Emerson Fellow
Katie Starr
25th Class, 2018-2019
Katie grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science in public health with a concentration in nutrition. She has worked with No Kid Hungry and facilitated classes through the organization Cooking Matters to ensure health education and access to healthy food is a basic right for all. She was also part of various research projects addressing health disparities and assessed the efficiency of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program guidelines in rural corner stores. Throughout her undergraduate years, she was also very involved in community organizations focused on sustainable agriculture. Through these groups, she helped to organize events that were discussed topics related to food justice, highlighted local food activists, and addressed issues within the food system.
Field placement: URI Feinstein Center for a Hunger Free America
Kingston, Rhode Island
Katie completed her fieldwork with the Feinstein Center for a Hunger Free America at the University of Rhode Island (Kingston, RI), an organization committed to developing solutions to hunger in Rhode Island and nationally through education, outreach, and advocacy. In addition to supporting the Feinstein Center's SNAP Outreach program, Katie's work focused on building broader engagement of underrepresented groups into the councils and committees that focus on hunger elimination and food justice. This included understanding the role of racial equity within Rhode Island's food system and learning about the goals, interests, and needs of underrepresented groups that they're serving.
Policy placement: Housing Assistance Council
Hunger Free Community Report
"Community, Justice, and a Food System For All: Building Racial Equity Across Rhode Island's Food System" is to explore the Rhode Island food system in relation to racial equity and food justice. After reviewing data on this topic and highlighting conversations and experiences around food justice work as it relates to food production, food system jobs, food distribution, and food security within Rhode Island, the report explores ways to increase food justice within the local food system.