Disciplinary Literacy as Civic Empowerment to Address Food Insecurity and Inequity

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors share the work of Jeffrey Xue, a student who in collaboration with mentor faculty, John Akers, used literacy as a tool for civic engagement to make a difference in his school and community by working to disrupt food waste and food insecurity. The aim for this chapter is to provide an overview of the successes and challenges Jeffrey faced when he embarked on a community service project starting from middle school throughout high school. In the chapter, the authors share Jeffrey's experiences as well as the perspectives of his mentor, John Akers. They also include the family's perspective written by Jeffrey's mom, Jie Zhang. Examples of the literacy artifacts representative of Jeffrey's use of literacy as a tool for civic engagement as well as recommendations and resources for teachers interested in engaging in this work with their students are provided at the end of this chapter.