Food Policy Center Staff - NYC Food Policy Center (Hunter College)

Mark Chatarpal, PhD, Executive Director

Dr. Mark Chatarpal is the Executive Director of Hunter College’s NYC Food Policy Center, where he leads efforts to develop intersectoral, innovative, and evidence-based solutions to prevent diet-related diseases and promote food security in New York City and other urban centers. He is a Food Anthropologist and holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Indiana University Bloomington, an M.A. in Anthropology, and a B.A. (Hons) specializing in Caribbean Studies. He also serves as a Doctoral Lecturer within Hunter College’s Department of Nutrition and Public Health. He previously served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Vassar College, teaching courses on Food Anthropology, Environmental Anthropology, Food and Indigeneity, and Research Methods. He also served as an Adjunct Lecturer at the NYU Food Studies Program, where he taught advanced graduate seminars on Inequality and Food Systems, and finally as an Adjunct Lecturer at The Culinary Institute of America, teaching courses on the Anthropology of Food and Introduction to Gastronomy. He continues to advance collective discussions on food pedagogy and enjoys mentoring diverse students and practitioners dedicated to transforming the global food system.

Dr. Chatarpal’s research spans multiple countries, including Guyana, Belize, and Ghana, where he has examined critical issues, including food sovereignty, Indigenous land rights, agricultural livelihoods, and the conceptualization of “food security” when formulating national food policy geared towards Indigenous communities. His dissertation is titled: What Do You Mean by Food Security? The Politics of Agrarian Policymaking in the Caribbean Community. Dr. Chatarpal’s scholarship has been supported by numerous competitive fellowships and grants, such as the Journal of Peasant Studies International Writeshop Fellowship, the IU Food Institute Graduate Research Fellowship, the David C. Skomp Feasibility Fellowship, and the Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship. His work has received various honors, such as the Frederick I. Case Book Prize for scholarly excellence in Caribbean Studies from the University of Toronto, the Harold K. Schneider Prize for best paper in Economic Anthropology from Indiana University, and acknowledgment for his research from the National Toshaos Council (NTC), Guyana’s leading indigenous organization.

His applied anthropological work includes three years of collaborative research with the NTC, focusing on redefining the term “agriculture” in the 2006 Amerindian Act to align with Articles 18, 20, and 23 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He also served as a Food Policy Specialist for the Forest Peoples Programme, where he identified constitutional and policy provisions to strengthen and protect Indigenous food systems and land tenure claims for three Indigenous institutions in Guyana. Beyond academia, Dr. Chatarpal has extensive experience as a consultant and advisor for international development organizations. He is on the roster of experts of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, as a Social Inclusion, Indigenous Peoples, and Land Tenure Specialist. Additionally, he served as a Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor for the U.S. Department of State, providing strategic guidance on complex foreign assistance programs worldwide, developing evaluation frameworks, and training stakeholders to enhance program effectiveness and accountability. Through his combined roles as a food scholar, educator, and practitioner, Dr. Chatarpal brings a distinctive, evidence-based perspective to advancing food justice and policy innovation.

Haley Schusterman, MA, Assistant Director

Haley Schusterman is the Assistant Director at the NYC Food Policy Center, where she leads editorial initiatives and contributes to research and programming that advance equitable and sustainable urban food systems. She holds an MA in Food Studies, with a specialization in policy and advocacy, from New York University, and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California with a degree in International Relations.

Previously, Haley served as a Policy Fellow at the Manhattan Borough President’s Office, where she conducted research and analysis to help shape strategy on food, infrastructure, transportation, and resilience policies. Before that, as the National Advocacy Fellow at Swipe Out Hunger, she built grassroots coalitions to advocate for state-level legislation aimed at reducing food insecurity on college campuses. This advocacy work was informed by her direct service experience with clients at USC’s student food pantry and the Food Bank for New York City’s Community Kitchen & Pantry of West Harlem. Her writing has appeared in publications including the Philadelphia Inquirer and City Limits, and she is currently writing and illustrating a book on American food policy.

Roxanne Díaz Cáceres, Head of Indigenous Partnerships & Health Policy

Roxanne Díaz Cáceres is the Head of Indigenous Partnerships & Health Policy at the NYC Food Policy Center and an MS-RDN candidate at Teachers College, Columbia University. She holds a B.S. in Biology with Honors from Stanford University, where she conducted research in cardiovascular disease and genetics and became a published author. She previously spent over a decade working at the intersection of healthcare and technology as a Product Manager developing clinical applications and datasets used in disease diagnosis and treatment. Originally from Peru, she returned to graduate school—sponsored by the Peruvian government—to learn how to help her community heal from chronic disease through food. Her interests include food sovereignty, Indigenous food systems, immigrant foodways, and urban agriculture.

