Clara Metzler

Document Type

Honors Project

First Advisor

Skip Burzumato

Degree Award Date

Fall 2017

Keywords

Emergency Food System, Rockingham County, Harrisonburg, Virginia

Disciplines

Civic and Community Engagement | Social Work | Sociology

Abstract

This qualitative analysis assesses community food needs in Rockingham County and the City of Harrisonburg, Virginia by focusing on how the emergency food system functions in the local area. As it pertains to food insecurity and the emergency food distribution network in the Shenandoah Valley, this research focuses on the perspectives and perceptions of both those who may be food insecure as well as those who are a part of the institutions and organizations working to meet community food needs. Special focus is given to the obstacles people who are food insecure face in accessing nutritionally adequate food-that is, whole or minimally-processed foods that do not contain excessive fat, sugar, and sodium-as well as what obstacles charitable organizations face in distributing food into the hands of those who need it. This paper considers the individual perceptions of and the structural arrangements guiding the emergency food system in addressing both the impact and the limitations of the emergency food system as it operates in Rockingham County and the City of Harrisonburg. Policy considerations and creative distribution mechanisms for getting nutritionally adequate food into the hands of those who are most in need are additionally explored. iii

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