I am a Professor of Sociology at North Carolina State University. I received my Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I teach classes and conduct research related to health, food, inequality, and development. I believe that the way we consume and produce food and our bodies are bellwethers of inequality.
My research has several strands. First, I have conducted extensive research on denominations of origin in Mexico, France, and the United States, and I am author of Divided Spirits: Tequila, Mezcal, and the Politics of Production (University of California Press, October 2015). Second, I investigate how structural inequalities shape how people eat and feed their families. Between 2012 and 2017, I led the Voices into Action: The Families, Food, and Health Project, a 5-year (2012-2017), a mixed methods research and participatory outreach project focused on food insecurity and food access among low-income populations in North Carolina. My second book, Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won't Solve Our Problems and What We Can Do About It (Oxford University Press, 2019) was one result of this project. More recently, I am PI of the FIRST project, funded by the National Science Foundation, which seeks to understand experiences of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
My research has several strands. First, I have conducted extensive research on denominations of origin in Mexico, France, and the United States, and I am author of Divided Spirits: Tequila, Mezcal, and the Politics of Production (University of California Press, October 2015). Second, I investigate how structural inequalities shape how people eat and feed their families. Between 2012 and 2017, I led the Voices into Action: The Families, Food, and Health Project, a 5-year (2012-2017), a mixed methods research and participatory outreach project focused on food insecurity and food access among low-income populations in North Carolina. My second book, Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won't Solve Our Problems and What We Can Do About It (Oxford University Press, 2019) was one result of this project. More recently, I am PI of the FIRST project, funded by the National Science Foundation, which seeks to understand experiences of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
