The precarisation of daily life in Spain: Austerity, social policy and food insecurity

Abstract

This article examines the extent to which the 2008 economic crisis has led to a shift in ways of eating among people living in precarious conditions in Spain, and the kinds of strategies they have developed to obtain daily food. Building on a literature review on precarisation in Spain and an analysis of action plans to combat food insecurity, participant-observation ethnography was carried out in Catalonia. Fieldwork was conducted during 2017–2019 in public and private spaces focusing on the food practices of 51 first-time applicants for social assistance. Qualitative data obtained from interviews and direct observation were recorded, transcribed and coded using the ATLAS-ti program to facilitate thematic analysis. Study participants’ oral narratives reveal substantial changes in food procurement and eating practices. Strategies include buying different foods, shopping less often and/or in different stores, seeking out cheaper brands, preparing simpler dishes, growing food and recycling leftovers. Their food itineraries reflect increasing reliance on charities, although a common alternative is meals prepared outside the home by family, neighbourhood, activist organisations or themselves. Eating patterns reveal not only experiences of food deprivation and social suffering, but also alternative ways of food procurement. Although food aid is based mainly on an assistance-oriented model, participatory initiatives have the potential to become political spaces that invite us to rethink the distribution of food resources and the limitations of social policies.