Researcher(s)
- Lauren Boyd, English, University of Delaware
Faculty Mentor(s)
- McKay Jenkins, English, University of Delaware
Abstract
In pockets of Baltimore, small groups of people are working to reinvent systems that operate outside of capitalism, corporate power, and rugged individualism. Primarily, these projects have worked to reclaim the methods of producing resources that we all rely on, like food, land, and education, such that they are more readily available to disenfranchised communities.
In this research, I’ve focused primarily on the city of Baltimore and the Rock Rose Food Justice Farm (Rock Rose), which can be analyzed as a case study for nonprofit organizations in the city attempting to fill in the countless gaps left by government systems. Against the backdrop of staggering rates of lung disease, heart disease, obesity, diabetes and other comorbidities in low-income communities — these new food systems offered by projects like Rock Rose are not just financially supportive of communities struggling to afford groceries, they are also medically supportive.
In partnership with Dr. McKay Jenkins, manager of the Rock Rose Food Justice Program, this research explores the history of Baltimore which has established these conditions, the networks that have supported a robust nonprofit system in the city, and the countless challenges that remain in place. I have both observed the work of the farm and the systems in which it’s nestled, as well as contributed to its success myself as an intern responsible for its maintenance, upkeep, harvest and production donation; all the while learning about systemic failures ranging from the lack of a water pipe to the farm to the extent of food insecurity and need in the city.
Where communities are grasping for support, nonprofits are stepping in, overcoming significant hurdles to do so; and Baltimore and the Rock Rose Food Justice Project serve as a telling case study of the power of volunteer and nonprofit work amidst bleak conditions and support.