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Food Insecurity in Advanced Capitalist Nations

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Food".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2022) | Viewed by 33836

Special Issue Editors

Department of Sociology, Oklahoma State University, 431 Murray, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
Interests: food insecurity; environmental sociology; green criminology; quantitative methodology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing, Northumbria University, Room E213, Coach Lane Campus West, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE7 7XA, UK
Interests: food insecurity, food and social justice, health and educational inequalities, school feeding programmes
Department of Social Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK
Interests: food insecurity; environmental sociology; green criminology; quantitative methodology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Food insecurity is a condition where individuals and households do not have regular access to sufficient, safe, nutritious and culturally appropriate food and is believed to contribute to a variety of adverse physical, social and health related conditions. While food insecurity is primarily thought of as an issue in poor, developing countries, it is becoming increasingly common in First World capitalist countries. In particular, the rise of neoliberal policies that stress individual responsibility and minimal government intervention has produced a situation where high levels of inequality mean that large segments of the population struggle to feed themselves and their families. As a result, many people rely on charitable food aid, food banks and other feeding programs to meet their daily caloric needs. Addressing the growing problem of food insecurity in the developed world is necessary for a socially sustainable and just world. This special issue will be comprised of original empirical and theoretical articles that contribute to the study of food insecurity in advanced capitalist nations (e.g. USA, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etc.). Articles can focus on any aspect of food insecurity in affluent capitalist nations.

Dr. Michael A. Long

Prof. Paul B. Stretesky

Prof. Margaret Anne Defeyter

Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • food insecurity
  • food justice
  • food poverty
  • hunger
  • First World

