Although Maryland is one of the wealthiest states in the country, there are people in the state that experience food insecurity everyday. In Prince George’s county, where UMD is located, approximately 14% of the population is considered food insecure, 12.5% have diabetes, and 71.2% are obese or overweight. To help alleviate some of these issues related to food inequity in the county, students in the Environmental Science and Policy (ENSP) program, co-managed by AGNR along with two other colleges on campus, embarked on a capstone project to improve food security in Prince George’s County.
“The team used ArcGIS-web-based mapping software-to map the different types of food sources located throughout the county, thus creating a quantitative assessment of residents’ vulnerability to food insecurity throughout the county,” said Annette Spivy, instructor for the program.
The team also developed comprehensive policy recommendations to help address inequitable food access. Representatives from Prince George’s county had an idea about which populations in their jurisdiction were the most impacted by food insecurity, but some of the results from the capstone analysis were eye opening.
“One thing that was surprising to me was the high percentage of neighborhoods that they found that are food insecure,” said Fatimah Hasan, planner coordinator at Prince George’s County Planning Department. “I now see that we have a lot of what we call food swamps, where we have a lot of fast food. So that is significant...the correlation between chronic diseases in the county and the reliance on fast food.”
The project will have significant long-term impacts as county reps are using the findings to inform policy supporting food security and food equity needs. “I think that the report, along with other concurrent research and efforts, have led to a lot of efforts in food equity. One is called Produce Rx, which is a produce prescription program that links physicians and their patients with grocers like Giant and they can get a coupon for, say, $20 a week to go buy fruits and vegetables—that’s a free $20—so I would imagine that the Prince George’s County Food Equity Council might use the project maps to determine which physicians and areas to focus their work,” said Hasan.
“The opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary team and adapt is one of the greatest gains for me from this experience,” explained Jared Williams, student team leader. “Also, there’s a different expectation when you work for a client. Suddenly it’s not just about the grade; there’s something else at stake.”
This project represents a partnership with Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and the Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability program. The ENSP capstone is an experiential learning course where students spend one semester working in groups to conduct a sustainability-based project for a local client.
by Caroline Boules : Momentum Winter 2022