Research by Vaughan-Wynn and Jung Examines Uneven Food Geographies of Seattle in the Era of Amazon
Posted: 3/13/2024 (CSDE Research)
CSDE Trainee Natalie Vaughan-Wynn (Geography) and CSDE Affiliate Jin-Kyu Jung (Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences) published an article in Environment and Planning F, titled “Digital food apartheid: The uneven food geographies of Seattle in the era of Amazon“. This article puts forward the concept of “digital food apartheid” to articulate differentiation in terms of one’s agency concerning their food that is mediated by, reified through, or materialized from data or digital infrastructure given the omnipresence of racial capitalism. They examine the digitization of public food assistance in the United States in conversation with Black digital geographies, food geographies, and critical GIS, paying particular attention to the US Department of Agriculture’s COVID-19-era Online Grocery Purchase Program (OPP), which gives Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants access to online grocery shopping and delivery.