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Jessica Gilbert

Policy Fellow

SUNY PRODiG Postdoctoral Fellow and Visiting Instructor at SUNY Geneseo

Jessica Gilbert

I am a broadly-trained human geographer and a SUNY PRODiG Postdoctoral Fellow and a Visiting Instructor at SUNY Geneseo. I explore questions situated at the intersections of food justice, environmental justice, and social movements and examine the ways that values-driven (rather than campaign-driven) social movements advocate for racial justice in food systems. In order to ensure that my research supports the communities with whom I collaborate, I approach my research through an activist-scholar lens and center methodologies of care and accountability. This is exemplified in my current research to document the barriers faced by Black farmers in New York State and to understand the role of social networks in overcoming these barriers. Other current research delves into the direct and indirect impacts of values-based public institutional food procurement programs upon racial justice efforts and seeks to understand the ways that employing a just transition framework furthers social movements’ racial justice advocacy. I received my PhD in Geography from the University at Buffalo, during which time I also worked as a research associate for Partnership for the Public Good, which I represented in multiple coalitions that subsequently became the focus of much of my doctoral research. Prior to graduate school, I received my BA from SUNY Geneseo in French and International Relations.

Related Resources

Title
Pathways to reparations: land and healing through food justice
Just Transitions in School Food
Good Food Buffalo Policy Brief
Good Food Purchasing for the Buffalo Public Schools
The Consequences of Being Unbanked in Buffalo
Bringing the Good Food Purchasing Program to Buffalo: An Investigation of Potential Environmental Stakeholder Participation