Abstract
Since 1995, the term ‘foodscape’, a contraction of food and landscape, has been used in various research addressing social and spatial disparities in public health and food systems. This article presents a scoping review of the literature examining how this term is employed and framed. We searched publications using the term foodscape in the Web of Science Core Collection, MEDLINE, and Scopus databases. Analyzing 140 publications, we highlight four approaches to the foodscape: (i) Spatial approaches use statistics and spatial analysis to characterize the diversity of urban foodscapes and their impacts on diet and health, at city or neighborhood scales. (ii) Social and cultural approaches at the same scales show that foodscapes are socially shaped and highlight structural inequalities by combining qualitative case studies and quantitative surveys of food procurement practices. (iii) Behavioral approaches generally focus on indoor micro-scales, showing how consumer perceptions of foodscapes explain and determine food behaviors and food education. (iv) Systemic approaches contest the global corporate food regime and promote local, ethical, and sustainable food networks. Thus, although spatial analysis was the first approach to foodscapes, sociocultural, behavioral and systemic approaches are becoming more common. In the spatial approach, the term ‘foodscape’ is synonymous with ‘food environment’. In the three other approaches, ‘foodscape’ and ‘food environment’ are not synonymous. Scholars consider that the foodscape is not an environment external to individuals but a landscape including, perceived, and socially shaped by individuals and policies. They share a systemic way of thinking, considering culture and experience of food as key to improving our understanding of how food systems affect people. Foodscape studies principally address three issues: public health, social justice, and sustainability. The review concludes with a research agenda, arguing that people-based and place-based approaches need to be combined to tackle the complexity of the food-people-territory nexus.
Highlights
As reported by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE): “Every human being has the right to adequate food
Which scholars and approaches use it? Why do they use ‘foodscape’ rather than/ or together with the term ‘food environment’? And how does this foodscape concept contribute to current debates on food systems’ effects on people? We address these questions via a scoping review of the literature using the term ‘foodscape’
We distinguished four approaches: i) Spatial approaches use statistics and spatial analysis to characterize the diversity of urban foodscapes and their diet and health impacts; ii) Social and cultural approaches combine qualitative case studies and quantitative surveys of food procurement practices, showing that foodscapes are socially shaped, and highlighting structural inequalities in the food system; iii) Behavioral approaches focus on consumer perceptions of foodscapes as determinants of food behaviors and food education; iv) Systemic approaches consider the whole food system, denouncing the unsustainability of the global corporate food regime, and promoting local, ethical, and sustainable food networks
Summary
As reported by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE): “Every human being has the right to adequate food. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of this manuscript
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