It's not as easy as ‘heat or eat’ - Exploring the intersecting vulnerabilities of energy and food in domestic practices in Australia

Abstract

Research into food insecurity and energy vulnerability has framed the dilemma of heat or eat as a choice between nutritious food and adequate energy service determined by financial constraints. However, recent reviews of connections between energy poverty and other socio-economic disadvantages have found that the literature lacks an understanding of the nuances and lived experiences of intersecting hardships. In response to this agenda, this paper draws on qualitative work including householder interviews in Australia to explore the nexus of food and fuel poverty. Using the lens of social practice theories, this paper introduces the concept of ontological (in) security to support our argument that food and energy (in) security need to be understood as an outcome of bundling (s) of everyday domestic and coping practices. The paper illustrates that heat or eat is not a choice nor binary, instead, we show that heating and eating are intertwined, interdependent and shaped by coping strategies that seek to balance essential materials requirements and meanings. In addition, the study shows that practice bundles shape the sense of ontological (in) security, therefore, infusing routines and coping practices with new meanings, affects and material arrangements. By doing this, the study highlights how the dynamic co-relations between energy and food social practices, social support services and infrastructures shape wellbeing, through access to retrofits, nutrition, and care and are potential sites of intervention. Finally, we present novel ways of mitigating tensions between food and energy insecurity and alleviating them simultaneously.