In this series, we're sitting down with Swette Center affiliated faculty to catch up on food systems, innovation, and what makes a good meal. See the rest of the series on our Faculty Profiles page.
Read on for an interview with Jordan Miller, Teaching Professor in the College of Health Solutions.

How did you become interested in food systems?
During the last recession, I saw that there was a lot of hunger and food insecurity, and I recognized food systems as a root cause of some of that. I felt like one of the best things I could do to help was feed people. From there, I got involved in some hunger relief organizations and food banks and pantries. And then, I saw that there was a lot of vacant land and a real need for produce like fresh fruits and vegetables. Hunger relief organizations need shelf stable food, so that's what they request for donations and that's what they get. But a lot of times, that food is high in fat and sodium—it's really not ideal for health purposes. So during that recession, I saw an opportunity to garden on vacant land and grow healthy food in cities. That was really the genesis of it.
Can you share a glimpse of your current research, and how it relates to food system transformation?
Stemming from my interest in community gardening during my masters, I moved into doing my doctorate degree at the University of Arizona around 2015. There was a lot of food activism going on in that area, including something called the Urban Agriculture Task Force that was doing really good work around changing regulations to allow for the practice.
In our community listening meetings, some community members were concerned that if we install gardens in neighborhoods, it could increase crime by introducing an unprotected resource that might attract people who are seeking to take or do harm. Generally, there are really positive associations between green space and crime, so I suspected that the same might be true for gardens as well, and the place where I was doing my doctoral work had just gotten a large grant that allowed for the installation of a lot of community and school gardens. I looked at the 19 community gardens that had been installed and compared crime rates before and after installation. I found inverse associations between the installation of gardens and crime, so that suggests that there’s an encouraging relationship between gardens and a reduction in crime. That's really where the research portion of my work in food systems was born—looking at what happens to neighborhoods and what happens to people and communities on the psychosocial level when we install gardens and practice urban agriculture.
I think it's important to remember that there are multifaceted benefits—when you practice urban agriculture, you're building social capital. You're building connections between people. You're building a resource that improves the look of the neighborhood, and that actually has a lot of benefits for people who live there in addition to food. People have mental health outcomes from walking in the green space. They perceive better social cohesion. They see more possibilities in the area. They see that people are stronger. They're doing good things in the neighborhood. That was the research portion of my work that I've used as a stepping stone into the work that I do here at ASU, which is mostly teaching. But I've been able to engage students in advocacy, urban agriculture and other food and hunger issues while I've been here at ASU. I love being able to share that enthusiasm for feeding people and building communities with the next generation of change agents.
What’s an innovation in food systems that you’re excited about?
Food recovery. In most places, we really do have enough food to feed people. The challenge is getting it into the hands of people who need to eat and doing so in a timely way. Redirecting food so it doesn't become food waste provides many synergistic benefits. When we have enough to eat, that does a lot for our physical, emotional, and psychological health. Then there are also larger systemic advantages. Obviously, climate health is really important and is impacted by food waste. The same is true for economic systems, which hold a lot of power and can impact our well-being.
Personally, I like Borderlands, a produce rescue organization here in Arizona, as well as apps like Too Good to Go, which is becoming more popular and connects people with produce and food directly from restaurants. These are really cost effective ways to improve efficiency in our food system that can provide benefits for people.
What’s your favorite weeknight meal?
The one that I always want to tell people about, because it’s so easy, is salmon with roasted vegetables! It all cooks in the oven in under 30 minutes, and you can do it in one pan if you want. I like to use those little two bite potatoes and asparagus, and then my favorite salmon marinade that I always rave about because it's so unexpectedly good. It's a mix of dijon mustard, tamari, and honey or maple syrup. Chef’s kiss.