Local food hubs in deprived areas : destigmatising food poverty?

Psarikidou, Aikaterini and Kaloudis, Charalampos and Fielden, Amy and Reynolds, Christian (2019) Local food hubs in deprived areas : destigmatising food poverty? Local Environment : The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, 24 (6). pp. 525-538. ISSN 1354-9839

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Abstract

This paper aims to explore the potential of “local food hubs” to address issues of stigma associated with the use of food banks in urban deprived areas. “Local Food Hubs” are a relocalised distribution channel, however, like other Alternative Agro-Food Networks (AAFNs), it can be an elite phenomenon for affluent areas and consumers. Our research focuses on the Open Food Network (OFN) local food hubs in order to explore their potential to constitute “an alternative” to the conventional ways of addressing food poverty. Currently, food banks are the main avenue for accessing food in conditions of food poverty, carrying significant implications of stigmatisation for their users. In this paper, drawing on existing social science research on stigma, we identify the diverse ways “local food hubs” help overcome as well as reproduce existing discourses and practices of stigmatisation. We conclude that, despite their efforts, as they currently stand, “local food hubs” are unable to address stigma in food poverty. We suggest that his is due to the specific individual-focused stigma-management strategies they employ, as well as the wider underlying societal structures that cause food poverty, and which local food hubs are unable to address by themselves. We thus propose that addressing the broader structural conditions that cause and reproduce stigma in food poverty is pivotal for “local food hubs” to be in a position to constitute an AAFN for all.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Local Environment : The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability
Additional Information:
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Local Environment on 20/03/2019, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13549839.2019.1593952
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2300/2308
Subjects:
?? local food hubsalternative agro-food networksstigmafood banksfood povertymanagement, monitoring, policy and lawgeography, planning and development ??
ID Code:
132424
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
08 Apr 2019 12:25
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
17 Sep 2024 09:49