Abstract:In an effort to elucidate an aspirational vision for the food system and explore whether the characteristics of such a system inadvertently set unattainable standards for low-wealth rural communities, we applied discourse analysis to the following qualitative datasets: (1) interviews with food experts and advocates, (2) scholarly and grey literature, (3) industry websites, and (4) email exchanges between food advocates. The analysis revealed eight aspirational food system discourses: production, distribution, … Show more
“…It was clear that federal food assistance contributed to the participant's food security but was not the entire solution to address all of a family's food needs due to, in large part, affordability of adequate food. These findings are especially important to consider in context as rural households are often in communities with majority low-wage jobs, have higher rates of unemployment and underemployment, and have transportation barriers that limit access to food sources, increasing rural rates of food insecurity compared to urban counterparts [27][28][29]64] Limitations to this research exist. Given that the data was collected from 25 to 28 individuals across 6 diverse geographic, economic, ethnic, racial, and politically leaning counties in 6 different states, the research findings are limited in generalizability and should be interpreted with caution.…”
Households with a low-income in rural places experience disproportionate levels of food insecurity. Further research is needed about the nuances in strategies that households with a low-income in rural areas apply to support food security nationally. This study aimed to understand the barriers and strategies that households with a low-income in rural areas experience to obtain a meal and support food security in the United States. We conducted a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews among 153 primary grocery shoppers with a low-income residing in rural counties. A majority of family’s ideal meals included animal-based protein, grains, and vegetables. Main themes included struggles to secure food and coping mechanisms. Ten categories included affordability, adequacy, accommodation, appetite, time, food source coordinating, food resource management, reduced quality, rationing for food, and exceptional desperation. These results can inform public health professionals’ efforts when partnering to alleviate food insecurity in rural areas.
“…It was clear that federal food assistance contributed to the participant's food security but was not the entire solution to address all of a family's food needs due to, in large part, affordability of adequate food. These findings are especially important to consider in context as rural households are often in communities with majority low-wage jobs, have higher rates of unemployment and underemployment, and have transportation barriers that limit access to food sources, increasing rural rates of food insecurity compared to urban counterparts [27][28][29]64] Limitations to this research exist. Given that the data was collected from 25 to 28 individuals across 6 diverse geographic, economic, ethnic, racial, and politically leaning counties in 6 different states, the research findings are limited in generalizability and should be interpreted with caution.…”
Households with a low-income in rural places experience disproportionate levels of food insecurity. Further research is needed about the nuances in strategies that households with a low-income in rural areas apply to support food security nationally. This study aimed to understand the barriers and strategies that households with a low-income in rural areas experience to obtain a meal and support food security in the United States. We conducted a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews among 153 primary grocery shoppers with a low-income residing in rural counties. A majority of family’s ideal meals included animal-based protein, grains, and vegetables. Main themes included struggles to secure food and coping mechanisms. Ten categories included affordability, adequacy, accommodation, appetite, time, food source coordinating, food resource management, reduced quality, rationing for food, and exceptional desperation. These results can inform public health professionals’ efforts when partnering to alleviate food insecurity in rural areas.
“…Participatory approaches are recognised as an important endeavour in research addressing complex sustainability challenges (Karlsson et al, 2018). While some research has used participatory methods to identify visions for desirable food systems (Andress et al, 2020;Belisle-Toler et al, 2021;Foresight4Food, 2024) or food system indicators (Woodley et al, 2009;Carey and Dubbeling, 2017;Allen et al, 2019;Community Social Planning Council and Capital Region Food and Agriculture Initiatives Roundtable, 2020;Chaido Anthouli et al, 2022), we have only identified one food system-related initiative, on coastal fisheries, which has applied these methods in the identification of pathways to change along with relevant indicators (Secretariat of the Pacific Community, 2015). Another initiative worth noting here, is the Food Systems Analysis Toolkit, which has used participatory methods to develop indicators for three African countries to track progress along the UNFSS Action Tracks, however it also mapped these using adapted conventional frameworks (The Rockefeller Foundation, 2023).…”
Research on food system framework development has increased substantially in recent years to better understand how we can best transform food systems. However, these frameworks generally take a one-size-fits-all approach, with food system indicators lacking relevance in many countries and territories. This research, centred on the Solomon Islands as a case study, employed a participatory approach involving stakeholders to identify context-specific indicators across three food systems pathways. These pathways, reflecting context-specific goals and a collective vision, encompassed strengthening and connecting rural food systems, enhancing the national policy environment, and advocating for food environments supporting healthy food accessibility, affordability, and convenience. The research identified a range of context-specific indicators and evaluated their alignment with existing data sources. Results underscored the need for data collection and analysis efforts to inform evidence-based decision-making. The study also emphasised the importance of engaging diverse stakeholders to ensure a comprehensive and representative set of indicators, aligning with regional and global efforts to advance food system resilience and sustainability. This research lays the foundation for future endeavours to enhance food system monitoring and assessment, acknowledging nuances and complexities specific to the Solomon Islands and similar contexts.
“…Ajates [413]; Ajates [414]; Akinola et al [415]; Al Sidawi et al [416]; Alae-Carew et al [417]; Albert et al [418]; Al-Jawaldeh et al [419]; Allaby et al [388]; Amicarelli and Bux [420]; Amiri et al [421]; Amiri et al [422]; Andress et al [423]; April-Lalonde et al [424]; Aschemann-Witzel et al [425]…”
Agri-food systems (AFS) have been central in the debate on sustainable development. Despite this growing interest in AFS, comprehensive analyses of the scholarly literature are hard to find. Therefore, the present systematic review delineated the contours of this growing research strand and analyzed how it relates to sustainability. A search performed on the Web of Science in January 2020 yielded 1389 documents, and 1289 were selected and underwent bibliometric and topical analyses. The topical analysis was informed by the SAFA (Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems) approach of FAO and structured along four dimensions viz. environment, economy, society and culture, and policy and governance. The review shows an increasing interest in AFS with an exponential increase in publications number. However, the study field is north-biased and dominated by researchers and organizations from developed countries. Moreover, the analysis suggests that while environmental aspects are sufficiently addressed, social, economic, and political ones are generally overlooked. The paper ends by providing directions for future research and listing some topics to be integrated into a comprehensive, multidisciplinary agenda addressing the multifaceted (un)sustainability of AFS. It makes the case for adopting a holistic, 4-P (planet, people, profit, policy) approach in agri-food system studies.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.