Field Reports
Centering Lived Experience: A Toolkit for Addressing Rural Food Insecurity Through Storytelling
Elaine Zhang,
Emerson Fellow
Published 2021-2022
Cortland, New York
There are often stigma and misunderstandings surrounding food insecurity. Sharing personal experiences can humanize the realities of food insecurity and empower those that share their story.
The purpose of this toolkit is to introduce practical applications for using storytelling as a tool to address food insecurity, with a focus on rural areas. The toolkit details eight topics to consider when creating and implementing a storytelling program and includes a case study on Seven Valleys Health Coalition’s approach to planning a storytelling program in Cortland County, New York.
Download "Centering Lived Experience: A Toolkit for Addressing Rural Food Insecurity Through Storytelling"
Publication tags: Field Reports - Advocacy and Education, Storytelling - Rural Communities
Elaine’s love language is food, but also food and language, as separate topics, are both of great importance to her; everyone eats and everyone communicates with others, but there are often barriers to both of these universals. Elaine explored these topics at UCLA while majoring in Linguistics and Asian Languages and Cultures and minoring in Food Studies and Environmental Systems and Society, graduating magna cum laude in 2020. Her interest in food security deepened as a result of working with the community gardens on campus, serving as a Teaching Assistant for an undergraduate course on urban agriculture, volunteering as a Master Gardener of Los Angeles County, and improving models of sustainable food systems as a Food Security Intern at the Center for Sustainable Development in The Bahamas. After returning to her hometown of Stockton, California, Elaine started a nonprofit organization that creates opportunities for folks to go beyond their good intentions and create meaningful change in their communities.
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