Casey Burns shared the data-based research that the Center on Food Equity has done with community partners such as Tufts University and the Worcester Regional Research Bureau. She presented two specific projects. The first on causal loop analysis that provided a deep, multi-layered approach to examining food security through the feedback loops on household costs, available time, and benefits cliff effect. The second examined food security through a geographic analysis of resources, needs, and access to benefits. She shared that these research projects have led to the development of the Worcester Community Food Assessment, a unique approach to measuring the perspective of people experiencing food insecurity, gathering data about the places and ways that people access food.

Ultimately, these research projects have culminated into significant policies and programs at the local, state, and federal level that are based on data and incorporate the perspectives and experiences of individuals most-affected by these policies. She urged other research organizations to explore the issue of food security in their own communities as over 33.8 million people in the US have been affected by it in 2021.