How food insecurity affects people’s rights to choose whether or not to have children, and how they parent

Fledderjohann, Jasmine and Owino, Maureen and Patterson, Sophie (2023) How food insecurity affects people’s rights to choose whether or not to have children, and how they parent. The Conversation.

Abstract

Food insecurity – difficulties getting enough nutritious food for a healthy life – is a growing problem globally. It has been linked to many health and social problems including malnutrition, difficulties managing diabetes, impaired development in childhood, and reduced school performance for children. Our recent research shows how food insecurity also matters for reproductive justice: people’s ability to have only the children they want and raise them the way they want. Reproductive justice activists assert that everyone has the right to have a child or – equally – to not have a child. If people choose to have children, they should be able to parent them with dignity in safe and healthy environments. In our research, we show how food insecurity can restrict each of these rights.