Nestled in between the Amazon rainforest and some of Brazil’s biggest cities, certain Indigenous communities are situated in a unique position when it comes to food security, and the traditional methods of measurement may not be accurate.
Butch Wright, a PhD candidate in anthropology is set to graduate in spring 2026, and for his dissertation, he conducted an empirical examination of these communities. During his time at Ohio State, Wright also was awarded a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship through the Center for Latin American Studies, which enabled him to advance his proficiency in Brazilian Portuguese and deepen his understanding of its cultural nuances. FLAS fellowships are available for Ohio State graduate and professional school students who are pursuing a course of study which requires advanced foreign language and area studies training.
“My research involved three key parts: Evaluation of standardized survey metrics, analysis of the structure and effectiveness of food-sharing networks in the community, and, lastly, how interhousehold food sharing affects dietary quality,” he shared.
Wright explained that Indigenous families living on the edge between rainforests and major cities stay fed by balancing modern markets with traditional sharing practices, something that existing measurement tools do not account for. He mapped out this complex social network and rated their diets to prove that these deep-rooted sharing habits are essential to ensure households have a wide and nutritious variety of food to eat.
“As a citizen of both the United States and Brazil, I feel a very deep connection with both countries, and thus decided to do my research project ‘back home,’ in order to help people there,” said Wright.
Before coming to Ohio State in 2018 for his PhD Wright worked in Brazil for nearly 20 years as the director of international relations for a prominent Brazilian university. When the Brazilian economy began to change for the worst, he decided to further his education.
“Given that I had done my master’s degree in ecology at the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, where I had worked with Indigenous populations in the Amazon and missed being a researcher, we decided I would apply to graduate programs in anthropology in the United States and Europe to pursue my PhD and eventually get a job doing something I love,” he said.
Though his FLAS fellowship, Wright took Portuguese literature classes to help him navigate his research. Professor Pedro Schacht Pereira in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese encouraged him to take an anthropological approach to learning about the language, something which resonated strongly with Wright.
“Taking the literature classes in Portuguese with students from Brazil and the United States, it was incredibly interesting to discuss what we were reading and to interpret the authors’ intentions in their writing together, as well as to see the influences that crept into the writing,” Wright reflected.
Throughout his career, Wright notes that his family continues to inspire him and instill him with optimism.
“Finding work these days is incredibly hard, and though my dissertation work makes me proud of everything I’ve done to try to make an impact in this field, I still doubt myself, particularly as I don’t know what comes next. My family helps me through this doubt, and I sincerely believe that good things are coming – I just have to work even harder to get there – not for myself, but for them.”
Learn more about Butch Wright’s experience at Ohio State on the Center for Latin American Studies website.