Extension Specialist Lindsey Haynes-Maslow Explores Food Systems, Nutrition, and Public Health in North Carolina Communities
Lindsey Haynes-Maslow, associate professor and extension specialist in the Agricultural and Human Sciences Department, researches policies that lead to healthy behaviors for underserved and disadvantaged communities. Since 2016, she has served as the principal investigator of NC State’s SNAP-Education Program, Steps to Health, and she is also the market research lead for the Extension Collaborative on Immunization Teaching and Engagement (EXCITE) program.
Steps to Health partners with organizations across North Carolina to build healthy food and physical activity access in communities. “We collaborate with youth, adults, and communities to help make the healthy choice the easy choice”, says Haynes-Maslow. The EXCITE program is an Interagency Agreement with the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that funds Cooperative Extension to address health disparities among rural and underserved communities related to vaccine hesitancy.
In these roles, and in her research, Haynes-Maslow explores the intersection between food systems, nutrition, and public health, as well as the impact of government policies on access to healthy food and beverages in disinvested communities. Before becoming a faculty member at NC State, Haynes-Maslow was a food systems and health analyst on federal food and nutrition policy for advocacy organization The Union of Concerned Scientists. “My research began with focusing on the relationship to access to healthy food and diet-related chronic disease”, says Haynes-Maslow, “but I have expanded my focus to examine the systemic barriers that have been purposely enacted in certain communities and how we can remove or address those barriers”.
Haynes-Maslow says that her Extension appointment has allowed her to travel to communities across the state, and learn more about those communities and their experiences related to health. “I have also become much more humbled by interviewing and interacting with low-income and rural families”, she notes of her work. “They are so resilient and can do so much with only a little bit of resources.”
Haynes-Maslow says that her Extension appointment has allowed her to travel to communities across the state, and learn more about those communities and their experiences related to health. “I have also become much more humbled by interviewing and interacting with low-income and rural families”, she notes of her work. “They are so resilient and can do so much with only a little bit of resources.”
When asked what advice she has for students, Haynes-Maslow says she encourages students to gain experience with a variety of organizations while in college, to learn what they enjoy doing – and what they don’t. “As an undergraduate student, I thought I wanted to be a pediatrician, so I worked as a medical assistant for several months”, says Haynes-Maslow of her own experience. “I quickly realized that I did not want to work with patients on an individual basis, but I was more interested in population-level health outcomes”. She also emphasizes that students on the job market should cast a wide net and apply for as many positions as possible, even if they think they are not fully qualified.
As someone who hires staff frequently, Haynes-Maslow says that she writes job descriptions for her “ideal candidate”, recognizing that no candidate will ever check “all the boxes”. What’s more important than being perfectly qualified, she says, is that candidates “do their homework” on the organizations to which they are applying: by knowing what programs and services they offer, reading staff bios, and asking specific questions during the interview, students can show the selection committee that they’re serious about the position. Last but not least, Haynes-Maslow says that students should not get discouraged on those occasions that they don’t land the job. “I literally have a folder of all my rejection letters – it’s a special reminder to myself that even with all my rejections, I have still grown as a professional and have continued to make progress in my career”, says Haynes-Maslow. “Thankfully, I do not have a rejection letter from NC State! The Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences took a chance on me and I am forever grateful for that”.
Learn more about teaching, research, and extension in the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences at our website.
Courses Taught:
- AEHS 585: Professional Ethics & Family Policy
Find three of Haynes-Maslow‘s recent publications below:
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