What is the relationship between food and inequality? How do food systems support people and where do these systems fail? How do systems of power impact food accessibility and food security? Check out the abstract below, and then click through to the main article to learn more:
Food and Inequality
Peer-reviewed research by: Sara Shostak
The production, consumption, materiality, and meanings of food are critical topics for sociological research on inequality, although they have not always been recognized as such. This article describes how food is implicated in the production of inequalities across scales and sites. It begins by considering how the global food system is inextricably imbricated with structures of power that create and sustain patterns of inequality, especially in regard to land and labor. It then reviews the literature on food access and food insecurity, not only as determinants of health but as lived experiences shaped by local food environments, intersectional identities, and the social meanings of food. Lastly, it considers how the food justice and food sovereignty movements challenge the inequalities and injustices engendered by the global industrial food system. The conclusions highlight how sociological research on food and inequality is essential to understanding the contexts and consequences of contemporary policy initiatives.
Click here to read the full open-access article, published in 2023 in the journal Annual Review of Sociology.
Full Reference //
Shostak, S. (2023). Food and Inequality. Annual Review of Sociology, 49, 359-378.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
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