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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28 pages, 3840 KiB  
Article
Working through Disaster Risk Management to Support Regional Food Resilience: A Case Study in North-Eastern Australia
by Kimberley Reis, Cheryl Desha, Sioux Campbell and Prudence Liddy
Sustainability 2022, 14(4), 2466; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14042466 - 21 Feb 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3793
Abstract
As a consequence of disasters such as pandemics and severe weather events, Australian communities often face ‘food shortages’ resulting from the reduced availability of food and reduced access to available food. These food shortages can be acutely felt by vulnerable populations, comprising people [...] Read more.
As a consequence of disasters such as pandemics and severe weather events, Australian communities often face ‘food shortages’ resulting from the reduced availability of food and reduced access to available food. These food shortages can be acutely felt by vulnerable populations, comprising people in communities who are already dealing with social or economic disadvantages. Despite growing calls to ensure food access for everyone during and following disasters, efforts are still largely ad hoc, champion based and highly variable in their reliability and quality of supply. There is also a disconnect between disaster-related food relief and improving business continuity towards local economic resilience. This study sought to tackle these challenges by exploring how ‘local food access’ could be integrated within disaster management mechanisms, to support the most vulnerable and also contribute to local economic resilience. This paper discusses the findings of a study undertaken in Cairns, a north-eastern Australian regional authority, and involves a review of disaster management planning and policy artifacts, an online survey, and semi-structured interviews with stakeholders providing care and advocacy for vulnerable populations. Synthesizing the findings, we present a disaster-management-focused ‘Local Food Access Model’ that connects shorter food supply chains to improved disaster response, resilience and contingency-planning agendas. Applying this model to Cairns, we conclude the multiple benefits and immediate stakeholder readiness for a virtual (online) food resilience and contingency hub, to enable the connection of local food availability and access information within existing disaster management processes. The research method used, the model, and the case-specific findings provide government decision makers with a useful process, a local food-access schematic and a case study example to support immediate improvements in disaster resilience for vulnerable populations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Insecurity in Advanced Capitalist Nations)
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19 pages, 1066 KiB  
Article
Understandings of Food Insecurity in Aotearoa New Zealand: Considering Practitioners’ Perspectives in a Neoliberal Context Using Q Methodology
by David Reynolds and Miranda Mirosa
Sustainability 2022, 14(1), 178; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14010178 - 24 Dec 2021
Viewed by 2529
Abstract
Food insecurity in advanced capitalist nations has persisted over decades despite excess food production, welfare systems, and charitable responses. This research examines the perspectives of practitioners who engage with food insecurity in Aotearoa New Zealand using a Q methodology study to synthesise and [...] Read more.
Food insecurity in advanced capitalist nations has persisted over decades despite excess food production, welfare systems, and charitable responses. This research examines the perspectives of practitioners who engage with food insecurity in Aotearoa New Zealand using a Q methodology study to synthesise and characterise three typical subjective positions. Consensus across the three positions includes the state’s responsibility for the food security of citizens, while points of contention include the role of poverty as a cause of food insecurity and the significance of a human right to food. The research contributes to research into food insecurity in advanced capitalist nations by identifying areas of consensus and contention among food insecurity practitioners, identifying the significance of children and moral failure in perceptions of food insecurity, and comparing practitioners’ perspectives to existing approaches to researching food insecurity in advanced capitalist nations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Insecurity in Advanced Capitalist Nations)
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21 pages, 297 KiB  
Article
Invisible and Insecure in Rural America: Cultivating Dignity in Local Food Security Initiatives
by Amy Herrington and Tamara L. Mix
Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3109; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13063109 - 12 Mar 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2824
Abstract
The United States’ neoliberal approach to governance promotes structural inequalities that shape individuals’ sense of dignity. We employ qualitative in-depth interviews and ethnographic field study to examine dignity construction via daily experiences with food access and foodways. Situating our study within a rural [...] Read more.
The United States’ neoliberal approach to governance promotes structural inequalities that shape individuals’ sense of dignity. We employ qualitative in-depth interviews and ethnographic field study to examine dignity construction via daily experiences with food access and foodways. Situating our study within a rural Oklahoma community with high food insecurity rates, we ask: How does structural inequality impact individuals’ daily experiences with dignity construction? How is a sense of dignity influenced by daily experiences with food access and foodways within the context of community-based food initiatives? We address structural inequality and the resulting social hierarchy of food security, focusing on three overlapping social arenas—relational, individual, and institutional. Relational interactions in food access spaces promote dignity when interactions are characterized by symmetrical social encounters. Dignity in the individual arena centers on foodways, cultural or familial traditions, and role-taking as a food provider. In the institutional arena, dignity is influenced by structures and operational approaches. Our research contributes to literatures informing policies and strategies employed by community-led, rights-based food aid systems in advanced capitalist nations. Efforts prioritize and promote human dignity, despite neoliberal, advanced capitalist governments’ failure to address structural inequalities as a root cause of food insecurity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Insecurity in Advanced Capitalist Nations)
15 pages, 287 KiB  
Article
Welfare State Spending, Income Inequality and Food Insecurity in Affluent Nations: A Cross-National Examination of OECD Countries
by Md Belal Hossain, Michael A. Long and Paul B. Stretesky
Sustainability 2021, 13(1), 324; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13010324 - 31 Dec 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4275
Abstract
Few studies examine the distribution of food insecurity in advanced capitalist nations. This research investigates cross-national food insecurity in the world’s largest economies by estimating the impact of welfare spending and income inequality on food availability (measured by the FAO’s Dietary Energy and [...] Read more.
Few studies examine the distribution of food insecurity in advanced capitalist nations. This research investigates cross-national food insecurity in the world’s largest economies by estimating the impact of welfare spending and income inequality on food availability (measured by the FAO’s Dietary Energy and Protein Supply indicators) and food accessibility (measured by the Food Insecurity Experience Scale) in 36 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries between the years of 2000 and 2018. Using a series of regression models on panel and cross-sectional data this research found that increases in state spending on social and health care are associated with (1) increases in food availability and (2) increases in food access. However, the findings also suggest that increases in food supplies do not produce more food security. Thus, for the OECD countries in this analysis, food availability is unrelated to food accessibility. We conclude by suggesting that high income countries that seek to promote global health should not only focus their efforts on poverty reduction polices that increase food accessibility within their own boarders, but must simultaneously ensure a more equitable global distribution of food. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Insecurity in Advanced Capitalist Nations)
18 pages, 1009 KiB  
Article
Holiday Hunger and Parental Stress: Evidence from North East England
by Paul B. Stretesky, Margaret Anne Defeyter, Michael A. Long, Liesel A. Ritchie and Duane A. Gill
Sustainability 2020, 12(10), 4141; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12104141 - 19 May 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4991
Abstract
Summer is a stressful time of year for many parents as they struggle to meet household expenses and feed children. The aim of the present study is to determine if there is an association between summertime food insecurity (i.e., holiday hunger) and parental [...] Read more.
Summer is a stressful time of year for many parents as they struggle to meet household expenses and feed children. The aim of the present study is to determine if there is an association between summertime food insecurity (i.e., holiday hunger) and parental stress among a sample of UK parents with school age children living in North East England. A cross-sectional sample of (n = 252) parents are analyzed using holiday hunger as the independent variable and a subjective measure of stress that treats summer as a ‘stressful event’ as the dependent variable. Of the parents in the sample, 64.8% reported at least some level of holiday hunger. We find parents facing any holiday hunger scored substantively higher on the overall 75-point Impact of Event Scale (mean difference = 30.4, 95% confidence interval ((CI) 24.2–36.6), the 35-point intrusion subscale (13.7, 95% CI 10.8–16.5), and the 40-point avoidance subscale (16.7, 95% CI 13.3–20.2). These findings are replicated in a regression analysis. In addition, we find that holiday hunger partially mediates the association between economic hardship (i.e., unemployment and poverty) and parental stress. We conclude by suggesting that government policies addressing economic hardship are not only likely to reduce holiday hunger, but also improve mental wellbeing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Insecurity in Advanced Capitalist Nations)
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Review

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19 pages, 282 KiB  
Review
Food Insecurity in Advanced Capitalist Nations: A Review
by Michael A. Long, Lara Gonçalves, Paul B. Stretesky and Margaret Anne Defeyter
Sustainability 2020, 12(9), 3654; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12093654 - 01 May 2020
Cited by 41 | Viewed by 13942
Abstract
Food insecurity is a substantial problem in nearly every advanced capitalist nation, with sizable portions of residents in many affluent countries struggling to eat healthily every day. Over time, a very large literature has developed that documents food insecurity, evaluates programs meant to [...] Read more.
Food insecurity is a substantial problem in nearly every advanced capitalist nation, with sizable portions of residents in many affluent countries struggling to eat healthily every day. Over time, a very large literature has developed that documents food insecurity, evaluates programs meant to reduce that insecurity, and proposes solutions to attenuate the problem. The purpose of the current review is to provide a very broad overview of the food insecurity literature, including definitions, measurement, areas of study, and impacts on health. Importantly, this review suggests there are two major causes of food insecurity in the advanced nations: economic inequality and neoliberalism. The food insecurity literature suggests that diminished government responsibility in advanced capitalist nations corresponds to an increase in feeding programs run by non-profit and charitable organizations. This review concludes by suggesting that, while a massive amount of research on food insecurity currently exists, more research is still needed to address gaps in the literature when it comes to significant events, coping strategies and disadvantaged populations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Insecurity in Advanced Capitalist Nations)
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