Date of Award

Spring 2026

Thesis Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Honors Bachelor of Arts

Department

Public Administration

Sponsor

Phil Kozel, Department of Economics

Committee Member

Matthew Rice, Department of Economics

Committee Member

Lee Lines, Department of Environmental Studies

Abstract

Given contemporary changes to federal budget priorities and recent challenges to federal food access funding, this research explores the potential benefits of entrusting state-level and municipal-level policymakers with food access policy. More specifically, this research suggests that “localizing” food access has the unique benefit of not just addressing the affordability of food, but the physical accessibility of it. As observed in the previous literature and expounded upon here, food provisioning requires consideration of nutrition, physical accessibility, and financial affordability. Programs that only address one of these priorities fail to adequately help people receive the food they need. Through policy analysis and case studies, this research creates and tests a rubric for use by policymakers and researchers to assess food access programs’ ability to address multiple considerations at once. If implemented properly, the localization of food access policy will meaningfully improve on existing frameworks and systems and help more people get food.

Rights Holder

Joseph David Pool

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