Vol. 78 No. 3 (2023)
Food policy in transition - Research Articles

Measuring food insecurity: Food Affordability Index as a measure of territorial inequalities

PDF
  • Daniela Bernaschi,
  • Davide Marino,
  • Francesca Felici
Daniela Bernaschi
Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Florence
Davide Marino
Department of Biosciences and Territory, University of Molise
Francesca Felici
Department of Biosciences and Territory, University of Molise
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/rea-14631

Published 2024-04-03

Keywords

  • food affordability index,
  • food insecurity,
  • economic access,
  • healthy diet,
  • territorial inequalities

How to Cite

Bernaschi, D., Marino, D., & Felici, F. (2024). Measuring food insecurity: Food Affordability Index as a measure of territorial inequalities. Italian Review of Agricultural Economics (REA), 78(3), 79–91. https://doi.org/10.36253/rea-14631

Copyright (c) 2023 Daniela Bernaschi, Davide Marino, Francesca Felici

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

The devastating economic and social impact of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine has exacerbated poverty and food insecurity, making it harder for people to access food. Based on a multidimensional understanding of food insecurity, this study focuses on one of the most challenging dimensions for affluent societies, namely, the economic access to food. Therefore, the research aims to develop an innovative Food Affordability Index (FIA) that captures the inter-territorial inequalities and critical problems created by the economic disruptions in the local food system that prevent people from eating healthy. The index is based on a survey of the prices of products suitable for healthy eating in thirty shops in Rome, Italy. A distinction was made both by the type of distribution channel (e.g. discount and supermarket) and by the area in which the survey was conducted, i.e., the 15 municipalities of Rome. This study sheds light on the problem of food insecurity and highlights areas where households are far from an ideal healthy diet. Understanding the spatial distribution of economic inequalities in access to healthy food seems crucial for the implementation of targeted policies and programmes to address this problem, which is increasingly structural in affluent societies.

