Research

Rural communities are at the center of projects designed to alleviate food insecurity and restore marginalized communities’ rights to healthy, nutritious, and affordable food in Oklahoma. Missing from the literature is an understanding of rural food access and foodways – related to and independent of community food security and justice initiatives. Research questions address: food access strategies, personal foodways and food environments, dignity in food procurement, and the use of social media to obtain food.

In 2022, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that 11.1 percent of veterans aged 18-64 experienced food insecurity. When controlling for demographic characteristics, the report found that food insecurity among veterans is higher than among non-veterans by 7.4 percent. This project utilizes qualitative methods to understand the challenges and strategies used by veterans who need, seek, or use food assistance programs. 

The current use of Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) in food access and insecurity research maps low and very-low food access at the census tract level based on a 1, 10, and 20-mile radius. Building on this, I map out trends in food insecurity rates in Oklahoma over 10 years.