My name is Holly Benton. I am a current PhD student in the Sociology Department at North Carolina State University. I previously obtained a M.A. in Sociology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, PA. My thesis, entitled "'You Learn How to Make Do': Understanding Food Choices and Feeding Decisions in Low-Income Families," examines the cultural food practices of low-income families and the improvisation of practices necessary to navigate the challenge of food insecurity. The findings in this study reveal that keeping food supplied is the primary work performed in low-income families, and further, this work is mediated by spatial access to food sources.
As a PhD student in Sociology, I examine social relations related to food systems and the environment. Largely, my research addresses the interconnections between the food system and environmental degradation with attention to human and ecological health. Land use, food access, and other spatial distributions of access and resources are important to my substantive area of research and some of the primary topics related to my interest in GIS.
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