5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

Climate change-induced disasters such as rising sea levels, increased climate variability, more frequent droughts, floods, and typhoons have affected traditional foodways. Climate change has also affected evaporation, precipitation, and run-off soil moisture and water, hence affecting agriculture and food security, especially the traditional foodways. Foodways refer to a complex food system of production, procession, distribution and consumption particular to a specific geographic region (Esterik and Counihan, 2013). Changing foodways may have detrimental impact on health and threaten life survival. The damaging impact of climate change on traditional foodways has coincided with mounting international attention towards global food insecurity. The ambiguity of measuring food insecurity in relation to traditional foodways, especially the emphasize of nutrient equation and metrics, demands to be discussed. Such measurement tends to neglect the worldviews, needs, and rights of people in the locality involved. Various food insecurity surveys and dietary analyses are filled with disjuncture between numerical calculations and lived experiences. This panel discuss how climate change affects traditional foodways and provoke questions on the contingencies and complexity of food insecurity and food sovereignty. The panel discusses the food-related worldview of inhabitants of the most affected countries in the Global South and critically engage with, and complement, the predominantly metric-based food insecurity analysis in the global governance of food insecurity. On the other hand, the panel showcases examples of practices and activities on food sovereignty taking place despite the climate crisis.