Providing improved access to farmers markets and other local food outlets for low-income audiences is an increasingly popular nutrition intervention strategy to promote consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and address obesity. The USDA encouraged more farm to fork initiatives and efforts to connect low-income populations with fresh and healthy, local foods through farmers markets through the implementation of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Nutrition Education (SNAP-Ed) provisions of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The purpose of this research was to assess the perceived barriers to farmers market access and strategies for overcoming those barriers for low-income individuals and families participating in Cooperative Extension nutrition programming. Data collection procedures included a survey of SNAP-Ed and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) program assistants, focus group discussions with SNAP-eligible individuals, and a photo elicitation study with mothers of young children. Results from these studies provide insight on how to structure program assistant trainings to encourage the inclusion of an optional farmers market orientation lesson in SNAP-Ed and EFNEP curricula; low-income individuals' perception of healthy food, access to and perception of local foods, benefits and barriers to shopping at farmers markets, and the impact of local foods on diet quality; and how to address perceived barriers through Cooperative Extension nutrition programming for the SNAP-Ed and ENFEP target population of SNAP-eligible mothers of young children. Working with farmers markets is an opportunity to form greater synergy between the arms of Extension (Family and Consumer Sciences, Community Viability, Agriculture and Natural Resources, and potentially 4-H) related to supporting local food systems while forming collaborative relationships with local farmers markets and community members. / Ph. D.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / László J. Kulcsár / In the United States, many are critical of agricultural policies and economic incentives that support large-scale food production and the dominant actors in the mainstream agrifood system. Critics point out that at the same time agribusinesses and very large-scale farmers receive support, there are those in poverty who struggle to meet their food needs. Critics question what that relationship should be between civil society and the agrifood system. A variety of activities are addressing concerns of social injustices in the system. For example, participation is increasing in civic and urban agriculture. Civic agriculture is the interrelated activities of small-scale, socially and environmentally sound practices of food production and consumption that aim to increase community sustainability. Urban agriculture is food production in and near cities. By focusing on Kansas and the Kansas City metropolitan area, this dissertation addresses the following questions: How do the relations between civil society and the U.S. agrifood system impact the level of fairness in the system? To what extent are urban agricultural activities fostering fairness in the agrifood system, including access to fresh foods, civic engagement, and fulfilling careers, while also benefiting the environmental health of the city? Survey and interview data collected by a research team on agriculture in Kansas sets the context for my examination of urban agriculture in Kansas City’s urban core. In addition to participant observations and primary and secondary data analysis, I conducted 38 semi-structured interviews with growers (27), food advocates (4), community organizers (4), and governmental employees (3). In Kansas City, many of the activities and programs in place are building community, strengthening civil society, and promoting food justice for the poor and for people of color, for example, in food deserts, which are locales where people particularly face challenges in meeting their food needs. While some participants are more focused on their immediate communities and less so on overt widespread change, others feel a part of a social movement aiming to change the agrifood system. Diverse people from various social classes and races are increasingly becoming involved in growing food and food advocacy to expand fairness in the system.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Hyung Jin Kim / Accessing healthy food can be a challenge for people living in both rural and urban environments. A broad range of factors influences one’s food security, including the accessibility and affordability of food retailers, travel time to shopping, availability of healthy foods, and food prices. The connections between planning and food systems have begun to emerge and be examined but planners face many barriers when tackling food system issues that range from turf problems, a lack of knowledge that any problem exists, to a lack of funds. The study purposes were to 1) identify areas with low access to healthy food sources; 2) discover barriers and perceptions of healthy food accessibility among community members; and 3) explore current planning policies and practices for increasing healthy food accessibility. The study area of this case is Riley County, Kansas, which has lower food accessibility especially to health foods in low income areas located in urban neighborhoods, even though rural areas are further away from a healthy food store. The research has the potential to inform the local food system framework and provide guidance for local policy makers and stakeholder groups. Surveys were collected from 150 households in order to identify challenges and barriers respondents face when obtaining healthy food. Food prices and low income were the largest barriers survey respondents faced when obtaining healthy food. Interviews conducted among 6 individuals from planning offices, market, and community stakeholder groups and both urban and rural issues were discussed. Currently, there is understanding of the importance of healthy food but little action that follows. There are opportunities for planners and policy makers to get involved with planning for the local food system. Partnerships must be established to share resources and technical skills among stakeholders in order to plan for healthy community food systems.

This paper addresses how food systems and transboundary food supply chains are mediated and shaped by (cross-) cultural and geopolitical borders that function as selective filters. We focus on the ways in which the political boundary in a formerly cohesive foodshed generates "edge effects" that affect (1) food safety, and (2) food waste, particularly in desert communities adjacent to the U.S.-Mexico border. We hypothesize that as these various boundary lines get "out of register" with one another, their dissonance creates both unexpected impacts as well as opportunities for positive change. This initial analysis demonstrates how multiple (and often permeable) social, economic, and ecological edges intersect with food supply chain vulnerabilities and economic opportunities at the border. Drawing on examples from food safety and food waste surrounding the "Ambos Nogales" port of entry on the Arizona-Sonora border, we document the ways in which the border produces ecological and social edge effects that are dissonant with the official legal boundary.

