Feeding change

UGA students and faculty partner with grassroots nonprofit to tackle rural food insecurity

By Maria M. Lameiras
Photos by Sean Montgomery

Feeding change

UGA students and faculty partner with grassroots nonprofit to tackle rural food insecurity

By Maria M. Lameiras
Photos by Sean Montgomery

Illustration of a road sign that reads "Milk 20 miles" and two stacked billboards that read "Fast Food" inside an empty brown grocery bag

Marquitrice Mangham, executive director of the nonprofit In Her Shoes Inc., runs her family’s 150-acre farm and manages Farmacy Marketplace, a grocery store she opened in 2022 in her hometown of Webb, Mississippi. The town is a rural Delta community of fewer than 500 people that had long been a food desert. (Submitted photo)

Marquitrice Mangham, executive director of the nonprofit In Her Shoes Inc., runs her family’s 150-acre farm and manages Farmacy Marketplace, a grocery store she opened in 2022 in her hometown of Webb, Mississippi. The town is a rural Delta community of fewer than 500 people that had long been a food desert. (Submitted photo)

In rural Georgia, where residents often rely on convenience stores or long drives for groceries, a group of University of Georgia graduate students is tackling a problem that hits close to home — for the communities they serve and for themselves.

Sean Snarey, a recent graduate of the master of agribusiness program in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, grew up in north Georgia and understands the realities of rural life. So when he was asked to develop a business feasibility study as part of their final project for AAEC 6980, “Advanced Agribusiness Management,” his team zeroed in on Hancock County — a food desert where a gallon of milk can be 20 miles away.

“We thought about where people already go. Gas stations, Dollar Generals, places that are part of everyday life,” Snarey said. “If we could position a small grocery store near one of those hubs, we wouldn’t be adding more travel for people — we’d be meeting them where they are.”

Snarey’s group was one of three tackling real-world economic development questions brought to them by the nonprofit In Her Shoes Inc. Based in Georgia and Mississippi, the organization, led by urban planner and farmer Marquitrice Mangham, has spent years building grocery stores and mobile markets in underserved communities. She turned to UGA students to help her take that model even further.

“The students did a great job,” Mangham said. “They gave us a strong foundation to work from — research, numbers, feasibility — so that other communities and organizations can understand what it really takes to do this kind of work.”

A woman stands in front of a long table addressing four people seated at the stable in a conference room.

Marquitrice Mangham (standing) discusses progress on her projects with (seated, clockwise from left) Vanessa Shonkweiler, Timilehin Fawibe, Simranjot Kaur and Cesar Escalante. (Photo by Sean Montgomery)

Vanessa Shonkwiler, CAES public service associate

A class built for impact

The idea behind the project was born from a long-standing partnership between Mangham and Vanessa Shonkwiler, a public service associate in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at CAES. The two first connected through UGA Cooperative Extension training sessions and later worked together on grant applications and conference presentations. When funding fell through for a broader feasibility study, Shonkwiler turned to her colleague, Professor Cesar Escalante, and his spring graduate agribusiness class.

Escalante teaches two core courses in the MAB program: an introductory agribusiness accounting course in the fall, and the more advanced and applied agribusiness management course (AAEC 6980) in the spring. Students spend months analyzing real-life business scenarios, often from Georgia’s own agricultural community.

But this year was different.

Cesar Escalante, CAES professor

“In the past, we’ve helped companies answer questions to boost profit margins,” Escalante said. “This time, we were focused on helping a nonprofit organization build projects that would bring healthy food to people who don’t have easy access. That kind of purpose really resonated with the students.”

The three groups each tackled a different initiative: a small neighborhood grocery store, a mobile grocery truck, and a fruit and vegetable processing facility to help small farmers add value to their produce. The goal was to test whether the models that worked in Mississippi could be adapted and expanded in Georgia.

A woman with dark hair and a light blue shirt looks placidly at the camera.

Vanessa Shonkwiler, CAES public service associate

A man with short dark hair, graying at the temples, glasses and a pink checkered shirt smiles slightly.