PDF

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

  1. Adorno T.W. (1951). Minima Moralia. Reflexionen aus dem beschädigten Leben, Berlin/Frankfurt am Main, Suhrkamp, 1951.
  2. Appadurai A. (2014). Il futuro come fatto culturale. Saggi sulla condizione globale. Studi culturali, 11(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.14672/ada2015303%p.
  3. Baraniuk C. (2019). How going hungry affects children for their whole lives. Mosaic Science.
  4. Bauman Z. (2001). Identity in the globalising world. Social anthropology, 9(2): 121-129. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S096402820100009X.
  5. Beck U. (2009). World risk society and manufactured uncertainties. Iris, 1(2): 291-299.
  6. Bernaschi D., Marino D., Cimini A., Mazzocchi G. (2023). The Social Exclusion Perspective of Food Insecurity: The Case of Blacked-Out Food Areas. Sustainability, 15(4), 2974. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15042974.
  7. Bernaschi D., Leonardi L. (2022). Food insecurity and changes in social citizenship. A comparative study of Rome, Barcelona and Athens. European Societies, 1-31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2022.2115096.
  8. Bernaschi D. (2020). Collective Actions of Solidarity Against Food Insecurity. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
  9. Borrelli N., Corti G. (2019). Investigare l’accessibilità economica al cibo. Definizione di uno studio metodologico e applicazione nella città di Milano. Sociologia Urbana e Rurale, 119. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3280/SUR2019-119009.
  10. Cabot H. (2018). The European Refugee Crisis and Humanitarian Citizenship in Greece, Ethno.
  11. Cafiero C., Viviani S., Nord M. (2018). Food security measurement in a global context: The food insecurity experience scale. Measurement, 116: 146-152. ISSN 0263-2241. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2017.10.065
  12. Carrillo-Álvarez E., Salinas-Roca B., Costa-Tutusaus L., Milà-Villarroel R., Shankar Krishnan N. (2021). The measurement of food insecurity in high-income countries: A scoping review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(18), 9829. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189829.
  13. Carvajal-Aldaz D., Cucalon G., Ordonez C. (2022). Food insecurity as a risk factor for obesity: A review. Frontiers in Nutrition, 9, 1012734. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.1012734.
  14. Casey E.S. (1996). “How to Get from Space to Place in a Fairly Short Stretch of Time”. In Feld S., Basso K. (eds), Senses of Place, 13-52. Santa Fe: School of American Research Press.
  15. Cattaneo A., Sadiddin A., Vaz S., Conti V., Holleman C., Sánchez M.V., Torero M. (2023). Ensuring affordability of diets in the face of shocks. Food Policy, 117, 102470. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2023.102470.
  16. CESCR U. (1999). General comment no. 12: the right to adequate food. E/C, 12, 5.
  17. CGIAR (2022). Seven Actions to Limit the Impact of War in Ukraine on Food Security. Report. https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/11961.
  18. CREA (2018). Linee Guida per Una Sana Alimentazione. CREA: Rome, Italy, 2018.
  19. Daconto L. (2017). Città e accessibilità alle risorse alimentari. Una ricerca sugli anziani a Milano, 42.
  20. Eurostat (2022). People at Risk of Poverty or Social Exclusion; Eurostat: Kirchberg, Luxembourg, 2022.
  21. Eurostat (2020). People at Risk of Poverty or Social Exclusion, 2nd ed.; Eurostat: Kirchberg, Luxembourg, 2020.
  22. Faggian A., Michelangeli A., Tkach K. (2013). Income Inequality in Europe: Reality, Perceptions, and Hopes. Research in Globalization. Science Direct, 6, 100118. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resglo.2023.100118.
  23. FAO (2016). Methods for estimating comparable rates of food insecurity experienced by adults throughout the world. Rome, FAO
  24. FAO (2022). The State of Food and Agriculture 2022. Leveraging automation in agriculture for transforming agrifood systems. Rome, FAO. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4060/cb9479en.
  25. FAO (2021). The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World; FAO: Rome, Italy, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4060/cb4474en.
  26. FAO (2020). The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World; FAO: Rome, Italy, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4060/ca9692en.
  27. FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, & WHO. (2022). The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022: Repurposing food and agricultural policies to make healthy diets more affordable. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2022. Rome, Italy, FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, WHO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc0639en.
  28. FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, WHO. (2018). The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018. Building climate resilience for food security and nutrition . Rome: FAO.
  29. Felici F.B., Bernaschi D., Marino D.L. (2022). Povertà Alimentare a Roma: Una Prima Analisi Dell’impatto dei Prezzi. Cursa: Rome, Italy. ISSN 2284-437.
