Policy and Perceptions of Neighborhood Food Networks: Evaluating the Role of Local Food Landscapes in Shaping Individual’s Perception of Current and Future Social Status

Drew A. Bonner

Advisor: Shannon N Davis, PhD, Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Committee Members: Amy L. Best, Amaka Okechukwu, Katie Kerstetter

Online Location, Zoom
April 21, 2026, 09:30 AM to 11:30 AM

Abstract:

The dissertation explores Anacostia and Georgetown neighborhood residents’ perception of institutional investments in the food environment in Washington DC. This dissertation merges food systems planning, public health and sociological theory to explore how the local food network shapes individuals' perceptions of their current and future class and socioeconomic status. Utilizing Grounded theory, I conducted a mixed methods comparative analysis of the Anacostia and Georgetown neighborhoods of Washington, DC, employing life history interviews and a food mapping process, utilizing ArcGIS technology, to collect information on how individuals understand their social and geographic positioning within their neighborhood network across their lifetime. The dissertation analyzes DC food policy initiatives and food systems planning investment strategies, highlighting a contestation between development goals and community needs, as food policy initiatives and investments have yielded limited improvements for underserved communities.

Findings from the study outline how access and availability of food resources for residents in Anacostia and Georgetown neighborhood is patterned by the structure of the neighborhood’s built environment. The study found an increased financial, logistical, and time burden imposed upon individuals living in underserved communities. Residents of the underserved Anacostia neighborhood reported decreased access to food infrastructure, limited availability of nutritionally-dense food options, increased distances related to food procurement, and increased financial stress associated with food prices and transportation costs. Georgetown neighborhood residents reported fewer food procurement logistical challenges and provided insights into how mobility patterns may shape food insecurity by detailing traveling to lower-socioeconomic status neighborhoods for accessing more economically-friendly food items. Findings also provide key implications on how health outcomes, economic opportunities, digital food equity and community food innovations are facilitated by institutional and organizational operations that govern the structure and composition of food infrastructure and food resources in neighborhood food networks. Notably, this dissertation presents findings that suggest that individuals interact with community food networks and gift economy exchanges, investing time, energy and resources into these community-based food structures in response to perceptions of institutional abandonment. From the evidence presented within the study, I argue that the food system is an institution, in which capital, resources and land are discriminatorily distributed, developing social hierarchies that promote Food Apartheid, and impacting the social outcomes of individuals in society.

The dissertation engages in public sociology, collaborating with Anacostia and Georgetown neighborhood community members to generate evidence, actionable insights and recommendations to support efforts to implement impactful institutional policies and organizational practices aimed to dismantle food apartheid. Institutional actors should develop a multi-stakeholder community-collaboration framework for the implementation of sustainable food infrastructure, uniting DC Food Policy Council, DC Health, food systems planning professionals, with District residents, utilizing community information to ensure that changes to the food system are relevant, equitable and sustainable.

Join us on Zoom: https://gmu.zoom.us/j/93153324032?pwd=5FCDcQa8lg3JgOCn7W05YTUczTOH89.1