Abstract
Throughout the world, including in developed countries, the COVID-19 crisis has revealed and accentuated food insecurity. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations clearly defines food security as a situation of not only availability and accessibility but also social acceptability (i.e., adequacy and sustainability). In developed countries, food security remains non-achieved at all. Notably, the so-called “little deprivation” leads the working poor to rely on food aid. We argue that even doing so, they remain food insecure: food aid is socially unacceptable because, despite their work, they are kept away from classical food access paths. In this article, we present the specificities of food aid in France and state some of its limits, namely those associated with the supply chain of donated foodstuffs. We propose a monographic study relying on a mix of firsthand material (six years of fieldwork from students with associations) and secondhand material (analysis of specialized, legal, and activity reports). We describe inspiring initiatives from three French associations and mobilize the recently published analysis of dignity construction in food aid in the United States of America to argue that dignity in food aid logistics is also a knowledge management and digital matter. Indeed, the initiatives of the three considered associations show concretely how knowledge management and digital systems can enhance dignity in food aid logistics.
Highlights
While 607 million people were undernourished in 2014, the global pandemic exacerbated world hunger up to 811 million in 2020 [1]
Food aid in France relies on the charitable sector that in turn relies on foodstuff donation
We highlighted some shortcomings of such a system by pointing out how food aid supply chains become a real brainteaser for food aid associations and for the great number of volunteers mobilized
Summary
While 607 million people were undernourished in 2014, the global pandemic exacerbated world hunger up to 811 million in 2020 [1]. For the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, food security is a situation occurring when “all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” [3]. Such a definition is recognized by the FAO as evolving to emphasize the centrality of sustainability. They began to be considered in public policies in the early 1980s when, following the economic crisis, the President of the United States of America, Ronald Reagan, convened a working group
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
