Mapping Food Insecurity in America, Why the Taliban Won, and More

What Americans think about racism, the conditions that led to Taliban victory, and better understanding the U.S.'s food environment.

View in browser August 18, 2021 Beyond 'food deserts': America needs a new approach to mapping food insecurity   Singling out neighborhoods without grocery stores as "food deserts" has failed to produce a successful solution for America's food insecurity problem. Caroline George and Adie Tomer identify measurement gaps in traditional food access research and lay out a new framework to better understand the country's evolving food environment.   Read more Why the Taliban won   "The dramatic meltdown of Afghanistan's army only exposes the rot that had been festering in Kabul's halls of power for years. No wonder the Afghan population trusted its government so little, and no wonder one Afghan city after another surrendered to the Taliban this week." Vanda Felbab-Brown explains the underlying conditions that allowed the Taliban to retake Afghanistan so quickly.     Read in Foreign Affairs How should we address the US's history of slavery and racism? Here's what Americans think   Discussion over racial issues has intensified at the local and national level, with critical race theory at the center of many debates. William Galston highlights new public opinion data on how Americans view the nation's history of racism and discusses what it could mean for policies to improve the standing of racial and ethnic groups in the United States.   Read more Help support Brookings with a donation   Brookings is committed to making its high-quality, independent policy research free to the public. Please consider making a contribution today to our Annual Fund to support our experts' work. The conclusions and recommendations of any Brookings publication are solely those of its author(s), and do not reflect the views of the Institution, its management, or its other scholars. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brookings Institution campus in Washington, D.C. is currently closed and all events are virtual only. For more information on the Institution's response, read our full guidance here. The Brookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036 Unsubscribe Manage your newsletter preferences | Receive the Brookings Brief less often