COVID-19 and Urban Emergency Food Justice | GFF '22

This post is part of Destiny Treloar’s 2022 Global Food Fellowship.

COVID-19 and Emergency Food Justice:
Understanding chronically food insecure Latina/x/e women’s relationship with urban emergency food access in Hialeah, Florida

A picture of cacao, one of the fruits sorted at the food distribution in Hialeah.

A picture of some of the tropical fruits at a local farmers market in Hialeah where I volunteered.

A community fridge in Hialeah stocked with donated water that I stocked, organized, and cleaned during my volunteer work with Buddy System and Food Rescue. 

A photo/selfie of Destiny Treloar, right, and Te'Yah Wright (MEM student, class of 2023) volunteering at Holyoke's Farmers Market, aiding at the Healthy Incentive Program (HIP) informational booth. 

A close-up photograph of a bag of emergency food available at a food drive in Hialeah that I volunteered at. 

This summer, I’ve examined the complex elements of emergency food networks in two urban cities through the lenses of Latina/x/e women for my Master of Environmental science thesis at Yale School of Environment. I collected surveys, conducted interviews, engaged in participatory observations, and recorded the available emergency food outlets. As part of my data collection, I volunteered at several food outlets and community events, including farmers’ markets, food banks, soup kitchens, community fridges, and community gardens. My volunteering efforts were incredible opportunities to assist in food insecurity efforts in the community, as well as connect with folks about emergency food relief.

My mixed qualitative approaches revealed the interwoven crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, and climate crisis playing a significant role in emergency food outlet operations and provisions. I uncovered there were a host of barriers present to Latina/x/e women, indicating unequal dimensions of access to emergency food outlet systems. I ripped open the red tape around ‘free food’ offerings to determine the barriers Latina/x/e women encounter when accessing emergency food assistance programs. I also used this analysis to develop multi-faceted solutions to foster a more inclusive environment.

As a Nicaraguan woman, this was an incredible opportunity to connect with disenfranchised communities and dive deeper into the intersecting food issues prevalent in the broader food access system, with a particular focus on emergency food offerings. Examination of chronically food insecure Latina/x/e women is absolutely critical to advance the understanding of the systems of power within the emergency food access system that mitigates rates of food insecurity. This research would not be possible without the generous support of the Global Food Fellowship Program. I am honored to be able to answer my questions in the food justice realm.