

Why the Southeast
Sources & References
Alabama Reflector. “University of Alabama Briefing Calls for Targeted Investments in the Black Belt.” March 4, 2025.
“Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Programs for Rural and Underrepresented Minority Students in the Alabama Black Belt.” Archives of Public Health, 2017.
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5523150/
Feeding America. “Map the Meal Gap 2025 (2023 data).” 2025.
feedingamerica.org/research/map-the-meal-gap/overall-executive-summary
FoodPrint. “Black Land Loss in the United States.” 2025.
foodprint.org/issues/black-land-loss-in-the-united-states/
Gundersen, Craig. "U.S. Food Insecurity: Findings from Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap." Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, July 19, 2021. (Analysis of Map the Meal Gap 2019 data.)
foundationfar.org/impact/insights/food-insecurity-in-the-united-states/
Hill, Latoya, Samantha Artiga, and Usha Ranji. “Racial Disparities in Maternal and Infant Health: Current
Status and Key Issues.” KFF. Updated December 2025.
Oakland Institute, The. “The Great Black Dispossession: How US Black Farmers Lost 90 Percent of Their Land.”
oaklandinstitute.org/our-take/great-black-dispossession
Robinson, Jasmine, Jazmine Screen, and Carmen R. Bayer. “Confronting the Crisis: Actions to Address Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Among Black Women in Rural Georgia.”
cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2025/25_0125.htm
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. “Highest U.S. Poverty Rates Are in the South, with Over 20 Percent Poor in Its Rural Areas.” 2020.
ers.usda.gov/data-products/charts-of-note/chart-detail?chartId=98028
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. “Rural Poverty & Well-Being.” Updated 2025.
ers.usda.gov/topics/rural-economy-population/rural-poverty-well-being
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