The Places of Food Biopolitics

The issue of food insecurity has become increasingly critical worldwide, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic (Ahn & Norwood, 2021; FAO et al., 2024). In Western countries, the right to food is under growing threat due to the declining role of the state in providing social protection (Riches & Silvasti, 2014). This highlights the importance of examining institutions where the state maintains significant influence over food access, such as schools, hospitals, and prisons. Despite their potential to uphold the right to food, these settings are often overlooked in discussions about food insecurity.

The research presented here aims to investigate these "places of food biopolitics"—including prisons, hospitals, schools, and food aid facilities—through an ethnographic lens. These sites are critical spaces where policies related to food and nutrition intersect with the control of bodies, health, and life itself. By adopting an intersectional approach, the study will analyze how inequalities related to gender, class, race, and other social factors shape and impact food access and distribution in these contexts.

Another goal of the research is to link these individual biopolitical experiences to the broader global political economy of agri-food systems. A particular focus will be placed on food provisioning and public food procurement, exploring how these processes connect micro-level dynamics (such as those within schools and hospitals) to larger global governance frameworks. This approach aims to illuminate the ways in which local and regional policy decisions around food impact international trade and production networks.

Ultimately, this ethnographic work will provide a framework for rethinking the conceptual categories used to describe the spaces of food biopolitics. It seeks to expand the understanding of how power, policy, and inequality intersect in these critical settings, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of global food systems.