Project Title: Food Insecurity in the Youth of VA: What Can We Do about It?
BASIS Advisor: Megan Floyd
Internship Location: Virginia Department of Education
Onsite Mentor: Atif Qarni
During COVID, with schools closed and mass lay-offs, it seems that food insecurity has been painfully brought into focus. In Virginia, the pandemic has caused 275,000 people to become food insecure, and about a third of them are children under 18. How can local and state governments work to solve this issue? Different officials from the Virginia Department of Education (DoE), the Department of Agriculture, and the private sector all have different approaches to solving food insecurity. In my project, I will work with the Virginia DoE to interview various officials and collect data on food insecurity among NoVA’s youth, then compile a paper summarizing the state of food insecurity and possible suggestions for improvements. By conducting this research at a time when more COVID-related data is being released alongside the 2020 census, this paper will be useful to the Department of Education in informing its policies for the 2021 year and also be crucial in spreading awareness about the drastic increase in the youth in our area going hungry.
My Posts
Week 8: The Beginning of the End…
May 03, 2021
Hello my lovely subscribers! This is my week 8 blog, albeit a little late. This week will also be a relatively short entry – much of the past week was spent preparing for my final hurdle to the finish line. I have lined up my final talks over the next week or so and plan […]
Week 7
Apr 25, 2021
Hi everyone! It’s currently week _. I’m writing this from my aunt’s house in Houston, where I’m taking a small weekend trip. It’s so hot down here already, I’m actually kind of glad I didn’t apply to any Texas schools (looking at you, Rice). Anywho, this week I didn’t actually have any new conversations, sorry […]
Weeks 5+6
Apr 18, 2021
Hi all! In case you missed me last week, I was taking it off for spring break. I do love BASIS, but I love my breaks from BASIS much more. Anyhoo, this week I had another informal convo with an official. In the next few weeks I plan to ramp up these conversations and interviews […]
Week 4: First discussion wohoo!
Apr 02, 2021
Hi all, Welcome to week four! I really can’t believe it’s only been 28 days since we left school. This week has been very similar as the other weeks, except I had my first conversation with an official today! It wasn’t a formal interview, just a chance to touch bases. I spoke with Dr. Sandra […]
Weeks 2 and 3: 2 for 1 special!
Mar 26, 2021
Hey everyone! It’s been a while, sorry for not posting last week. My schedule was quite busy as was this week’s and I didn’t get to post unfortunately. It’s so weird that even though we don’t go to school now, our schedules are still this busy. Anyways, this week and last week have both been […]
Week 1: And So It Starts…
Mar 12, 2021
Hi all! My name is Jamal Baig, and welcome to the blog! During the pandemic, BASIS has been particularly unique in that most of our school has been hybrid, learning both virtually and in-person. This is not the case for the rest of the country. Over the past full year, schools across the nation have […]