Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
Community Engagement in Place-Based Social and Economic Development: A Case Study of The Wild Ramp Local Food Market
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
In 2012, local food activists in the Appalachian city of Huntington, West Virginia created The Wild Ramp, a non-profit food cooperative to serve the dietary needs of the community’s low-income and low-access citizens, as well as the economic needs of area farmers and other Huntington-area working populations. What began as a senior project by a group of Marshall University students arguably became a social movement toward sustainable economic development within this Appalachian community. Huntington’s local food market provides a strong case for the power of grassroots activism and utilization of social capital in place-based economic development and community empowerment. The process was the work of a small-scale social movement from within Huntington, but inarguably intertwined with the growing local movement across the United States and the world. Although this case presents the unique circumstances under which the Huntington community cultivated a local food movement, further research may be beneficial to other communities interested in replicating this process.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Hannah James is a senior at UNC-Asheville studying sociology and economics.
Community Engagement in Place-Based Social and Economic Development: A Case Study of The Wild Ramp Local Food Market
In 2012, local food activists in the Appalachian city of Huntington, West Virginia created The Wild Ramp, a non-profit food cooperative to serve the dietary needs of the community’s low-income and low-access citizens, as well as the economic needs of area farmers and other Huntington-area working populations. What began as a senior project by a group of Marshall University students arguably became a social movement toward sustainable economic development within this Appalachian community. Huntington’s local food market provides a strong case for the power of grassroots activism and utilization of social capital in place-based economic development and community empowerment. The process was the work of a small-scale social movement from within Huntington, but inarguably intertwined with the growing local movement across the United States and the world. Although this case presents the unique circumstances under which the Huntington community cultivated a local food movement, further research may be beneficial to other communities interested in replicating this process.
