Evan Leacox

Community Food; Social Networks and Sustainable Agriculture

Covid-19 has illuminated inherent vulnerabilities concerning reliable food access through mainstream agricultural production and distribution. Subsidies cannot meet the demand when they are inherently tied to that same system. However, where strong Local Social Food Networks exist to disseminate knowledge of how to access and participate with local forms of food production and acquisition, food security appears stronger as well. Ethnographic inquiry and social network analysis of the exchange of information through these networks will illuminate both how individuals benefit from them and inform methods to address any barriers to accessing these networks to further support resilient food security initiatives.

Hello! My name is Evan Leacox. I am in my final semester at Boise State in the Anthropology program, looking forward to graduating with my Masters this spring (2021).  I also recently finished the graduate certificate program at BSU in User Research Design.  My wife and I have lived in Boise for a few years now, we moved here after serving in the Peace Corps in Senegal, West Africa where I was a sustainable agriculture extension agent for a little over two years (I met my wife while in Senegal, she was an Agro-forestry volunteer, and served in Senegal for nearly three years!).  Before the Peace Corps, I was involved in a number of small-scale food production and permaculture design-oriented projects as well as an educational and expeditionary river guide.

In the present now, I draw on these experiences and my current education as I dig deeper into understanding human behaviors around food production. My hope is to be able to identify and participate in methods to help communities, of any size or scale, achieve greater levels of resilient and sustainable food security options.