 to March 2016. Yelp reviews were available for sixty-nine of these stores and were retrieved in February 2017 using the Yelp Application Program Interface. A sentiment analysis was conducted to quantify the perceptions of the consumer nutrition environment in the review text. Pearson correlation coefficients (ρ) were …

Justice Served Fresh: Associations Between Food Insecurity, Community Gardening, And Property Value, Micajah Daniels, Courtney Coughenour Ph.D

McNair Poster Presentations

Numerous stakeholders in Nevada have used a variety of efforts to combat the growth of food insecurity facing Nevadans. The purpose of this research project is to understand the association between food insecurity, community gardens, and property value. Following the wealth of scholarship on these topics and data collected from community garden agencies in Southern Nevada, the research questions for this project include: (1) Where are community gardens located in SNV? (2) What efforts community gardens agencies are doing to address food insecurity (most interested in their efforts using community gardens)? (3) What are the perceptions of supports and barriers …

Boosting Demand For Biofortified Foods: The Case Of Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato Bread In Tamale, Ghana, Tchassanty Ouro-Gbeleou

Master's Theses

Abstract: In the context of introducing biofortification of staple crops as a food-based approach to combat micronutrient malnutrition in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), we carried out a survey in Tamale, Ghana to elicit consumers’ preference of and willingness to pay for one of the highly nutritious biofortified staple crop processed product: the Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) bread. Our results indicate that scores of respondents in the sample show preference for OFSP bread. The most important determinants of OFSP bread preference are its sweet taste and soft texture and consumers are willing to pay 0.634 pesewas more for the attribute …

Peer Support And Food Security In Deaf College Students, Brianna Celeste Keogh

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

Objective: This paper investigates the role of peer support in food security among deaf college students. Participants: The sample included 166 college students who took the survey between May and October 2017. Methods: Participants completed a bilingual online survey in ASL and English. This survey included questions about peer support, the USDA’s 6-item food security module, and sociodemographic characteristics. Results: Out of 166 students (mean age=23; SD=6), 60.7% were food secure. About 26.4% (n= 43) were at-risk for food insecurity and another 12.9% (n=21) had very low food security. The sample included respondents who identified as people of color (54%) …

The Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center Giving Garden At Coogan Farm: A Practitioner Report On Community Gardens For Health And Regional Food Security, Emma Sutphen

Sustainability and Social Justice

The Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center (DPNC) is a community organization that, through its various programming, works to perpetuate a vision of humans as part and parcel of the world. In 2013, when the Nature Center acquired the Coogan Farm property, the organization built a community garden called the Giving Garden to serve surrounding communities, expanding services to the foodservice sector educational programming around sustainable agriculture. DPNC’s partnership with the Robert G. Youngs Family Foundation, United Way of Southeastern Connecticut, and Gemma E. Moran mobile food pantry, forged in 2014, has allowed the garden to minimize area food insecurity through its …