Call for articles for the thematic dossier: Food and hunger - reflections on transformations and diversity in contemporary food systems
Presentation
This dossier aims to bring together articles that approach food from different perspectives, privileging culturally sensitive and critical reflections on the dynamics, transformations, asymmetries of power and implications for the sovereignty and food and nutritional security of populations in Latin America. An interdisciplinary approach to food systems is proposed, exploring their multiple dimensions, diversities and contradictions.
Food is a crucial and multidimensional issue in contemporary societies. The persistence of hunger and the worsening eating patterns of vulnerable populations add to the waste and unsustainability of many production systems (Esteve, 2017). It is essential to understand the dynamics and contradictions that permeate food systems, from production methods to consumption habits, through marketing networks and public policies. Such an approach requires an interdisciplinary and sensitive look at sociocultural, ethnic and territorial diversities in Latin America.
Food production networks involve a multiplicity of actors, from family farmers and traditional communities to transnational agri-food companies, cooperatives, civil society organizations and social movements (Gonçalves & Mascarenhas, 2017), shaping production chains, work relations and predominant business models of production, that directly impact the sustainability and equity of food systems (Schneider & Gazolla, 2017).
Territorial disputes in rural spaces reflect the clashes between the expansion of agribusiness and the struggle for the permanence of peasant, indigenous and quilombola communities, holders of ancestral knowledge and food practices (Santos & Glass, 2018). While the advance of the agricultural frontier threatens their ways of life, resistance initiatives emerge, such as agroecological movements and direct marketing networks, which seek to strengthen local economies and value regional food heritage (Darolt et al., 2016; Prado et al., 2021). These tensions are related to food sovereignty and the human right to adequate and differentiated food, involving not only physical and economic access to safe and nutritious food, but also the possibility of choosing culturally acceptable foods, produced sustainably and respecting diversity and particularities of different groups (Valente, 2002; Burity et al., 2010).
In this sense, it is necessary to understand food identities as dynamic sociocultural constructions, manifested in eating practices, culinary knowledge, gastronomic rituals and celebrations, configuring true intangible heritage (Contreras & Gracia, 2011; Prado et al., 2021). These identities are intrinsically linked to the conceptions of health and well-being of different ethnic and cultural groups, reflecting the structural inequalities that permeate food systems (Contreras & Gracia, 2011).
Such systems face multidimensional crises arising from factors such as climate change, environmental degradation, geopolitical conflicts, economic crises and social inequalities (Sage, 2013), requiring urgent responses, adaptations in production and distribution modes, as well as transformations in consumption patterns.
Faced with this complex scenario, apparently contradictory processes coexist: the trend towards industrialization and standardization of food production, aiming for efficiency and productivity (Kearney, 2010), and movements of resistance and appreciation of local, traditional and sustainable food practices, such as agroecology and family farming, materialized in initiatives such as short marketing circuits, producer fairs and public policies aimed at food and nutritional security (Darolt et al., 2016; Schneider & Gazolla, 2017).
Understanding food systems in the Americas therefore requires an interdisciplinary, comparative approach that is sensitive to cultural, ethnic and territorial diversities, exploring their multiple dimensions, contradictions and possibilities for transformation. We invite the submission of articles seeking to contribute to these reflections.
The publication rules can be accessed at: https://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/repam/about/submissions#authorGuidelines
Timeline
Receipt of articles to compose the dossier: November 15, 2024.
Pre-evaluation of articles received: November 30, 2024.
Evaluations due on January 30th, 2025.
Thematic axes
- Networks, Territories and Conflicts in the Agri-food field
It welcomes articles that address the complex networks of actors and relationships that structure food systems, with an emphasis on territorial dynamics and conflicts arising from the expansion of agribusiness and the fight for territories by traditional communities. It includes results from empirical research on social movements, collective organizations, land disputes and resistance to hegemonic logics of food production and commercialization.
- Production Models and Sustainability of Agri-food Systems
It includes studies on different models of agricultural production and their implications for the environmental, social and economic sustainability of food systems. Comparative analysis between agroecological models, family and peasant farming, and industrial agribusiness are welcome, exploring their logics, impacts and contradictions. Studies on agrobiodiversity, food sovereignty and resilience in the face of environmental and climate crises will also be included.
- Identities, Heritage and Food Cultures
It covers research on the different identities, heritages and food cultures present in Brazil and other Latin American countries, with an emphasis on ethnic, territorial and gender manifestations. Works that explores practices, knowledge, rituals and symbolic representations around the subject of food, as well as the processes of resignification and appreciation of gastronomic heritage.
- Commercialization, Consumption and Food and Nutritional Safety Circuits
It covers reflections on the various food marketing and consumption circuits, including short channels, fairs, local markets and alternative networks. Studies on consumption patterns, access to healthy foods, food and nutritional insecurity will be welcome, as well as analyzes of public policies aimed at promoting food security and the human right to adequate food.
- Food, Health and Well-Being: Inequalities and Intercultural Perspectives
It includes studies that analyze the relationships between food, health and well-being from intercultural and interdisciplinary perspectives. Research on inequalities in access to healthy foods, impacts of food on physical and mental health and conceptions of dietary well-being in different sociocultural groups will be welcome.
References
BURITY, V. et al. Direito humano à alimentação adequada no contexto da segurança alimentar e nutricional. Brasília: ABRANDH, 2010.
CONTRERAS, J.; GRACIA, M. Alimentação, sociedade e cultura. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Fiocruz, 2011.
DAROLT, M. R. et al. Práticas alimentares da agricultura familiar: um patrimônio cultural a ser valorizado. In: PRADO, S. D. et al. (org.). Estudos socioculturais em alimentação e saúde: saberes em diálogo. Rio de Janeiro: EdUERJ, 2016. p. 145-172.
ESTEVE, E. V. O negócio da comida: quem controla nossa alimentação? 1. ed. Expressão Popular, São Paulo, 2017. 269 p.
GONÇALVES, J.; MASCARENHAS, T. As várias faces do sistema alimentar e a experiência da rede brasileira de grupos de consumo responsável. In: GONÇALVES, J.; MASCARENHAS, T. (org.). Consumo Responsável em ação: Tecendo relações solidárias entre o campo e a cidade. 1. ed. Instituto Kairós, São Paulo, 2017. 218 p.
KEARNEY, J. Food consumption trends and drivers. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, v. 365, n. 1554, p. 2793-2807, 2010.
PRADO, S. D. et al. (org.). Estudos socioculturais em alimentação e saúde: saberes em diálogo. Rio de Janeiro: EdUERJ, 2021.
SAGE, C. The transition movement and food sovereignty: From local resilience to global engagement in food system transformation. Journal of Consumer Culture, v. 14, n. 2, p. 254-275, 2013.
SANTOS M.; GLASS, V. (org.). Altas do agronegócio: fatos e números sobre as corporações que controlam o que comemos. Fundação Heinrich Böll. Rio de Janeiro, 2018. 60 p.
SCHNEIDER, S.; GAZOLLA, M. (org.). Cadeias curtas e redes alimentares alternativas: negócios e mercados da agricultura familiar. Porto Alegre: Editora da UFRGS, 2017.
VALENTE, F. L. S. Direito humano à alimentação: desafios e conquistas. São Paulo: Cortez, 2002.
