Stories

Professor Ben Scharadin’s Economics course, Poverty and Food Insecurity, spent several months studying the economic factors that contribute to food insecurity and examining specific barriers that people face in gaining access to healthy foods. In addition to analyzing data and discussing scholarly research on the topic, Professor Scharadin and his students partnered with the Waterville Food Bank to implement a real-world project that applies all that they have learned to help reduce food insecurity in our community. Students designed “Recipe One Sheets” featuring ingredients at the Food Bank and created video demonstrations to show how to prepare one of the recipes they developed. Students planned and carried out each stage of the meal preparation process, starting with the cost of each item to its dietary benefits. The Waterville Food Bank will distribute the recipe one-sheets to community members and feature a video display of the cooking demonstrations.