Role of food waste as a resource of power
An Ethnographic Case Study of Food Aid Restructuring
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6015523 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Vera Kauppinen (University of Jyväskylä, corresponding author), Tiina Silvasti (0000-0002-4157-4997, University of Jyväskylä) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-15 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Organizational Ethnography (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2046-6749 • E-ISSN: 2046-6757 |
| Publisher | Emerald Publishing Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1108/joe-01-2025-0002 |
| OpenAlex | W7106014639 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 32 |
Purpose This study examines how food donations are used as a power resource in Finnish food charity, and how the restructuring of food aid impacts the quantity and quality of the food distributed. It highlights changes at the organizational level and explains (un)expected outcomes of the restructuring. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using ethnographic fieldwork in two independent case studies in Finland. These compare an independently operating food bank and a restructured surplus food terminal surrounded by a network of satellite points and were analysed through structuration theory. Findings The study reveals how closely power and food are interlinked in charitable food systems and how the power positions have changed during the restructuring. The restructuring significantly reduced the unwanted fringe effects of food charity and improved the safety of donations. However, it resulted in the loss of most donors and therefore failed to achieve its goal of recovering food waste. Originality/value The study makes a novel theoretical contribution by being the first to analyse food as a power resource through the lens of structuration theory, specifically in the context of the restructuring of food aid practices
Context (archaeology · Ethnography · Food insecurity · Food security · Food systems · Power (physics · Resource (disambiguation · Restructuring · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations · Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability · Organic Food and Agriculture
Food Bank Nations
Structuration Theory
The food waste hierarchy as a framework for the management of food surplus and food waste
Faith-based organisations as actors in the charity economy
Hunger in a Nordic Welfare State
Ethnography
“We'll go back to a system you really do not like!” Organizational norms and structural violence in a British foodbank
Undeserving, Disadvantaged, Disregarded
The role of narratives in socio-technical transitions—Fukushima and the energy regimes of Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom
Through the Looking Glass”
Charitable food aid in Finland
Food insecurity and the covid pandemic
The “Prevention Paradox”
Food assistance through “surplus” food
Food poverty, food waste and the consensus frame on charitable food redistribution in Italy
The Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived
Mediating the claim? How ‘local ecosystems of support’ shape the operation and experience of UK social security
Agency and structure
Thinking and acting outside the charitable food box
Central Problems in Social Theory
Charity's dilemmas
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |