This research project will focus on how hunger is experienced in Cedar City, Utah, specifically among elementary school students (ages 6-12). According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, food is a basic need. This research is motivated by the notion that this concept is widely accepted but rarely understood. An individual or group’s relationship with food is a fundamental part of what it means to be human and live in a society. This study will examine the amount and type of food available to students, as well as the lack thereof. It will include a humanistic analysis of the hunger experience, by interpreting existing statistics and collecting observational and interview data. Hunger has been researched extensively, but an embodied approach to how an elementary school student in rural Utah faces hunger has never been explored. As well as being an instrument to inform, this research will investigate potential programs that may be implemented, and how these efforts can alleviate the burden that lies heavily on the shoulders of some of our own children. After the data is collected and analyzed, there will be an event open to campus and the public to present some of the findings as well as offer a hands-on, symbolic experience to help the community understand the issues of hunger even further. This event will be an Oxfam America Hunger Banquet hosted by the primary investigator.