Cesar Escalante, CAES professor

Graduate student Timilehin Fawibe hopes to replicate a mobile food truck system in his home country of Nigeria. Escalante listens as Fawibe discusses his project. (Composite images by Katie Walker)

Graduate student Timilehin Fawibe hopes to replicate a mobile food truck system in his home country of Nigeria. Escalante listens as Fawibe discusses his project. (Composite images by Katie Walker)

Real-world learning with real stakes

For graduate student Timilehin Fawibe, who worked on the mobile grocery truck project, the assignment was more than academic — it was personal.

“Coming from an agricultural extension background and having run my own farm in Nigeria, I know what it’s like to try to get food to people who need it,” Fawibe said. “This class helped me build the skills I need to bridge the gap between theory and practice, things like financial modeling, logistics and market analysis.”

His group focused on Athens-Clarke County, identifying neighborhoods with low access to fresh food and mapping routes for a produce truck that could bring local vegetables directly from farms to families. It’s a model Fawibe now hopes to replicate in his home country.

Simranjot Kaur, who moved from India to pursue her master’s degree in agribusiness, said working on the grocery store project gave her a new understanding of how business strategy can serve a greater purpose.

“We weren’t just creating a business model, we were creating something sustainable for a community that really needs it,” Kaur said. “It gave me a sense of purpose, like we were doing something meaningful beyond the classroom.”

From left, Simranjot Kaur, Marquitrice Mangham and Vanessa Shonkwiler discuss the economic challenges faced by rural communities. (Photo by Sean Montgomery)

From left, Simranjot Kaur, Marquitrice Mangham and Vanessa Shonkwiler discuss the economic challenges faced by rural communities. (Photo by Sean Montgomery)

Composite illustration of lettuce in a produce crate

Marquitrice Mangham is an urban planner and farmer who is based in Georgia and Mississippi. (Photo by Sean Montgomery)

Marquitrice Mangham is an urban planner and farmer who is based in Georgia and Mississippi. (Photo by Sean Montgomery)

Feeding a movement

Mangham started In Her Shoes to house and support unhoused women in Atlanta. As a farmer and planner, she quickly saw the link between housing instability and poor nutrition. That realization grew into a broader mission to bring fresh food to underserved communities through gardens, grocery stores, mobile markets and now, student-powered planning.

“This wasn’t my plan,” Mangham said. “It all just grew out of need. But what the students did was document it in a way others can understand: where to start, what to consider, how to make it work.”

Mangham's Farmacy Marketplace is the only grocery store in Webb, Mississippi. (Submitted photo)

Mangham's Farmacy Marketplace is the only grocery store in Webb, Mississippi. (Submitted photo)

With two grocery stores and one mobile market already operating in Mississippi, Mangham is turning her attention to Georgia. Rather than expanding In Her Shoes directly, she plans to partner with local nonprofits and offer consulting support. The studies produced by the students will serve as blueprints for those collaborations: part how-to guide, part vision statement.

Shonkwiler, who helped facilitate the collaboration, believes the students’ work could have ripple effects far beyond the classroom.

“This is what public service faculty work is about,” she said. “Helping students apply what they’ve learned in a way that makes a real difference for farmers, for families, for whole communities.”

Farmacy's Mobile Market brings fresh produce to communities with limited access to stores and transportation. (Submitted photo)

Farmacy's Mobile Market brings fresh produce to communities with limited access to stores and transportation. (Submitted photo)

A future that starts with food

While the plans are still in early stages, Mangham has already been invited to speak at national food equity summits and is fielding interest from organizations across the South. Her partnership with UGA, and especially with the students, has made it possible to scale her vision.

For Escalante, the course offers a model he hopes to repeat.

“These students walk away not just with technical skills, but with confidence and conviction,” he said. “They know their work matters.”

And for students like Snarey, Fawibe and Kaur, that’s the real lesson.

“When education is paired with purpose, it can change communities and change lives,” Kaur concluded.