Socio-spatial analysis of food poverty: the case of Turin

Abstract

This contribution investigates the phenomenon of food poverty, focusing on the dimensions, forms and dynamics that this condition takes on in the urban context of the city of Turin. The general objective is to provide a theoretical advance in the scientific debate and to better contextualise the phenomenon at the local level to propose policy indications for the actors involved in forms of assistance/counteraction. In the last three years, mainly due to the socio-economic crisis triggered by the pandemic and the increase in the prices of necessities, the incidence and intensity of food poverty have changed, exacerbating the conditions of those who were already experiencing it and eroding the ability of a large segment of the population to protect themselves from material deprivation. Corresponding to this operational complexity there is a semantic polysemic – both in the scientific debate and in public discourse – due to a plurality of theoretical-disciplinary approaches that fragment the definitional framework with consequences on understanding and treatment of the phenomenon. In this framework, the contribution delves into this complexity, providing an operational and contextualised definition of the Italian case through the analysis of the results of the sample survey conducted at the end of 2021 on a group of 205 food assistance recipients in Turin.