Hi, from… Wilmington, Delaware!
No, this isn’t one of the stops on my future circumnavigation, but I suppose it is apropos that I’m writing my first blog post while in transit (even if it’s for Spring Break travel)?
Anyhow, yes—it is Spring Break! A magical week of no classes, which I’ve been waiting so longingly for since I found out I received the Circumnavigators Travel-Study Grant about eleven weeks ago, now. Indeed, while a lot of my friends have been on tropical beaches, I’ve been on my computer applying for visas and filling out health insurance forms and making very long Airbnb ‘Wishlists.’ But despite that my arm still feels like it’s going to fall off a bit because of the yellow fever vaccine I got yesterday, there is very little room for complaining given this incredible opportunity I’ve been granted (no pun intended) and no doubt, amazing summer ahead.
With the generous funding I’ve received from the Circumnavigators Club of Chicago and Northwestern University, I will be traveling from the end of May through the beginning of September, to seven countries around the world. In Uganda, Italy, Hungary, Japan, Australia, and Argentina I will be conducting research on sustainable local food systems—the working title of my research is “From Local Farms to Urban Tables.” By studying the evolving and thriving local food systems in each city I visit—and the general socioeconomic dynamics of the city and its food systems—I seek to determine how local food systems can best be developed to foster urban food security.