Amber Obermaier, M.A.

My motivation for studying food inequality stems from working within the food system, from teaching garden education to elementary school students, volunteering in university food pantries, and helping manage farmers markets. Through both academic and community experiences I gradually saw how food insecurity is not simply a consequence of individual hardship, but rather the product of institutional arrangements and broader systems of inequality. Ultimately, the experiences directly have shaped my research agenda, which examines how institutions create, reproduce, and respond to food insecurity and environmental injustice, while identifying community-centered solutions that promote equity and resilience. Broadly, I utilize theories of political economy and environmental justice to examine food and environmental inequalities, as well as their proposed solutions.

Dissertation Research

My dissertation uses qualitative research to examine how current students, university administrators, and university communication understand and address the problem of college student food insecurity. Drawing on original in-depth interview data with students and university administrators, as well as content analysis of university websites, this project examines how food insecurity is viewed and experienced, as well what institutional structure and narratives either obscure, heighten or help diminish it. While the level of acknowledgement and action surrounding the issue has greatly increased- levels of food insecurity have continued to increase. My dissertation interjects in the question- who is responsible for the food security of college students, and what institutional structures and cultural narratives contribute to the problem?

Questions of Food Access

Dimensions of food access is a central part of my work, as well as investigating and evaluating implemented solutions to food inequalities. Work within this realm includes examining Growing Food Security, a student-led campus farm that donates fresh produce to Colorado State University's food pantry, the Little Free Pantry movement, and Market Days, a produce incentive program for older adults at a farmers’ market (manuscript in preparation). This work highlights a tension present in my current and future research agenda, investigating the charitable food model and highlighting other possibilities.

Manuscripts:

Environmental Inequalities

I have also applied the same framings surrounding food inequality to environmental inequality, including exploring differential access and exposure to environmental “goods” and “bads,” as well as the utility of different implemented solutions. Much of my work is community-based and utilizes frameworks of Environmental Justice. Previously, I have worked with the Center for Environmental Justice at Colorado State University surrounding water quality in Mobile Home communities and the health impacts of living near oil extraction.

Recent collaborative work also investigates farmers' perceptions of solar energy development in Utah's Great Salt Lake Basin illustrating how environmental transitions are interpreted through agricultural identities and place attachment.

Methods

I am a mixed-methods researcher who has experience utilizing surveys, secondary data, interviews, and content analysis. I have experience utilizing large-scale survey data such as examining changes in childhood income rank status within General Social Survey Panel Data. I have worked with transdisciplinary teams and a variety of community partners, including the Boys and Girls Club, the Razorback trail system, and Mi Voz.

Manuscripts:

GSS Panel Data