WEBSITE Degrees
M.Phil Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies B.S. Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
About
I’m a 4th year doctoral candidate broadly interested in sustainability within the U.S. context. I work at the intersection of food studies and sustainable consumption. I take a systemic approach and mainly focus on the process of transitioning to sustainable forms of food production and consumption. Both my research training and teaching experience bridge the social and natural sciences.
My doctoral committee members are Karen Hébert (chair, Yale), John Wargo (Yale), and Juliet Schor (Boston College). My dissertation research uses the New Haven school food network to explore how and to what extent farm-to-school programs affect agriculture and food practices. Farm-to-school (FTS) initiatives associated with the National School Lunch Program are part of a broader movement to create a sustainable food system by reducing the physical and social distance between producers and consumers. American schools serve over seven billion meals annually, thereby presenting a potentially powerful avenue for promoting sustainable agriculture and food practices.
Over the past three years, New Haven Public Schools have transitioned from reheating pre-processed meals to cooking meals from scratch with nutritious ingredients, preferably sourced from local farms. Despite being a poor school district in a state with a short growing season, New Haven has become a leader in the national farm-to-school movement. My research addresses the factors that led to the initiation of New Haven’s FTS program, but primarily highlights the dynamics behind the implementation and development of the program. My field research focuses on three core constituencies: (1) food producers (farmers and distributors), (2) food preparers (processors and food service staff), and (3) food consumers (students).
