Researchers: Dr. Ed Brands (Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Division of the Social Sciences, University of Minnesota Morris) and Dr. Cristina Ortiz (Associate Professor of Anthropology, Division of the Social Sciences, University of Minnesota Morris)

Although the majority of food is produced in sparsely populated rural areas, food insecurity in these same areas is pervasive, likely increasing, and understudied. We propose a five-county regional food systems assessment, coincident with the Horizon Public Health Service area in West-Central Minnesota. This assessment will employ a variety of quantitative (e.g. survey) and qualitative (e.g. participant…

The Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) invites proposals for our Faculty Interactive Research Program (FIRP).University of Minnesota faculty are critical resources in exploring issues and concerns important to Minnesota, such as the criminal justice system, demography, state or local economic development, education, employment, energy, the environment, health, housing, state and local government, welfare and poverty, human and social services, transportation, or land use and development.

The FIRP encourages University faculty to carry out research projects that answer…