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Compounding crises of economic recession and food insecurity: a comparative study of three low-income communities in Santa Barbara County

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Abstract

Santa Barbara County exhibits some of the highest rates of food insecurity in California, as well as in the United States. Through ethnographic research of three low-income, predominantly Latino communities in Santa Barbara County, this study examined the degree to which households had been experiencing heightened levels of food insecurity since the economic recession and ensuing coping strategies, including gender-specific repercussions and coping strategies. Methods included administering a survey with 150 households and conducting observation and unstructured interviews at various local food-centered venues. Results indicated that households from the three communities were experiencing heightened levels of food insecurity and that all three communities were employing diversification of procurement, adjustments to a reduced or limited food budget, reliance on food assistance, and revitalization of the home as a site of domestic food production and preparation as coping strategies. The results also suggested that women suffered disproportionately higher psychological and physical costs associated with compounding crises. In conclusion, the experiences narrated by low-income households reflect a form of citizenship that appears compromised by a host of variables perceived to exist outside the realm of local control. Shifting toward an operational framework of food sovereignty may allow these communities to become more resilient in the face of future political, environmental, social, and economic stressors.

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  1. There is an annual fee for garden plots, however alternative payment options are available.

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Acknowledgments

This study emerged as a pilot for doctoral research in socio-cultural anthropology at UCSB. I would like to thank Jessie Fidler, Emily Terrill and Laura Cabrera from UCSB for their dedication and commitment as research assistants. I would also like to thank my research advisors Drs. Susan Stonich, David Cleveland, Emiko Saldivar-Tanaka, and Casey Walsh for their support during this study and the Institute of Research for Labor and Employment at UCLA for partial funding of this study.

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    Megan Carney

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Carney, M. Compounding crises of economic recession and food insecurity: a comparative study of three low-income communities in Santa Barbara County. Agric Hum Values 29, 185–201 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-011-9333-y

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