Abstract
Global climate change and the continued neoliberalization of food systems have exacerbated levels of food insecurity and hunger, producing an ever-expanding population of displaced persons who are also nutritionally vulnerable. Restrictive immigration policies in post-arrival and resettlement contexts compound with other cultural, social, political, and economic conditions to negatively affect the food security and health of displaced persons. This article engages a comparative ethnographic perspective for examining the migration-food security nexus. Drawing on ethnographic research with Mexican and Central American im/migrants in the Western United States, Haitian im/migrants in the Dominican Republic, and African im/migrant populations in Italy, this article analyzes local experiences of food insecurity in restrictive immigration policy contexts through an intersectional lens. Finally, this article examines the possibilities for engaged research oriented toward generating “healthy publics” and addressing food insecurity across disparate geographical and political settings and amid structural and social constraints.
Highlights
In its most recent “State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” report, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimated that more than 820 million people were experiencing chronic food insecurity or hunger
Following an explanation of our methodology, we present case studies from our respective field research sites: the Western United States, the Dominican Republic, and Italy
We examine the possibilities for applying the healthy publics (Hinchliffe et al, 2018) concept to food-related displacement and food insecurity in post-arrival and resettlement contexts
Summary
In its most recent “State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” report, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimated that more than 820 million people were experiencing chronic food insecurity or hunger. Food insecurity is defined by the FAO as prolonged lack of access to enough food to meet basic needs (FAO, 2019). Chronic food insecurity may lead to the physical, often painful sensation of hunger and to malnutrition (Messer and Cohen, 2007). Rather than a condition caused by insufficient economic means for purchasing food to meet adequate caloric intake, the experience of food insecurity is multidimensional and shaped by the complex interaction of multiple political, economic, and social factors (Pottier, 1999). Food insecurity on a global scale has precipitated widespread human displacement and migration (FAO, 2017a, 2017b, 2017c)
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