Connections Between Food Sovereignty, Traditional Food Access and Community Health in Urban Populations: A Systematic Review of the Literature (A Work in Progress)
Presenter Biography
Stephanie is a senior undergraduate student at Portland State University School of Public Health and the University Honors College, majoring in community health promotion.
After a strong career as a professional chef with a focus on advocating for local and sustainable food systems, she decided to take her knowledge and passion for food and turn it into something that could benefit the entire community.
She is currently working on her Honor's thesis under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Dozal-Lockwood, completing a systematic literature review focused on the impacts of food sovereignty on health through improved access to cultural and traditional foods. Stephanie will graduate in the spring and is looking forward to deepening her connection with the Portland food and health community.
Institution
PSU
Program/Major
Public Health Studies: Community Health Promotion
Degree
BA
Presentation Type
Presentation
Start Date
4-8-2021 2:07 PM
End Date
4-8-2021 2:18 PM
Rights
© Copyright the author(s)
IN COPYRIGHT:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
DISCLAIMER:
The purpose of this statement is to help the public understand how this Item may be used. When there is a (non-standard) License or contract that governs re-use of the associated Item, this statement only summarizes the effects of some of its terms. It is not a License, and should not be used to license your Work. To license your own Work, use a License offered at https://creativecommons.org/
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/35589
Subjects
food sovereignty, food access, traditional foods, cultural foods, health equity
Abstract
Food sovereignty- defined as a food system in which the people who produce, distribute and consume food also control the mechanisms and policies of food production and distribution- has historically been utilized by peasant farmers in the global south. However, has increasingly been leveraged by urban food producers and consumers in the global north as a potential way to address disparities in food security and food access. Urban communities are more likely to lose important connections to healthy cultural and traditional foods while gaining access to cheap, unhealthy, processed foods which contribute to poor health and health inequities. Common public health interventions to improve food security have focused on food access, however they often fail to challenge the larger economic and political constraints of food systems which contribute to the high cost and availability of fresh foods. I argue that communities with stronger political and economic control over their food systems are more likely to maintain important connections to traditional and cultural foods which can improve healthy food access and in the long term, reduce food related health disparities.
This research in progress utilizes the PRISMA methodology for systematic reviews to determine if there is evidence in the literature that a food sovereignty approach to food systems improves access to cultural and traditional foods in urban communities and further, if these approaches improve perceived or actual community health. This evidence will aid in calling for the inclusion of food sovereignty in the public health agenda.
Connections Between Food Sovereignty, Traditional Food Access and Community Health in Urban Populations: A Systematic Review of the Literature (A Work in Progress)
Food sovereignty- defined as a food system in which the people who produce, distribute and consume food also control the mechanisms and policies of food production and distribution- has historically been utilized by peasant farmers in the global south. However, has increasingly been leveraged by urban food producers and consumers in the global north as a potential way to address disparities in food security and food access. Urban communities are more likely to lose important connections to healthy cultural and traditional foods while gaining access to cheap, unhealthy, processed foods which contribute to poor health and health inequities. Common public health interventions to improve food security have focused on food access, however they often fail to challenge the larger economic and political constraints of food systems which contribute to the high cost and availability of fresh foods. I argue that communities with stronger political and economic control over their food systems are more likely to maintain important connections to traditional and cultural foods which can improve healthy food access and in the long term, reduce food related health disparities.
This research in progress utilizes the PRISMA methodology for systematic reviews to determine if there is evidence in the literature that a food sovereignty approach to food systems improves access to cultural and traditional foods in urban communities and further, if these approaches improve perceived or actual community health. This evidence will aid in calling for the inclusion of food sovereignty in the public health agenda.