Adequate access to affordable, healthy food has long been a public health concern and has become a more pressing societal issue following the Great Recession and rising incidents of diet-related diseases. In response, research and government efforts have largely focused on identifying disadvantaged areas with poor food access and formulating policies to improve accessibility. However, the approaches that have been widely relied upon by researchers and practitioners for food access assessment are severely flawed, which may lead to inconsistent research findings or neglect of the needs of under-served/un-served neighborhoods. This dissertation identifies three important aspects of food access for improvement: the appropriate scale/neighborhoods for analysis, the use of food outlets as a proxy for affordable, healthy food; and the assessment method. In particular, three studies are conducted to: (1) examine how varying spatial scales and aggregation methods affect accessibility assessments; (2) explore the role of independent grocers, which have been neglected in previous food access studies as elements of the food landscape that may change the perception of food deserts; and (3) investigate how individual-level food access patterns compare to the widely used, area-based neighborhood measures of expected accessibility. While the dissertation discusses and addresses theoretical challenges in food access, the empirical studies conducted in the Tucson, Arizona metropolitan area contribute to a better understanding of the real-world complexity of food access. The results shed light on some predicaments identified in recent studies and have important policy implications for how best to efficiently and effectively design strategies and initiatives to enhance food-provision access.

This study examines the potential contribution market research could make to planning urban farm locations. Substantial research identifies access to healthy foods as a significant barrier for under-served communities. Under-served communities are those struggling with food insecurity, poor nutrition and poor community cohesion. Urban farm locations could be more strategically planned to connect healthy food access and other secondary benefits to these vulnerable communities. This market research based methodology is applied to Portland, Oregon, using GIS data to map where future urban farms should be placed. The final product of this study is a prioritized list of potentially suitable sites in Portland, Oregon, for a future urban farm. This methodology could be applied in other urban areas to increase access to healthy foods among under-served communities.

Background: College food insecurity (CFI) is a prevalent social justice and public health issue in the U.S. with the prevalence ranging between 15-59%. Though numerous quantitative studies were first conducted in the past decade, little qualitative research was conducted to assess CFI. Objective: To explore and deeply understand the contexts of CFI at a land-grant university in Kentucky. Methods: This qualitative study used a validated food insecurity survey tool and hour-long focus groups that were audio recorded and transcribed. Three theoretical models were combined into an adapted model and utilized for the thematic analysis. Results: Thirty-three students participated in one of eight different focus groups. Among participants, 72.7% were female, 81.9% were undergraduate students, and 63.6% were food insecure. Access-related themes included transportation, time-related issues, awareness of resources, coping strategies and suggestions for improvements; availability-related themes consisted of city- and campus-wide availability of food choices and coping strategies; utilization-related themes constituted dietary needs and coping strategies; and stability-related themes involved disrupted element(s) of food security and their effects on well-being and academics. Conclusion: All elements of food security need to be fulfilled to achieve a sustainable food security. For future CFI studies, the use of theoretical framework(s) is recommended.

Austin has residents that have health and nutrition issues that are linked to a lack of access to healthy foods. Some urban agriculture experts believe that one way to help mitigate the issue of access is to increase the amount of food that is produced locally. This report will look at planning issues involving food production, examine the amount of food that is being produce at farms located in Austin, make an inventory of available agricultural lands that have the potential for food growth, and make a basic calculation of how many people food from those lands could feed. / text

Being able to afford nutritionally complete food that provides energy and health, and continuing to have access to that food day after day after day, is a luxury that's missing from the lives of the 460,000 Central Texans who are classified as food insecure by the USDA. This project is an attempt to understand what the issues surrounding healthy food access in Austin are, and what the potential solutions might be. The three nonprofits that are profiled in this report - Urban Roots, Karpophoreō and Sprouting Healthy Kids - use education, community building, and advocacy to try to get closer to that goal of not only feeding Central Texans nutritious food, but changing the entire community's relationship with that food. / text

Food is something that we all need to survive but it is not something that we all have access to. In the mid 1990’s, a community-based movement arose to systematically address injustices in access to this basic human necessity. The community food security movement approaches issues of food security at each stage of the life cycle of food to ensure that each stage is sustainable, socially just, and equitable. This study uses this framework to challenge traditional notions of food security by critically examining the economic, social and environmental barriers to food equity in Austin, Texas. Austin is said to be one of the best cities to live in the United States, but not because it is food secure. This study therefore examines the food landscape of Travis County and the accessibility of food resources to meet the food needs of area residents. It utilizes a combination of quantitative analysis of food retail locations, focus groups and surveys to gather information about the food needs of underserved residents in Travis County. / text