Skip to main content

Access & Equity

Over one billion people worldwide lack adequate access to healthy food, even as the global food supply is more than adequate. At the same time, obesity persists, and diet-related diseases are the leading cause of death in the U.S. University of Michigan researchers are analyzing how food access disparities manifest in different communities, and are assessing the efficacy of current and potential policy solutions. Experts at the Sustainable Food Systems Initiative coordinate multidisciplinary approaches, while the Campus Farm and U-M Sustainable Food Program provide living, learning laboratories for U-M students to support more equitable food systems.

News and Impact

Shalanda Baker
Shalanda Baker to lead academic efforts on sustainability
Bunyan Bryant
In memoriam: Bunyan Bryant (1935–2024)
Earth Month
Earth Month puts focus on U-M sustainability efforts
SEAS grad student Jaron Rothkop and Drew FitzGerald stand next to a Water Box at the Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village in Flint, MI.
SEAS graduate student's project brings clean water to struggling communities
green vacant lot
Study: Vacant lot greening can reduce community crime, violence
Map showing targeted survey areas in green. Blue pins are federally-recognized Native American tribes. Red pins are Kellogg project areas. Image courtesy: Kate Bauer
U-M, Farm Bureau working together to reduce hunger in Michigan
an apple orchard
Michigan Farmworker Project seeks to improve social and environmental health for marginalized population
Ford School of Public Policy
Ford School to expand anti-racism faculty, address environment and health disparities
Lesli Hoey
Interdisciplinary team awarded funds to launch the transformative food systems seminar
Students assessing an urban agricultural site in Detroit’s Lower Eastside. Image credit: Photo by Dave Brenner/University of Michigan, from Newell et al. in the journal Cities, 2022
Urban agriculture in Detroit: Scattering vs. clustering and the prospects for scaling up
Malik Yakini and Lilly Fink Shapiro
Building Black Food Sovereignty: An Update
Paul Draus, professor of sociology at UM-Dearborn, has engaged with communities crafting solutions in Detroit. (Photo by Korey Batey)
Dearborn professor works in partnership to reinvigorate Detroit
fresh, organic vegetables
U-M Food Literacy for All talk explores relationship between food inequalities and income levels
Alyssa Paredes
All signs point to bananas
Zahir Janmohamed speaking in front of a screen showing a news article
Zahir Janmohamed: “De-colonizing Food Journalism”
A student wearing a mask stocks shelves in the food pantry
This is how you feed potential
Jessica Kenyatta Walker
Faculty Spotlight: Jessica Kenyatta Walker
Cindy Leung
Faculty Spotlight: Cindy Leung
Elderly woman frowning at a bowl of soup
Even before COVID-19, many adults over 50 lacked stable food supply, didn’t use assistance
Leah Penniman speaking with a microphone in front of an image of protesting Black farmers projected on a screen
Leah Penniman: “Farming While Black: Uprooting Racism, Seeding Sovereignty”
A child's hands holding an empty bowl
For children, food insecurity means not only hunger but also stress, sadness
Sean Sherman, Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge reservation and founder of The Sioux Chef, giving a presentation
The (R)evolution of Indigenous Food Systems of North America