Author(s): Sebastian Trias, Morgan Aamodt, Hyrum Forstrom
Mentor(s): Kent Hinkson, Cassie Bingham
Institution UVU
A salient issue facing Salt Lake City is the food and healthcare apartheid demarcating the east and west side of the city. This resource inequity disproportionately affects minorities and low-income residents of the city. Similar to many urban areas in the United States, the infrastructure of Salt Lake City, Utah, reflects a history of systemic racism and exploitation of minorities through redlining, environmental racism, wage theft, employment discrimination, a sectarianist monopoly, and other related legislature and cultural attitudes. Today, in addition to disparate healthcare access and food inaccessibility, residents of Salt Lake City's west side are burdened with significantly higher levels of air pollution, hazardous waste, and heavy metals when compared to the predominantly white, affluent east side of the city. Centuries of discrimination have led to the distrust of medical establishments and a gap in general health literacy, causing these marginalized populations to be the most in need of the very resources that are inaccessible and further marginalization for those who rely on welfare. Our research aims to utilize a systems mapping approach which includes studying underlying patterns, structures, mental models, historical contexts, stakeholders, existing interventions, and feedback loops. In developing a systematic, interrelated understanding of resource accessibility as a complex issue, future interventions and directions will be identified to guide potential avenues for social change in Salt Lake City.