The primary purposes of this dissertation were to (i) assess and identify post-industrial urban neighborhoods with food-insecure and vulnerable populations, and (ii) explore and analyze the role of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in addressing place-based food insecurity. The study used mixed-methods, including qualitative GIS, statistical tests, surveys, interviews, and field observations. A food justice theoretical framework was used to develop a Place-Based Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Index (PFIVI), which factored together 33 variables to measure six indicators. The study applied this index in the City of Philadelphia and then examined three types of interventions that NPOs embark on - providing hunger relief, providing healthy and affordable food through the alternative food movement, and offering food-based programs and events tied with community capacity building efforts. Statistical relationships between PFIVI scores and NPO-driven programs showed spatial mismatch issues between the programs and community needs in some neighborhoods. This research also highlighted other limitations of these programs and the challenges that NPOs face both on- and above-the-ground. While the NPOs are trying hard to promote food justice through their mission statements, advocacy, outreach, and on-the-ground programs, the city may have only partially achieved this goal. A lot more needs to be done by strengthening organizational networks, strengthening social networks with community residents, and offering healthy but affordable food in disadvantaged neighborhoods, and NPOs alone should not bear these responsibilities. / Geography

Study purpose. The study examined race and racial diversity in community gardens located in Southern urban food deserts, as well as the capacity of community gardens to generate social capital and promote social justice. Methods. A mixed-methods approach was used to describe characteristics of gardeners and community gardens located in urban food deserts, and test Social Capital Theory hypotheses. A convenience sample of 60 gardeners from 10 community gardens was obtained. Data was collected using surveys and semi-structured interviews. Analyses. Univariate and bivariate statistics were used to describe gardeners and gardens. Leader rationales for garden characteristics were analyzed using thematic analysis. Cross-level analyses were used to examine individual and organizational characteristics on gardeners’ social capital in multivariate regression models. Results. Gardeners were racially diverse across the sample; however most community gardens were racially segregated. The majority of gardeners also appeared to be middle-class. This study indicated that community gardens could indirectly enhance community food security, largely through the efforts of people of color, and less so directly as few gardeners involved were food insecure. Community gardens also exhibited limited potential to advance social justice, based on the few resources that could potentially be exchanged between gardeners. Implications. This study calls for: greater dialogue around gentrification concerns; the development of culturally appropriate engagement sensitive to historical trauma rooted in slavery; increased focus on entrepreneurial opportunities; and, obtaining the missing voices – those from non-participating low-income residents – to better understand how to create community gardens located in food deserts that benefit multiple communities.

This Senior Thesis in Environmental Analysis seeks to explore the ways in which certain food-oriented programs for incarcerated women and women on parole critically resist the Prison Industrial Complex and the Industrial Food System by securing social and ecological equity through the acquisition of food justice. It focuses on three case studies: the Crossroads’ Meatless Mondays program, Fallen Fruit from Rising Women: A Crossroads Social Enterprise, and Cultivating Dreams Prison Garden Project: An Organic Garden for Women in Prison. Each project utilizes food as a tool to build community, provide valuable skill sets of cooking and gardening, and educate women about the social, environmental and political implications of the Industrial Food System. Overall, the goal of this thesis is to prove the necessity of food justice programs in the criminal justice system in counteracting the disenfranchisement of certain populations that are continuously discriminated against in the industrialized systems of prison and food.

A shortage of academic literature exists on North American backyard chicken (BYC) keeping. This is particularly apparent when we ask why people keep backyard chickens in North American cities. This thesis examines individuals’ motivations and lived experiences with raising non-permitted BYC within the City of Winnipeg, using a phenomenological approach and Hanisch’s (2006) the Personal is Political theoretical perspective. Participants were motivated to keep BYC for food production, learning opportunities, leisure and companionship. Motivations were personal and often partly political. Sources of satisfaction derived from keeping BYC included food products, by-products and production, increased sense of connection, enjoyment, leisure, entertainment and companionship, learning opportunities, and doing what felt right. Fear of being found out, isolation and negative stereotypes were challenges experienced. Should the existing bylaw change, permitting BYC on residential Winnipeg properties, participants recommended imposing BYC-specific regulations and public education as a way of addressing concerns and mitigating potential issues. / October 2015

This exploratory research focuses on identifying the roles and perspectives of community gardens in the Dallas area. Results from semi-structured interviews reveal the social and political makeup of the neighborhoods where the garden projects in this study are located. While these findings highlight the benefits of gardening in the city, they can also be contested spaces. In advocating for the proliferation of garden projects in the city, community organizations would benefit from understanding the nuances of garden initiatives and the way in which they are perceived by members of the garden, nearby residents, and policy makers.

No description available.

