Above: 30th Class Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow Zhara Edwards.
Having lived in and around the Greater Cleveland area in Northeast Ohio, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I came to Washington, D.C. Cleveland had been one of the largest cities I had ever been in, and I had this idealized picture of what the capital of the United States would be like. Throughout my personal experiences and experiences at my field placement, D.C. Hunger Solutions, I found that the issues that I had seen back home existed in D.C. as well. I learned so much about how historical and structural disinvestment and discrimination have impacted residents of color, and it mirrored what people were experiencing back home. Research and policy go hand in hand, and my work at D.C. Hunger Solutions made that glaringly clear. When I came to work with D.C. Office of Planning’s Food Policy Team in the spring, I spent time further learning about the policies that impact college students and their access to food and federal nutrition programs.
In the Fall, I spent time writing D.C. Hunger Solutions’ inaugural 2024 Racial Equity Report that further explored how racial inequities and historical disinvestment of communities of color have impacted the hunger landscape for families in the District. D.C. is split into eight wards, with only Wards 7 and 8 being primarily East of the Anacostia River. Families living in Ward 7 and Ward 8 are disproportionately impacted by this disinvestment, with socioeconomic disparities them most. The report I wrote focused on key federal nutrition programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the Child and Adult Food Care Program (CAFCP), and School Meals Programs for grade school students. The root causes of hunger explored in the report include lack of transportation, lack of affordable and safe housing, rising childcare costs and shortages, and a high cost of living in D.C. overall. Education and language access were other important topics explored in the report as they have an impact on the District’s ability to achieve racial equity. Overall, the research that went into the report laid the foundation of food access in the District, allowing me to dive straight into my project at my policy placement.
D.C. Hunger Solutions is an initiative of the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), founded in 2002, that focuses on improving food access, nutrition, and health of low-income District residents. This includes improving federal nutrition program participation, improving public policy, and writing research reports that inform residents and stakeholders about aspects of the hunger landscape in the District. The report I wrote contributed to the organization’s mission by highlighting the need for racially equitable solutions to ending hunger in the nation’s capital.
With the D.C. Office of Planning’s Food Policy Team, I have been exploring food access and access to federal nutrition programs on college campuses in the District. Through university meetings, a student survey, and a student roundtable, I have begun to piece together ways universities and the District government can better support college students experiencing food insecurity. Food pantries on college campuses provide supplemental foods for students each week, and I began my work by meeting with staff and students from food pantries on seven of the universities in the District: American University, Catholic University of America, Gallaudet University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Howard University, and the University of the District of Columbia. Many university pantries are supported by donations and outside grants and are staffed by a small mix of dedicated staff, students, and volunteers.
This project has focused on college student access to the SNAP, WIC, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) specifically. For example, many students are unaware of their potential eligibility for SNAP through student exemptions (requirements students need to meet to be eligible for the program). My final deliverable will include recommendations for both universities and District agencies for supporting both food access on university campuses and access to federal nutrition programs for students. By emphasizing the experiences of food insecure college students in this project, it can help bring college hunger to the forefront and dispel stigma and stereotypes about college students. There is no average college student because each person has their own individual life context.
The Food Policy team at the Office of Planning’s guiding mission is to engage and collaborate with D.C. residents and other District agencies to improve the food system in D.C. This has included research and reports surrounding key elements of the District food system. The team leads the Food Policy Council, which is a coalition appointed by the Mayor to empower and inform residents and improve food policy. My project aligns with this mission by ensuring that college students have equitable access to aspects of the food system as well.
As my fellowship year is beginning to wrap up, I have spent a lot of time reflecting on how the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship has shaped my development as a professional and an anti-hunger and anti-poverty advocate. As a recent graduate, I was very new to this space and only had my lived experiences to begin to understand the hunger landscape in D.C. However, through the freedom to explore and conduct research for my projects under the guidance of my supervisors, I learned more about food systems and federal nutrition programs. While I am still exploring the things that I want to do in my career following the end of the fellowship, I know that I will continue to carry the experiences, knowledge, and self-development I gained.