Gendered and Racial Injustices in American Food Systems and Cultures

Bibliographic Data

ID20249382
AuthorsSally L Kitch (0000-0001-8756-5810, Arizona State University, corresponding author), Joan Mcgregor (0000-0003-3777-7895, Arizona State University), G Mauricio Mejía (0000-0002-8867-6106, Arizona State University), Sara El-Sayed (0000-0002-7275-7016, Arizona State University), Claire Spackman (0000-0002-6603-7653, Institute for the Future), Juliann Vitullo (0000-0003-2230-0162, Arizona State University)
Year2021
Volume10
Issue2
Pages66
Publication date2021-04-08
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHumanities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2076-0787 • E-ISSN: 2076-0787
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/h10020066
OpenAlexW3152777834
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited61

Multiple factors create food injustices in the United States. They occur in different societal sectors and traverse multiple scales, from the constrained choices of the industrialized food system to legal and corporate structures that replicate entrenched racial and gender inequalities, to cultural expectations around food preparation and consumption. Such injustices further harm already disadvantaged groups, especially women and racial minorities, while also exacerbating environmental deterioration. This article consists of five sections that employ complementary approaches in the humanities, design studies, and science and technology studies. The authors explore cases that represent structural injustices in the current American food system, including: the racialized and gendered effects of food systems and cultures on both men and women; the misguided and de-territorialized global branding of the Mediterranean Diet as a universal ideal; the role of food safety regulations around microbes in reinforcing racialized food injustices; and the benefits of considering the American food system and all of its parts as designed artifacts that can be redesigned. The article concludes by discussing how achieving food justice can simultaneously promote sustainable food production and consumption practices—a process that, like the article itself, invites scholars and practitioners to actively design our food system in ways that empower different stakeholders and emphasize the importance of collaboration and interconnection

Business · Development economics · Disadvantaged · Economic growth · Economics · Food processing · Food security · Food studies · Food systems · Geography · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Sustainability · Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact · Culinary Culture and Tourism · Law · Organic Food and Agriculture