Comment comprendre les effets du chlordécone sur les citoyens français de Guadeloupe, dans une perspective postcoloniale? L’histoire de la Guadeloupe étant dans le passé une colonie française, où l’esclavage était pratiqué, a encore des conséquences aujourd’hui. La gestion de la France de ce qui est désormais considéré comme une région, ou encore un outre-mer, décèle certaines particularités. L’usage du chlordécone, un pesticide toxique, fait partie de ces particularités de l’histoire de la gestion française de la Guadeloupe. Ce mémoire a pour objectif de mettre en lumière la lecture que se font les citoyens français de la Guadeloupe du phénomène de la crise du chlordécone, et comment cela affecte leur quotidien, leur identité citoyenne, et leur sentiment d’appartenance. La spécificité de ce mémoire réside dans le terrain effectué auprès de citoyens non politisés français de Guadeloupe. Effectivement, nous avons mené une étude en ayant pour but d’analyser l’expérience des Guadeloupéens, qui vivent de façon constante en Guadeloupe avec le problème du chlordécone. Nous avons mené des entretiens semi-directifs, en soumettant une série de questions à neuf participants. Le guide d’entretien regroupe trois thèmes : l’alimentation et les effets sur la vie quotidienne des citoyens, les stratégies collectives ou individuelles pour répondre à ces effets, et la construction de leur identité française et de leurs appartenances autour de ces thématiques. Les résultats de ce terrain permettent d’inscrire le chlordécone dans l’ensemble plus large de la mauvaise gestion politique de la France et des élus locaux. La majorité des participants ne s’identifient pas à leur citoyenneté française, et ce en raison de la culture qui les sépare, de différentes injustices (dont le chlordécone), le manque de confiance en l’État français, et de l’environnement (l’île étant très différente de la France hexagonale). Les effets du chlordécone sont très présents dans le quotidien des participants, et ce, de façon consciente et inconsciente. Leurs habitudes alimentaires, leurs stratégies d’achat, et leur santé sont des aspects du quotidien des Guadeloupéens qui sont affectés. Un aspect particulièrement intéressant de cette recherche est l’effet psychologique du chlordécone. Tous les participants se considèrent comme contaminés, et ce, même sans avoir fait d’examens médicaux. Les études étant minimes sur les effets sur la santé, de nombreuses questions minent les participants. Toutefois, bien que les participants ne soient pas forcément au courant des mesures prises par l’État pour résoudre le problème du chlordécone, il en existe et des budgets sont alloués pour cela. Ainsi, comme certains l’ont évoqué, la résolution de la crise, et le futur de la Guadeloupe sont entre les mains de l’action citoyenne. / How to understand the effects of chlordecone on the French citizens of Guadeloupe, from a postcolonial perspective? The history of Guadeloupe being a former French colony, where slavery was practised, still has consequences today. France's management of what is now considered a region, or even an overseas territory, reveals certain particularities. The use of chlordecone, a toxic pesticide, is one of these peculiarities in the history of French management of Guadeloupe. This dissertation attempts to shed light on the reading that French citizens of Guadeloupe have of the phenomenon of the chlordecone crisis, and how this affects their daily lives, their civic identity, and their feelings of belonging. The specificity of this thesis lies in the fieldwork carried out with non-politicized French citizens of Guadeloupe. Indeed, I conducted a study with the aim of analyzing the experience of Guadeloupeans, who live constantly in Guadeloupe with the problem of chlordecone. I conducted semi-structured interviews, submitting a series of questions to nine participants. The interview guide brings together three themes: food and the effects on the daily life of citizens, collective or individual strategies to respond to these effects, and the construction of their French identity, and their affiliations around these themes. The results of this field make it possible to include chlordecone in the broader whole of the political mismanagement of France and local elected officials. The majority of participants do not identify with their French citizenship, due to the culture that separates them, various injustices (including chlordecone), lack of trust in the French state, and the environment (the island being very different from mainland France). The effects of chlordecone are very present in the daily lives of the participants, both consciously and unconsciously. This is reflected in their eating habits, in their purchasing strategies, and in their health and that of their loved ones. A particularly interesting aspect of this research is the psychological effect of chlordecone. All the participants consider themselves contaminated, even without having done any tests. With minimal studies on health effects, many questions plague participants. However, although the participants are not necessarily aware of the measures taken by the State to solve the problem of chlordecone, there are some and budgets are allocated for it. Thus, as some have mentioned, the resolution of the crisis, and the future of Guadeloupe are in the hands of citizen action.

No description available.

TreePeople is a Los Angeles based non-profit organization that uses environmental education, initiatives, and programs to engage with the greater community to work towards the goal of a sustainable future for Los Angeles. The Fruit Tree Program is one of TreePeople’s longest running programs of 29 years, which distributes free bare-root fruit trees to economically disadvantaged communities as a source of fresh fruit and the other environmental benefits that trees offer. This paper is a comprehensive report detailing the history of the program and the impacts it has had on communities across Los Angeles County. Looking at three communities in Los Angeles and interviewing key community members from these communities, I identified the impacts that the program has had on addressing important urban environmental concerns and facilitating community development.

<p>This dissertation is a policy driven ethnography of smallholder and alternative farmers in Indiana that centers food justice and utilizes interdisciplinary frameworks to analyze the adaptive strategies that farmers use to address the specific challenges they face. Through the implementation of adaptive strategies such as regenerative growing practices, the cultivation of community, stewardship of the land, and an emphasis on transparency, the smallholders I worked with over the course of this study negotiate complex agricultural spaces and build the resilience of their farmsteads and the communities they serve. Smallholder and alternative farmers in Indiana are reimagining the agricultural spaces they occupy and driving transformational change of dominant narratives and local food systems. Critiques of conventional agriculture and commodity production are not intended to reify binary perceptions of the agricultural paradigm, but rather to demonstrate that the critical role of smallholder and alternatives farmers should be valued as well. </p> <p> </p> <p>This research draws on four years of ethnographic research, archival sources, and close readings of policy measures and media reports to illuminate the historical context that has positioned smallholders in juxtaposition to large-scale conventional agriculture, and the critical role of smallholder farmers in driving food systems change while centering food justice and community resiliency. The driving research questions for the following essays follow: Why have small scale and alternative farmers chosen to farm (and farm differently)? What specific challenges do they face and how might these challenges be better addressed by existing support systems and new legislation? What can be learned from the alternative narratives and reimagined spaces smallholder farmers engage with? This work joins the growing body of research that challenges agricultural meta-narratives by presenting a counter-narrative of smallholder resilience and the <i>a priori</i> notion that posits agricultural technology as a panacea for everything from world hunger to economics to environmental concerns. </p>