July 13, 2022
Chapman Center provides support for 'Hungry Heartland' documentary
The Chapman Center for Rural Studies, a center of excellence in the College of Arts and Sciences, announces Tom Hallaq, Shreepad Joglekar and Ian Punnett were selected for support as part of the center's mission to foster interdisciplinary engagement and student research opportunities. This grant was made possible through the generous support of the College of Arts and Sciences.
"The Hungry Heartland" project focuses on investigating and voicing food accessibility issues of Kansans in both rural and urban settings known as food deserts. To spread awareness of this critical issue, the team will assist students in finalizing a documentary to be aired on public broadcast. The team hopes to spark conversations that will help foster solutions at the grassroots level, helping communities work together to find customized solutions.
"With all of western Kansas in extreme drought, food production impacted by distribution issues, and the rise of inflation, the viability of Midwest farm communities is in peril," Hallaq said. "Food deserts are encroaching on small towns throughout Kansas. 'The Empty Breadbasket: When the Land that Feeds the World Cannot Feed Itself' looks at the problem from many angles and offers encouraging solutions."
"The Empty Breadbasket" is a documentary directed by Punnett and Hallaq. The film explains that access to fresh food is sometimes limited in small rural communities. These food deserts exist in places experiencing a population with lower income combined with less accessible sources of food, at least 10 miles away in some cases. The story shares insights to positive solutions developed within these communities. This piece was created by the documentary team of the A.Q. Miller School of Media and Communication at Kansas State University.
"Our team at the Chapman Center is proud to support creative and scholarly work in the College of Arts and Sciences that can have real-world impacts on communities in the Great Plains," said Mary Kohn, executive director of the center. "The student-centered approach of this team makes the project doubly impactful by providing real-world experience to our students."
"'The Hungry Heartland' series is a good example of the experiential learning projects that students get to participate in, while at K-State, under the guidance of great faculty members such as Drs. Hallaq and Joglekar," said Christopher T. Culbertson, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "These students are not only learning about important issues, such as rural food deserts that affect many Kansans, but they are using what they have learned in classes and applying this knowledge to create media that will help to bring better light on this important issue so that it might be better addressed."
Funding from the College of Arts and Sciences will support the purchase of more than $3,000 dollars of equipment that will allow Hallaq, Joglekar, Punnett and their students to work toward completing this documentary. They anticipate that the documentary will be broadcast widely, helping to spread awareness of this important issue.
To learn more about funding opportunities with the Chapman Center, visit the center's Interdisciplinary Research Grant webpage.