Browsing by Author "Karnik, Harshada"

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    Challenges to food and nutrition security among low-income communities
    (2021-10) Karnik, Harshada
    This dissertation highlights challenges to food and nutrition security, and the practices households adopt to overcome these challenges. In the first essay, I use primary data to study social capital and food security through the case study of Somali refugee households in the Midwest. In the second essay, I evaluate the impact of two interventions designed to increase nutrition awareness -- succinct nutrition labels displayed on the shelf and nutrition education workshops -- on food purchase choices of shoppers in grocery stores in rural Kansas. In the third essay, I study how the store format choices of households receiving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits change over the benefit month and how additional benefits received are distributed across store formats and over the benefit month using SNAP administrative data from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area.I find that non-monetary constraints add to the costs households incur and that reducing these costs can improve food and nutrition security. In the Somali-American community, social capital enhances food security possibly by reducing obstacles that would have otherwise increased cost. Among rural residents reducing the cost of information empowers them to make healthier choices. SNAP recipient households tend to redeem more benefits at grocery stores indicating their preference for grocery stores, yet they make a small number of redemptions at convenience stores every month suggesting their need to rely on convenience stores. The findings of this doctoral research suggest that cash transfer programs are necessary to help families overcome financial constraints, but creative solutions could help to overcome non-monetary challenges and reduce costs to access sufficient and nutritious foods and consequently promote more equitable health outcomes for all.
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    India's Urban Poor Financial Services Needs: Challenges and Solutions
    (Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2014-04-29) Karnik, Harshada
    In this paper I identify the institutional and consumer barriers that have kept the urban poor out of the banking network. I also analyze how informal mechanisms overcome these barriers to create a sustainable and reliable network of financial services for the urban poor. I end by discussing the need to rethink existing policies in order to make the formal financial services more accessible and user friendly to the unbanked.
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    Mapping the Demand: Sex Buyers in the State of Minnesota
    (2017-08) Martin, Lauren; Melander, Christina; Karnik, Harshada; Nakamura, Corelle
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    Mapping the Demand: Sex Buyers in the State of Minnesota
    (2017-08) Martin, Lauren; Melander, Christina; Karnik, Harshada; Nakamura, Corelle
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    Print News Media Coverage of Sex Trafficking and Prostitution in Minnesota, 2005-2014
    (2016-09) Martin, Lauren; Karnik, Harshada; Nakamura, Corelle; Syvertson, Cheyenne; Melander, Christina; Wisnoski, Zoe