Food Freedom: A Critical Community Engagement Project In Food Access Programming
Presenter: Abby OBrien
Faculty Sponsor: Ellen Correa
School: UMass Amherst
Research Area: Public Health and Epidemiology
Session: Poster Session 1, 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM, Auditorium, A35
ABSTRACT
Food insecurity is defined as the inability to access affordable, healthy food required to live fulfilling lives (Feeding America, 2026; Odoms-Young et al., 2024). Of the estimated 343 million people in the United States, 47 million face food insecurity each year, 13 million of which are children, and millions more are excluded from this term, but still need additional government or nonprofit support (Census Bureau, 2025; Feeding America, 2026). In Massachusetts, over one-third of adults are facing food insecurity, with Western Massachusetts and Boston experiencing the greatest burden (GBFB, 2025; GBFB, 2026). Income, cost of living, food deserts, and health status are factors that play a role in food insecurity (Feeding America, 2026). Each of these factors stems from systems that perpetuate this problem, including institutional racism, capitalism, and government policies (Nesoff, 2022). To address food insecurity in Massachusetts, I partnered with Just Roots community farm in Greenfield, MA, specifically with their program engagement team, to increase community engagement in their high SNAP-enrolled Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and Farm-to-Family program. The key components include researching accessible, vegetable-based recipes, designing Three Season CSA digital vegetable guides, organizing feedback survey data, and writing a literature review for use in grant proposals, along with occasional event support and on-site work to gain a better understanding of the organization’s mission. My goal is to increase participation in events and resources, participant retention, and effective use of produce through accessible recipes and guides to help make consumption of the produce affordable and prevent waste.