Increasing Community Autonomy and Reducing Food Access Barriers in Rural Tennessee

Emma was raised in Kansas City, Missouri. before relocating to Oklahoma City to attend Southern Nazarene University, where she developed her passion for economic justice, specifically as it pertains to rural and isolated food inequity. During her time in Oklahoma, Emma served as the Community Initiatives Coordinator at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma which exposed her to a broad range of food justice and hunger alleviation programs including direct involvement with Oklahoma’s Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) and the Food Bank’s robust Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). For the past year, Emma has worked alongside the Kansas Department of Children and Families to manage the CSFP caseload for over 1,400 seniors monthly while managing a large on-site community garden, providing fresh and organic produce directly to the agency’s food pantry and community kitchen. Her role at this agency allowed her to work alongside community members and local coalitions to continue helping folks gain access to food and nutrition programs in Kansas.

Founded in 1978, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee works to feed hungry people and solve hunger issues in Middle and West Tennessee. Second Harvest has a network of over 490 Partner Agencies working together to feed hungry men, women and children throughout our 46-county service area in Middle and West Tennessee. Our Partner Agencies include food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, senior centers, group homes and youth enrichment programs.