  30. Fischler C. (1980). “Food habits, social change and the nature/culture dilemma”. Social Science Information, 19(6): 937-53. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/053901848001900603.
  31. Frongillo E.A. (2013). Confronting myths about household food insecurity and excess weight. Cadernos de Saude Publica, 29(2): 229-230. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/s0102-311x2013000200005.
  32. Gaudie S. (2023). Broken Plate 2023: the state of the nation’s food system. Technical Report.
  33. Geurden B., Cant J., Beckers, J. (2022). Food Accessibility in the Suburbs of the Metropolitan City of Antwerp (Belgium): A Factor of Concern in Local Public Health and Active and Healthy Aging. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(23), 15754. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315754.
  34. Giddens A. (1999). Risk and Responsibility. Modern Law Review, 62: 1-10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.00188.
  35. Glaze S., Richardson B. (2017). Poor choice? Smith, Hayek and the moral economy of food consumption. Economy and Society, 46(1): 128-151. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03085147.2017.1308058.
  36. Grimaccia E., Naccarato A. (2018). Economic and social factors of food insecurity: A study of individual vulnerability at the global level (No. 2116-2018-5013). DOI: https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.275650.
  37. Gundersen C., Hake M., Dewey A., Engelhard E. (2021). Food insecurity during COVID‐19. Applied economic perspectives and policy, 43(1): 153-161. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13100.
  38. Hamilton K., Hamilton K., Atkinson G. (2006). Wealth, welfare and sustainability: Advances in measuring sustainable development. Edward Elgar Publishing.
  39. HLPE (2023). Reducing inequalities for food security and nutrition. Rome, CFS HLPE-FSN.
  40. Horst H., Pascucci S., Bol W. (2014). The “dark side” of food banks? Exploring emotional responses of food bank receivers in the Netherlands. British Food Journal, 116(9): 1506-1520. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-02-2014-0081.
  41. Hyde Z. (2014). Omnivorous gentrification: restaurant reviews and neighbourhood change in the downtown east-side of Vancouver. City & Community, 13(4): 341-59. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cico.12088.
  42. Illich I. (1972). Tools for Conviviality, New York, USA: Harper and Row.
  43. ISTAT (2022). RAPPORTO SDGS 2022. INFORMAZIONI STATISTICHE PER L’AGENDA 2030 IN ITALIA.
  44. Lambie-Mumford H., Silvasti T. (eds.) (2020). The rise of food charity in Europe. Bristol: Policy Press.
  45. Lemke T. (2015). Foucault, governmentality, and critique. Routledge.
  46. Loda M., Bonati S., Puttilli M. (2020). History to eat. The foodification of the historic centre of Florence. Cities, 103, 102746. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.102746.
  47. Lynn-Ee Ho E. (2009). Constituting citizenship through the emotions: Singaporean transmigrants in London. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 99: 788-804. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00045600903102857.
  48. Lunghi C. (2009). Vivere nell’indigenza: percorsi e prospettive. I risultati delle interviste qualitative. In Guerini & Associati (eds), La povertà alimentare in Italia. Prima indagine quantitativa e qualitativa (pp. 233-261).
  49. Maino F., Lodi Rizzini C., Bandera L. (2016). Povertà Alimentare in Italia: Le Risposte del Secondo Welfare; Il Mulino: Bologna, Italia, 2016. ISBN: 8815260676.
  50. Marchetti S., Secondi L. (2022). The economic perspective of food poverty and (in) security: An analytical approach to measuring and estimation in Italy. Social Indicators Research, 162(3): 995-1020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-021-02875-5.
  51. Marino D., Bernaschi D., Cimini A., D’Amico G., Gallo G., Giovanelli G., Lirosi L., Mazzocchi G., Minotti B., Pagano G., Kollambarambil A., Stella G., Tarra S., Giustozzi D. (2022). Atlante del cibo. Uno Strumento per le Politiche Locali del Cibo, Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale; CURSA: Rome, Italy. ISBN: 9788894227239.
  52. Materia E. (2023). IL CIBO E LA CURA DEL SÉ. Per una nuova etica alimentare. Forthcoming publication.
  53. Mazzucato M. (2021). Mission economy: A moonshot guide to changing capitalism. Penguin UK. ISBN: 0241419735.
  54. Narayan A., Cojocaru A., Agrawal S., Bundervoet T., Davalos M., Garcia, N., Lakner C., Mahler D.G., Montalva Talledo V., Ten A., Yonzan N. (2022). COVID-19 and economic inequality: Short-term impacts with long-term consequences. The World Bank.
  55. Nettle D., Andrews C., Bateson M. (2017). Food insecurity as a driver of obesity in humans: The insurance hypothesis. Behavioural and Brain Sciences, Jan;40:e105. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X16000947.
  56. O’Brien M. (2014). Privatising the right to food: Aotearoa/New Zealand. In First World Hunger Revisited, 102-16, Palgrave Macmillan London. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137298737_8.
  57. O’Connell R., Brannen J. (2021). Families and Food in Hard Times: European Comparative Research. London: UCL Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781787356559.
