Stevens recently led a collaborative study published in the Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, investigating how home and wild food procurement—such as gardening, foraging, fishing, and hunting—and purchasing local food directly from producers are linked to diet quality.

Key findings from Stevens’ research across rural Maine and Vermont include:

• Links to  Better Diets: Both home and wild food procurement and local food purchases are linked to significantly higher dietary quality scores.
• Stronger Links for Food-Insecure Households: Food-insecure individuals who relied more on home and wild food procurement or local outlets had meaningfully higher overall diet quality.
• An Unexpected Interaction: While each approach is independently linked to better diet quality, focusing intensely on both simultaneously showed diminishing returns—suggesting possible trade-offs in household time and financial resources.

Stevens’ research underscores the potential of supporting local food access and self-provisioning policies as vital strategies to promote healthier diets in rural communities, particularly among food-insecure households.

Please join us in celebrating Stevens on this publication and his ongoing contributions to community nutrition and food systems research!