July 17, 2025 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu

Ashley Page Bookhart is committed to ensuring that no child goes hungry. With one in six children facing hunger in South Carolina, it’s a significant challenge for the Palmetto state – one she’s been tackling for more than a decade.

“As a native South Carolinian, it's important for me to help make my home state better,” Bookhart says. “I love the fact that the work I get the privilege of doing is helping to make a positive impact on the food system and nutrition landscape.”

After growing up in the Columbia area, Bookhart studied history at Converse College before enrolling in the Master of Social Work program at USC. It was during this time that she was first introduced to the field.

“I had the pleasure of representing my field placement agency at a meeting regarding childhood hunger as a part of a former project at USC,” she says. “It sparked my interest in food systems work, and I started to volunteer and do a lot of classroom assignments related to this issue.”

After graduating in 2015, Bookhart accepted a position at the Arnold School as a Community Organizer for End Child Hunger SC. In this role, she worked in several communities across the state to enhance child nutrition programs and reduce child hunger. Nearly seven years ago, she transitioned into the SNAP-Ed Program Coordinator position, which is housed in the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior.

“It's been a true gift to get to work with Ashley for so many years now,” says SNAP-Ed Principal Investigator Carrie Draper. “Her genuine, authentic connections to both local communities around the state and statewide organizations are two of her many assets. She's made tremendous impact in libraries, farmers markets, and other settings to ensure people have more access to healthy foods in SC.”

Bookhart’s typical day involves providing policy, system and environmental change technical assistance to 10 local food policy councils and libraries across the state. By supporting these groups, she’s helped them establish community gardens, farmers markets and seed libraries. Bookhart has also helped them develop new transportation routes and increase the number of local vendors that accept SNAP/EBT to improve access to healthy food.

One of her current projects involves partnering with No Kid Hungry and other stakeholders to increase the number of Summer Break Cafes in the state. Funded by the USDA, this program provides up to two free meals per day for school-age children and teens during the summer months. Bookhart also serves on various community coalitions and groups across the state (e.g., SC Association of Farmers Markets, State Nutrition Action Coalition, Columbia Food Policy Committee, Carolinas College SNAP Workgroup, 5210 SC) that work to improve the food system and reduce food insecurity.

“The best part of my job is being able to see the impact of the work,” Bookhart says. “One of the highlights was being able to support USC in the planning of the Carolinas College Food Insecurity Summit that occurred last year. The summit was a success, and plans are underway for a second annual summit being held at Newberry College this fall.”

The Staff Spotlight Series is sponsored by the Arnold School's Office of Access and Collective Engagement.