Alexis Weaver

Bio: Alexis Weaver is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Photo elicitation & Food systems. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 4 publications receiving 17 citations.

The Suburbanization of Food Insecurity: An Analysis of Projected Trends in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area

Abstract: Although general patterns of food insecurity in the United States are known, few studies have attempted to estimate small area food security or account for ongoing socioeconomic changes. Here we ad...

Re-envisioning Emergency Food Systems Using Photovoice and Concept Mapping:

Abstract: Researchers engaging in participatory planning initiatives can enhance participant involvement by using concept mapping integrated with photo-elicitation. Focusing on a research collaboration betwe...

Community food assistance, informal social networks, and the labor of care

Abstract: In 2016, the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) launched the Stabilizing Lives project to develop programs and policies that could better address clients’ needs as well as including clientele as part of the planning process. The ACFB partnered with a research team at the University of Georgia to conduct a participatory research project aimed at developing deeper insights into the factors contributing to both instability and stability in the lives of pantry clientele. This article describes the outcomes this research, offering both a substantive contribution to scholarship on food insecurity and emergency food systems and a methodological innovation through a staged mixed-method participatory research project. Through use of a culture-centered approach, this project created discursive spaces within which to outline emergency food models that support informal networks of care. We used a range of methods, including photo elicitation, concept mapping, individual interviews, and focus groups, to facilitate conversation among agency staff, volunteers, and clientele about the effectiveness of current program models and potential new ideas. Specifically, we suggest that through such practices, food pantries and local agencies may help inform new program models that contribute to household stability, and push back against the sometimes alienating and atomizing paradigm found in current emergency food programs.

Translating Across Registers: Pragmatist Inquiry in Engaged Scholarship

Abstract: Inquiry is a central concept within pragmatism, defined generally as the process of collectively defining problematic aspects of current social practices and developing better alternatives. Translation—defined broadly as the labor of negotiating, transforming, and synthesizing diverse experiences—is a critical but understudied component of pragmatist inquiry. In this article, we articulate how translation occurred across multiple registers in a collaborative community-engaged research project involving university researchers and a regional food bank, focusing on translation as logistical, affective, and positional labor. Our analysis demonstrates how reflexive attention to various forms of translation across the research process can enrich socially engaged research.

Confronting suburban poverty in America

Abstract: This book is well structured and clearly written. Kneebone and Berube provide us with a clear and rational diagnosis of suburban poverty in the USA today. Their publication is based on a major rese...

Food bank nations: poverty, corporate charity and the right to food

Abstract: In Food Bank Nations: Poverty, Corporate Charity and the Right to Food Graham Riches offers an insightful polemic (his word) reflecting his thirty-five years of poverty and human rights scholarship...

Tradeoffs in environmental and equity gains from job accessibility.

Abstract: Increasing job accessibility is considered key to urban sustainability progress, both from an environmental and from a social perspective. However, sustainability outcomes depend on the processes contributing to accessibility trends, not just the trends themselves. Here, we ask whether sustainability benefits have followed from accessibility trends in the United States. We measure changes in accessibility from 2002 to 2014 across 909 US urban areas and decompose these changes to understand underlying infrastructure and land use processes. Our results show that job accessibility has increased across 74% of urban areas for the average resident, using both cars and transit. However, most of these accessibility gains were not achieved in ways that are inherently beneficial to environmental or social sustainability. In some urban areas, accessibility increases were conducive to reducing emissions, while in others, accessibility increases were conducive to reducing social inequities. However, accessibility increases almost never created a simultaneous social and environmental "win-win," as is often assumed. Our findings highlight how the spatial patterns of urbanization create tradeoffs between different facets of sustainability. Identifying where social objectives take precedence over environmental objectives (or vice versa) could help determine how accessibility increases can be accomplished to contribute to a more sustainable urban future.

Community geography: Toward a disciplinary framework:

Abstract: Community geography is a growing subfield that provides a framework for relevant and engaged scholarship. In this paper, we define community geography as a form of research praxis, one that involve...

Impact of Suburbanisation on Sustainable Development of Settlements in Suburban Spaces: Smart and New Solutions

Abstract: The aim of this article is to evaluate the impact of suburbanisation on the development of settlements with an emphasis on environmental aspects that need to be addressed in the process of extensive growth of municipalities in suburban regions. In the theoretical part, the article evaluates the processes of suburbanisation and their environmental impact. On a methodological level, municipalities in the suburban zone were first defined on the basis of driving distances. These municipalities were subjected to an analysis of the intensity of residential suburbanisation by calculating a multicriteria indicator from five selected criteria. In the second part of the analysis, a questionnaire survey of mayors was carried out in the particular municipalities. The responses were evaluated using the Likert scale method, and then statistically significant dependencies were sought among individual phenomena and environmental problems which need to be solved by the municipal management due to the growth of municipalities. It was found that the mayors consider changes in the landscape character to be among the most significant impacts of suburbanisation in the territory. A change in the rural character of municipalities because of the construction of urban-type houses is perceived as being very problematic. Another serious problem is the insufficient capacity of technical infrastructure such as sewerage and waste-water treatment. The costs of ensuring the quality of the environment and of public spaces, which are, in many cases, beyond the economic possibilities of municipalities, are also increasing significantly. The article also includes specifications of selected smart solutions and procedures that can help preserve the quality of the environment.