  58. Paget A. (2015). Community Supermarkets Could Offer a Sustainable Solution to Food Poverty. Demos: London, UK. ISBN: 9781909037793.
  59. Papadopoulos T., Roumpakis A. (2013). Familistic welfare capitalism in crisis: social reproduction and anti-social policy in Greece. Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, 29(3): 204-224. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21699763.2013.863736.
  60. Pauw K., Ecker O., Thurlow J., Comstock A.R. (2023). Measuring changes in diet Deprivation: New indicators and methods. Food Policy, 117, 102471. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2023.102471.
  61. Pesenti L. (2009). Banco Alimentare, soggetto di innovazione sociale. In La povertà alimentare in Italia (pp. 83-101). Guerini & Associati. ISBN: 9788862501323.
  62. Poppendieck J. (2014). First world hunger revisited: Food charity or the right to food?. In Riches G., Silvasti T. (eds), First World Hunger Revisited: Food Charity or the Right to Food?. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 176-90. ISBN: 9781137298713.
  63. Purdam K., Garratt E.A., Esmail A. (2016). Hungry? food insecurity, social stigma and embarrassment in the UK. Sociology, 50(6): 1072-1088. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038515594092.
  64. Radimer K.L., Olson C.M., Campbell C.C. (1990). Development of indicators to assess hunger. J Nutr., 120(Suppl. 11): 1544-1548. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/120.suppl_11.1544.
  65. Radimer K.L., Olson C.M., Greene J.C., Campbell C.C., Habicht J.P. (1992). Understanding hunger and developing indicators to assess it in women and children. Journal of Nutrition Education, 24(1): 36S-44S. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3182(12)80137-3.
  66. Radimer K.L. (2002). Measurement of household food security in the USA and other industrialised countries. Public Health Nutr., 5: 859-864. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1079/PHN2002385.
  67. Rinella A., Okoronko H. (2015). Sovranità alimentare e diritto al cibo. Diritto pubblico comparato ed europeo, 17(1): 89-130. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17394/79525.
  68. Rovati G., Campiglio L.P. (2009). La povertà alimentare in Italia (pp. 5-302). Guerini & Associati. ISBN: 9788862501323.
  69. Sganzetta L., Tricarico L. (2018). Luoghi–spazi e strumenti per l’accesso al cibo. In Cibo di cittadinanza Dalla Carta di Milano al cibo del futuro (pp. 61-84). Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli. ISBN: 9788868353230.
  70. Stiglitz J.E., Sen. A., Fitoussi J.P. (2009). Report by the commission on the measurement of economic performance and social progress.
  71. Sen A. (2001). Development as freedom. Oxford Paperbacks. ISBN: 9780198297581.
  72. Sen A. (2005). Human rights and capabilities. Journal of human development, 6(2): 151-166. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14649880500120491.
  73. Smith L.C., Subandoro A. (2007). Measuring food security using household expenditure surveys (Vol. 3). Intl Food Policy Res Inst. ISBN: 0896297675.
  74. Smith M.D., Rabbitt M.P., Coleman-Jensen A. (2017). Who are the World’s Food Insecure? New Evidence from the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Food Insecurity Experience Scale. World Development, 93: 402-412. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.01.006.
  75. Sonnino R., Milbourne P. (2022). Food system transformation: a progressive place-based approach. Local Environment, 27(7): 915-926. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2022.2084723.
  76. Sonnino R., Marsden T., Moragues‐Faus A. (2016). Relationalities and convergences in food security narratives: towards a place‐based approach. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 41(4): 477-489. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12137.
  77. Stringer R. (2016). Food security global overview. Food poverty and insecurity: international food inequalities, 11-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23859-3_2.
  78. Swinburn B.A., Kraak V.I., Allender S., Atkins V.J., Baker P.I., Bogard J.R., Brinsden H., Calvillo A., De Schutter O., Devarajan R., Ezzati M., Friel S., Goenka S., Hammond R.A., Hstings G., Hawkes C., Herrero M., Hovmand P.S., Howden M., Jaacks L.M., Kapetanaki A.B., Kasman M., Kuhnlein H.V., Kumanyka S.K., Larijani B., Lobstein T., Long M.W., Matsudo V.K.R., Mills S.D.H., Morgan G., Morshed A., Nece P.M., Pan A., Patterson D.W., Sacks G., Shekar M., Simmons G.L., Smit W., Tootee A., Vandevijvere S., Waterlander W.E., Wolfenden L., Dietz W.H. (2019). The global syndemic of obesity, undernutrition, and climate change: the Lancet Commission report. The Lancet, 393(10173): 791-846. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32822-8.
  79. Willett W., Rockström J., Loken B., Springmann M., Lang T., Vermeulen S., Murray C.J. (2019). Food in the Anthropocene: The EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. Lancet, 393: 447-492. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31788-4.
  80. World Health Organization (2021). WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) Report on the fourth round of data collection, 2015-2017 (No. WHO/EURO: 2021-2495-42251-58349). World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe.