Research team working through survey results

Author: Julianna Kantner | Majors: International Global Studies and Political Science

Julianna Kantner is a Toller Honors College Fellow in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences studying international and global studies and political science. In fall of 2021, she, and her team, led by Dr. Louise Hancox and Dr. Jennie Popp, researched the presence of food insecurity on the University of Arkansas campus and the availability of fresh produce in Northwest Arkansas. Following graduation, Julianna plans to attend law school and pursue ways to connect legal advocacy to civil service.

During the fall semester of 2021, I performed research on food insecurity in Northwest Arkansas. I worked alongside a team of honors students from schools across the state through an honors research course led by my advisors, Dr. Jennie Popp and Dr. Louise Hancox.

This research experience combined education with discovery by introducing me to voices on food insecurity including representatives of non-profits and businesses, scholars, and politicians. Once a week my team heard from these individuals about the history, causes, impacts, and potential solutions to food insecurity in our community. Meanwhile, we used that knowledge to conduct two research projects on the issue. First, we worked with the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank to identify the accessibility of fresh produce in Madison, Carroll, Washington, Benton, and surrounding counties. Our research went on to support the food bank’s efforts to identify areas in Arkansas that would benefit from a mobile pantry. For our second project, my team and I crafted a survey to assess students’ access to healthy food on campus and what factors may impact that access. We reviewed multiple drafts of our survey before sending it out, crafted a marketing plan for the survey, and analyzed the results. Ultimately, we received over 2,100 responses. We learned that first-generation, African American, Hispanic, disabled, and non-binary students faced unique barriers to accessing healthy food while attending school. As a result, we plan to advocate for solutions that would spread awareness of campus food resources so that more students can access healthy food in times of need. Several other Arkansas teams were also conducting a similar survey for their campus communities which allowed us to compare how food insecurity impacts various Arkansas campuses.

Volunteering with Canopy Northwest Arkansas and Potter’s House allowed me to understand that food insecurity in Northwest Arkansas is an issue with many causes. I quickly learned that factors such as transportation, housing, geography, language, and socioeconomic status can significantly impact an individual’s access to healthy food. I was able to participate in a virtual study abroad to Barcelona where I learned more about social enterprises in the food industry abroad. These experiences motivated me to get involved in preventing food insecurity in my community. I was offered to join Dr. Hancox and Dr. Popp’s honors research course on food insecurity, and eagerly accepted. Throughout the duration of my research experience, I learned about the setbacks of federal programs like SNAP, the impact housing and location has on food access, improvements needed in data collection, barriers faced by minority communities like refugees, and current efforts happening to address food insecurity within local government and businesses. Throughout this process I also learned that not all research is exciting and glamorous. For example, our work with the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank required calls to many grocery and convenient stores. While the project did not sound exciting at first, my team spoke with representatives from the food bank, and we learned that our data was going to support the reduction of food deserts.

While conducting research for our first project, at times we found collecting accurate information difficult due to inaccessible store hours and language barriers. Thankfully, we found individuals willing to help us with language barriers and did some digging to identify what stores were shut down or just had different hours than what could be found online. During our second project, we quickly found that effective survey collection would need incentivization and outreach. We compiled the outreach resources of our entire team, provided service hours upon completion, collected prizes from local venders, shared our graphic over GroupMe, sent a message to many email listservs, hung up posters across campus, and reached out to student organizations. Due to the collective work of our team, we were able to reach many students through our survey and gather valuable insight.

I could not be more grateful for the guidance and support of our faculty mentors, Dr. Popp and Dr. Hancox. With their support, our team was able to learn so much about food insecurity and take real action that will support the food bank and organizations on campus, such as the Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Campus Food Pantry. Through this course I learned that a healthy diet helps students with focus, stability, and the alleviation of stress. It was inspiring to work with a team of fellow students who were also incredibly motivated to support their campus community and understand the issue of food insecurity. Gathering a team of students from a wide range of disciplines benefitted our project by bringing in unique skills and knowledge areas. Through our different perspectives we thought about the issue of food insecurity more deeply, reached a wider range of students through our survey, and produced a better project.

This Honors College grant enabled me to be a part of a wonderful research team and make an impact on my community through effective data collection. I am excited to see what solutions and changes our research can support both on campus and in our legislature. As this project continues, I will be grateful to the Honors College for bringing me together with my team and pushing me further into the realm of effective community support. As I look towards my legal career, the research, and organizational skills I collected through this experience will prepare me to connect legal knowledge with real social and policy issues like food insecurity.