The 2022 American Association of Geographers annual meeting was held online from Friday, Feb. 25 – Tuesday, March 1, and featured more than 4,500 presentations, posters, workshops, and field trips by leading scholars, experts, and researchers. Members of the Agroecology, Climate Resilience, and Food Justice (ACRAF) Lab presented their research on student food security and basic needs at SCU, local food justice responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, and diversification of smallholder farmers in Nicaragua. All posters are included at the bottom of this post.
Brooke Rose (Environmental Studies, Sociology ‘22) presented her poster “A Regional Food Justice Response to Farmers and Families during COVID-19,” which analyzes the Farm Fresh Food Relief (FFFR) initiative, an emergency food response program to the COVID-19 pandemic and Northern California wildfires. A part of the conference that she enjoyed was engaging with new people: “Some of my favorite interactions at the conference were getting to talk with researchers, especially other undergraduate students. In the midst of all the environmental issues our world is facing, connecting with people with the same passion and desire to find solutions was impactful and made me feel like I was a part of something bigger than myself.” Ava Gleicher (Environmental Studies, Political Science ‘22) had a similar experience at the conference, saying “I was struck by the sheer quantity of geographers in attendance and the breadth of their research—I attended a session completely outside of my wheelhouse, and I greatly enjoyed hearing about how far and wide this community’s impact is.” Gleicher presented “Bridging Food Access and Food Justice Initiatives: A Pilot Study with a Home Gardening Program and Food Pantry,” showcasing research done in collaboration with Sacred Heart Community Service that integrates direct food distribution and urban gardening programs, which facilitates food sovereignty in the long-term, while also alleviating immediate hunger.
Posters:
A Regional Food Justice Response to Farmers and Families during COVID-19
Description: Despite being one of the wealthiest regions in the U.S., the Bay Area is home to hundreds of thousands of people who experience food insecurity and lack access to healthy food. Like other indicators of health, there are troubling racial and economic disparities in healthy food access, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, our project partner Fresh Approach and other non-profit organizations secured USDA contracts to develop an alternative model to the conventional approach of large distributors and food banks.
Description: Direct food distribution may alleviate community members’ immediate food insecurity, but it ignores—and even directly contradicts—community members’ deeper desire for food sovereignty, in which they may produce, distribute, and consume culturally-relevant and healthy food. This community-based research project aims to integrate direct food distribution and urban gardening programs to improve the sustainability of emergency food assistance, creating a system that facilitates food sovereignty long-term, while alleviating immediate hunger.
Description: Within just two weeks, Central America endured two late-season Category 4 hurricanes. On November 3rd, 2020, Hurricane Eta made landfall along Nicaragua’s northern Caribbean coast. On the 17th of the same month, Hurricane Iota brought further devastation, landing a mere 15 miles further south than Eta. This poster presents a spatial analysis of the intensity and movement of both hurricanes across Nicaragua. We will share a preliminary analysis of vulnerability and impacts focusing on crop devastation and landslides in northern and central Nicaragua.
A Student Assessment of Food Security and Sovereignty as Universities Respond to COVID-19
Description: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly exacerbated student food insecurity on college campuses, and campus food pantries have experienced difficulties meeting demand. These challenges are heightened by persistent patterns of racial and economic disparities among students and by social stigmas that limit discussions of potential responses. Utilizing a survey with over 550 participants conducted in fall 2020, the team studied the scope of food insecurity at SCU.