About this Research Topic

Background

Sustainable food systems and food security are essential to sustain health. Food systems consist of animal and plant farms, food industries, restaurants, hotels, hospitals, grocery stores, and supermarkets. These systems are interconnected along the food-value chain and affect food availability and affordability, thus they influence food security status. Food insecurity is the lack of socio-economic ability and accessibility of individuals to purchase uncontaminated, nutritionally healthy foods in sufficient quantities. Equitable access to these foods is essential to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities.

In 2021, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics reported that racial and ethnic groups have limited access to health services. This contributes to their suffering from chronic diseases and food insecurity. This brief report summarized the determinants of health inequity: low socio-economic status; the racist community and social contexts such as racist criminal justice policies; and a lack of accessibility to well-resourced neighborhoods that provide good quality education, health care systems, and built environments. . In addition, low-income groups are suggested to be at higher risk for food insecurity due to the increase in food prices.

The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs in the United Kingdom, found that 8% of the population lacked food security in 2020. In the United States, a national survey indicated that food insecurity was more prevalent in African (25.1%), Indigenous (23.9%), Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (20.2), and Latin Americans (19.6) as compared to Caucasians (7.9%). Another nationwide study that examined food insecurity in 44,574 American men and women aged 18-64 years, reported that the severely food insecure were more likely to skip buying medication (to save money) than food secure individuals by about 4 folds.

The aim of this Research Topic is therefore to explore the development of sustainable food systems that reduce food insecurity, and therefore health disparities in racial and ethnic minorities. We encourage papers that provide baseline data about the challenges and innovative techniques in food systems that improve food accessibility as well as food security status, and thus reduce the health disparities of disadvantaged minorities.

We welcome papers on the below topics (but not limited to):

Development of sustainable food systems supported by governments to increase food accessibility and affordability to racial and ethnic minorities.

Food businesses’ methods to redirect edible surplus foods to low-income households.

Practices ensued by governments and food businesses to decrease the prevalence of food insecurity in racial and ethnic minorities.

Government policies that penalize food waste and commend food donation.

Challenges encountered by food businesses and governments that raise food waste/loss and/or food insecurity.

Keywords: Food systems, food insecurity, racial and ethnic health disparities, hunger, poor nutrition

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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