Jaden Schapiro, Senior Writer and Researcher

Jaden Schapiro is a writer from New York. They earned their B.A. from Vassar College in Creative Writing and Art History, while also studying food anthropology. Their background is in multidisciplinary arts programs, having worked at artist and culinary residencies before joining the Food Policy Center. Their most recent project was a reconstruction of Italian Renaissance cuisine and banquet culture to discuss the origins of capitalist cuisine.

Jennifer Zingone, Head of Special Initiatives & Programs

Jennifer Zingone is the Head of Special Initiatives & Programs at the NYC Food Policy Center and an MPA candidate at The City College of New York. Jennifer graduated as valedictorian from the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at City College of New York with a degree in Political Science and Legal Studies.

A native New Yorker, her passion for food policy started in the aisles of her family’s nearly century-old grocery store, where she saw how food unites and divides people. This upbringing has led her to investigate the political consequences of modern food culture, from production to consumption. Throughout her career, Jennifer has worked with a range of institutions including the Mayor’s Office of Urban Agriculture, the U.S. Senate, the New York Senate, and the Sierra Club. Her research spans local procurement in urban centers, farm-to-school policy in New York City, environmental impacts of idle oil wells, and post-hurricane agricultural recovery in Puerto Rico. She has received recognition for her public service work from many organizations, including Hunter College’s New York City Food Policy Center, The Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, The Moynihan Center, The Paul A Volcker Alliance, and The Udall Scholarship. Outside of her professional work, you will catch her crocheting, competing in a Tetris tournament, or watching Jurassic Park for the 100th time.

Tamara Jeffries, Post-Master’s Research Fellow

Tamara Jeffries is a Post Graduate Fellow at the NYC Food Policy Center, supporting the center’s initiatives through food policy writing, event planning, grant development, and civic engagement work in partnership with the NYC Mayor’s Office of Urban Agriculture. She graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a BA in Environmental Geology and Anthropology (photography minor), and served as an executive member of the university’s Food Recovery Network chapter.

Holding a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, she now works full time as the Co-Production of Knowledge Program Manager at the Columbia University Center for Science and Society, leading the center’s community-based knowledge and environmental humanities related grant management and event programming activities. Professionally, she aims to address food systems and environmental justice issues (particularly within BIPOC communities) through research, advocacy, and storytelling, and has ambitions to further explore the intersections between equity, food sovereignty, human rights, climate change, and wellness/mental health as an anthropology doctoral and/or law degree candidate.

INTERNS

Bronte Baxter

Bronte Baxter is a senior at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She is majoring in environmental studies with concentrations in earth science and anthropology and is minoring in religious studies. Originally from Southern California she is a passionate environmental health advocate with an interest in the social sciences. Bronte hopes to pursue a future career in anthropology and public health and is honored to be working with the Hunter College Food Policy Center

Len Guzman

Len Guzman is an interdisciplinary writer and researcher, with his work focusing on Black, Indigenous, and Caribbean foodways, folklore, music, and language. His background includes independent ethnography in New Orleans examining street performance and the human impact of the jurisdiction of sound, researching the musical connection of the Black Atlantic through New York City, the relationship between Black meat abstention and the reclamation of autonomy, and the work of Yamaye Taino food sovereignty activists. Len is currently a BA student at Vassar College majoring in music and anthropology, and intends to pursue higher learning in ethnomusicology post-graduate studies.

Marcus Khan

Marcus Khan is a junior at the City College of New York, CUNY, majoring in Anthropology and Sociology to learn about the ways systemic racialized inequities are produced and maintained over time. Being born and raised in The Bronx, he has seen and experienced the inequities that exist for marginalized groups across New York City. Through his time in undergrad, Marcus has worked with elected officials and non-profit organizations to support his community, as well as supported active environmental research in the South Bronx. Hunter College’s Food Policy Center provides Marcus the opportunity to understand systemic racialized inequity through the lens of food insecurity and overconsumption. As an aspiring policymaker, Marcus wants to learn about how different systemic pressures all play a role in negatively impacting the lives of New Yorkers. He hopes to use what he learns at the Food Policy Center to inform equitable policy creation that would reduce the disparities found in Black and Brown, low-income neighborhoods in The Bronx and in other boroughs.