Seth Billingsley’s contributions to the Northwest Arkansas community reach far beyond John Brown University, his alma mater. As the recipient of the 2021 Hatfield Prize, Billingsley researched COVID-19’s impact on food insecurity in Arkansas.
The Hatfield Prize, part of the Center for Public Justice’s Shared Justice Initiative (CPJ), awards funding to three student-faculty pairs from Council for Christian Colleges & Universities institutions to research social policies that impact the wellbeing of their communities. Billingsley, along with Daniel Bennett, professor of political science at JBU, was among the prize winners.
Katie Thompson, program director for Shared Justice, explained the mission behind the Hatfield Prize. “For students who are interested in applying their faith to academic research, the Hatfield Prize is a unique opportunity to incorporate faith with policy recommendations,” she said. According to Thompson, this year there was an emphasis on the pandemic and what the specific needs of the communities that student winners are coming from are.
Besides examining how the pandemic increases food insecurity, it also explores its impact on children’s health and the foster care system in specific regions of the U.S. “When I originally applied for the Hatfield Prize, I was a little uncertain of what specifically I wanted to study,” Billingsley explained. “I knew that [CPJ] wanted to look at projects that dealt with COVID, with local communities and that needed to involve some sort of faith element.”
Published on Sept. 22, Billingsley’s “Relief and Recovery: Addressing COVID-19’s Impact on Food Insecurity” explores several faith communities, government food pantries and civil society organizations focused on addressing food insecurity in the Northwest Arkansas region to understand the unprecedented needs they have in the face of the pandemic.
“I decided that, instead of talking to and approaching families or individuals who experience food insecurity, I talked to the organizations that were working to alleviate it because of how the problem had changed for people who are on the frontlines working to help those people who are hungry,” Billingsley explained.
A 2020 report by Arkansas Advocates estimates that food insecurity has increased by 32.3%, one of the nation’s highest rates. Writing from a Christian perspective, Billingsley offers an in-depth recount of how local organizations aim to mitigate this issue in their communities.
Among some of the most important findings, Billingsley highlighted that, despite working on addressing very similar issues, a lot of the organizations he interviewed were not talking to each other. “It’s not any particular organization’s fault,” he said. “It’s just a recognition that there’s not really a clear strategy of community action present.”