Food justice in Vermont's environmentally vulnerable communities

Qing Ren; Bindu Panikkar; Teresa Mares; Linda Berlin; Claire Golder

doi:10.1007/s10460-023-10431-9

Food justice in Vermont's environmentally vulnerable communities

Agric Human Values. 2023 Apr 25:1-15. doi: 10.1007/s10460-023-10431-9. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Qing Ren^{1

2}, Bindu Panikkar^{1

2}, Teresa Mares³, Linda Berlin⁴, Claire Golder⁵

Affiliations

¹ Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, Aiken Center, The University of Vermont, 81 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT 05405 USA.
² Gund Institute for Environment, The University of Vermont, Farrell Hall, 215 Colchester Avenue, Burlington, VT 05405 USA.
³ Department of Anthropology, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405 USA.
⁴ Department of Nutrition and Food Science, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405 USA.
⁵ College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405 USA.

Abstract

In this study, we examine cases of food insecurity and food justice issues in Vermont's environmentally vulnerable communities. Using a structured door-to-door survey (n = 569), semi-structured interviews (n = 32), and focus groups (n = 5), we demonstrate that: (1) food insecurity in Vermont's environmentally vulnerable communities is prominent and intersects with socioeconomic factors such as race and income, (2) food and social assistance programs need to be more accessible and address vicious cycles of multiple injustices, (3) an intersectional approach beyond distribution is required to address food justice issues in environmentally vulnerable communities, and (4) paying attention to broader contextual and environmental factors may provide a more nuanced approach to understanding food justice.

Keywords: Environmental justice; Food access; Food insecurity; Food justice.

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