Problems with food insecurity, such as a lack of access to healthy and affordable food in low-income neighborhoods, has been an ongoing challenge in New Orleans. The damages inflicted by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent citywide flooding on the local food system reduced the numerical count of operational full-service supermarkets and grocery stores throughout the city. The result has been a widespread presence of food deserts and grocery gaps, particularly in low-income neighborhoods. This thesis explores the emergence of food localism practices by food advocacy professionals as a capacity-building tool for New Orleans residents to increase community food security and develop a sustainable local food economy. This paper finds although alternative agro-food networks have increased the availability of healthy and locally produced foods in New Orleans, it provide evidence demonstrating their limited capacity to regularly provide healthy or affordable food in a similar manner to grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods.
","abstract_html":"<p>Problems with food insecurity, such as a lack of access to healthy and affordable food in low-income neighborhoods, has been an ongoing challenge in New Orleans. The damages inflicted by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent citywide flooding on the local food system reduced the numerical count of operational full-service supermarkets and grocery stores throughout the city. The result has been a widespread presence of food deserts and grocery gaps, particularly in low-income neighborhoods. This thesis explores the emergence of food localism practices by food advocacy professionals as a capacity-building tool for New Orleans residents to increase community food security and develop a sustainable local food economy. This paper finds although alternative agro-food networks have increased the availability of healthy and locally produced foods in New Orleans, it provide evidence demonstrating their limited capacity to regularly provide healthy or affordable food in a similar manner to grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Tranchina, Brent"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.S.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"School of Urban Planning and Regional Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["David Beriss","Renia Ehrenfeucht","Jeffrey Ehrenreich"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-05-18T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-05-18T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:29:36Z","subjects":["New Orleans, Food Security, Food Localism, Nonprofit Organizations, Alternative Agro-Food Networks, Local Food Economy","Social and Cultural Anthropology","Urban Studies and Planning"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1490","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["David Beriss","Renia Ehrenfeucht","Jeffrey Ehrenreich"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Tranchina, Brent"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["School of Urban Planning and Regional Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["New Orleans, Food Security, Food Localism, Nonprofit Organizations, Alternative Agro-Food Networks, Local Food Economy","Social and Cultural Anthropology","Urban Studies and Planning"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1490"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Problems with food insecurity, such as a lack of access to healthy and affordable food in low-income neighborhoods, has been an ongoing challenge in New Orleans. The damages inflicted by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent citywide flooding on the local food system reduced the numerical count of operational full-service supermarkets and grocery stores throughout the city. The result has been a widespread presence of food deserts and grocery gaps, particularly in low-income neighborhoods. This thesis explores the emergence of food localism practices by food advocacy professionals as a capacity-building tool for New Orleans residents to increase community food security and develop a sustainable local food economy. This paper finds although alternative agro-food networks have increased the availability of healthy and locally produced foods in New Orleans, it provide evidence demonstrating their limited capacity to regularly provide healthy or affordable food in a similar manner to grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Growing Support: Localism, Nonprofits, and Food Access in Post-Katrina New Orleans"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["David Beriss","Renia Ehrenfeucht","Jeffrey Ehrenreich"],"dc:creator":["Tranchina, Brent"],"dc:description.abstract":["Problems with food insecurity, such as a lack of access to healthy and affordable food in low-income neighborhoods, has been an ongoing challenge in New Orleans. The damages inflicted by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent citywide flooding on the local food system reduced the numerical count of operational full-service supermarkets and grocery stores throughout the city. The result has been a widespread presence of food deserts and grocery gaps, particularly in low-income neighborhoods. This thesis explores the emergence of food localism practices by food advocacy professionals as a capacity-building tool for New Orleans residents to increase community food security and develop a sustainable local food economy. This paper finds although alternative agro-food networks have increased the availability of healthy and locally produced foods in New Orleans, it provide evidence demonstrating their limited capacity to regularly provide healthy or affordable food in a similar manner to grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1490"],"dc:subject":["New Orleans, Food Security, Food Localism, Nonprofit Organizations, Alternative Agro-Food Networks, Local Food Economy","Social and Cultural Anthropology","Urban Studies and Planning"],"dc:title":["Growing Support: Localism, Nonprofits, and Food Access in Post-Katrina New Orleans"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["School of Urban Planning and Regional Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:29:36Z"}