Ben Chrisinger

@bchrisinger.bsky.social

2033 Followers 1332 Following

Assistant Professor in Community Health at Tufts, formerly faculty @dspi-oxford@bsky.social. I study place and health, especially food and welfare. #SNAPmatters https://facultyprofiles.tufts.edu/benjamin-chrisinger

Speaker in front of a podium giving a talk in front of audience and three panelists seated on stage.
Screenshot from FRAC report: Economic strain and new SNAP cost-shifts under HR1 across all states.
Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy pose with their Wiltshire terrier “Winky” in the film “Best in Show”
Screenshot from JAMA Health Forum website: “Changes to SNAP Under HR 1 and the Implications for Food Insecurity”
Two cases of LaCroix seltzer water sit on the floor of a car, with two cartons of ice cream on the passenger seat.
Screenshot of text: "MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) received notification the night of Saturday, November 8, 2025, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). As per FNS, this was “a follow up to the guidance shared on October 10, October 24, November 4, November 5, and November 7, 2025…” The November 8 memorandum told states to process partial SNAP payments with a 35 percent reduction of the maximum allotments, as per the November 5 guidance. It is important to understand that the Thrifty Food Plan was changed; and as a result, a straight 35 percent reduction from a recipients’ normal monthly benefit may not be the amount received. At this time, DHR is working to update the SNAP system with the change in the Thrifty Food Plan to determine each household’s benefit amount at the reduced rate. DHR is hopeful to release benefits by the end of this week, barring any changes from FNS and/or any unforeseen problems in making changes to the SNAP system."
Stacked line graph illustrating the total estimated number of SNAP participants who receive benefits on each day of November, by state. State lines are shaded to illustrate whether they are offering any kind of assistance, like food bank donations, direct financial aid, or some combination. A red line indicates today's date.
Staked line plot showing the estimated number of SNAP participants in each state who are supposed to receive SNAP benefits on each day in November. A red line indicates today's date. The graphic shows how states issue SNAP on different days, making the cumulative scale of the problem difficult to see until later in the month.
Stacked line plot illustrating estimates of how many SNAP participants should have received benefits by each day in November 2025. Each state is shown with a different color, illustrating how different states use different distribution schedules for SNAP.
Protest scene, with one protestor in costume as Chewbacca, carrying a sign quoting Yoda: “YOU MUST UNLEARN WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED. STAND AGAINST A REAL LIFE IMPERIAL TYRANT”
Email screenshot: ACADEMIA An Al created a podcast of your paper “A Mixed-Method Assessment of a New Supermarket in a Food Desert: Contributions to Everyday Life and Health”
Screenshot of email from Academia.edu. Large text announces “an AI created a podcast of your paper”
Screenshot from TV show “King of the Hill.” Frank Hill is looking down at the ground, with the caption “I WANT MY OLD LIFE BACK”
Ad from Instagram of man with a shopping cart in a grocery store, standing in front of fresh produce in a cooler. Text over the image says: “CREATE YOUR OWN PHARMACY OR YOULL END UP AT THE PHARMACY. LET FOOD BE YOUR MEDICINE OR MEDICINE WILL BECOME YOUR FOOD.”
Senior undergraduates assemble on a theater stage for a group photo. In the background, the Tufts Community Health logo is projected onto a screen.
Outdoor picture of a concert staircase with grass on either side. Along the right side, footsteps have worn the grass to a patch of dirt.
Screenshot from NY Magazine: "I spend so much time on Tiktok. Hours and hours, until my eyes start hurting, which makes it hard to plan and do my schoolwork. With ChatGPT, I can write an essay in two hours that normally takes 12." - A freshman at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario
Pop-up window on a computer screen that reads: “Use of AI in peer review: To protect authors' rights and research confidentiality, this journal does not currently allow the use of Generative Al or Al-assisted technologies such as ChatGPT or similar services for peer review (see our GenAI reviewer policy). We are actively evaluating compliant AI tools and may revise this policy in the future.”
Two panels from the show “30 Rock”: above, Liz Lemon says “What a week, huh?” Below, Jack replies “Lemon, it’s Wednesday.”
Gillian Anderson, as Dr. Dana Scully in “The X Files,” mid-eye roll while on the phone with Fox Mulder, saying “Mulder, I don’t even know how to respond to that.”
Email inbox: Chris Contakes, Chronicle of Higher Ed: Introducing Chron, Your Al-Powered Research...
"There's all these voices online on social media that have really started to focus on the specifics around oils," Sweetgreen's cofounder and chief concept officer Nicolas Jammet told Bloomberg at the time. "And so... and this was the investment we wanted to make." Jammet added that the decision wasn't based entirely on social media discourse, but also on the supply chain and "what direction we want to shift the industry in". He did not mention nutrition.
Partially erased drawing on a classroom whiteboard of two otters cuddling, with a caption “otters! To distract from the CS pain”
Classroom whiteboard with multi-colored post-it notes placed beneath different topic labels.
Screenshot from LinkedIn. A post by Uché Blackstock, MD: "Only 1.8% of US doctors were Black in 1906 – and the legacy of inequality in medical education has not yet been erased"
Group of people facing an exhibit in an open library hall. An instructor stands in the foreground and gestures to the exhibit.
Screenshot from article: Farm, nutrition programs: Just in time for a new multiyear farm bill after running out of room in this Congress, Vought’s budget proposed $633 billion in cuts to commodity supports and crop insurance program as well as nutrition assistance. Almost two-thirds of the cost savings would come from reductions in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps.
Single black glove on a wooden table, missing its partner
Screenshot from the American Journal of Public Health: "Safeguarding SNAP as an Effective Anti-Hunger Program: Myths and Potential Harms of Adding Diet Quality as a Core Objective"
Screenshot of American Medical Directories data visualization page. Map of southern US counties shaded to illustrate county population characteristics, with points showing where Black doctors were practicing in 1906.
Tufts University main campus, with autumn leaves and large Gothic-style academic building.
The Guardian: Los Angeles hit by double whammy of wildfires and earthquake
From The Guardian: Reuters checked in with ten undecided voters who watched last night’s debate, and asked them which candidate they were leaning towards. Donald Trump turned out to be the winner of this very small sample poll, with several voters saying they found Kamala Harris to be vague when it came to which policies she supported. Here’s more, from Reuters.
A group of senior undergraduates are posed for a group photo on an auditorium stage. A banner for Tufts University’s Department of Community Health appears behind them.
Data visualization site. A map of US Southern states with points illustrating the locations of Black doctors in 1906, with lines connecting them to the medical schools where they trained. Counties are shaded according to county demographic characteristics. A summary data dashboard appears at left.
Bing web search for “tufts computer science” with top result a targeted ad for Boston University’s CS grad certificate program.
LinkedIn marketing email: “Find your next job on LinkedIn.”
poster for the On the Way to School Webinar, “Teens, school journeys, and health: dialogues across geographies”