Part 1. Debating Food Security

Food security has become a central framework for understanding food provisioning in modern societies, yet its meaning has evolved alongside changing political, economic, and social priorities. Part 1. Debating food security examines food security as a contested discourse, arguing that shifts in its definition reflect broader transformations in global capitalism and competing visions of how food systems should be governed. It then turns to the concept of culturally appropriate food, demonstrating that while it is increasingly recognized in policy and practice, it is often treated as a supplementary concern for culturally “othered” populations rather than as a core dimension of food security. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives from health communication and dietetics, the authors within this section challenge the assumption that dominant Anglo-European foodways are culturally neutral. Instead, they argue that all food practices are culturally situated and shaped by relations of power, including race, class, gender, migration, and ability. Reframing culture as dynamic and relational, this section contends that equitable food systems require recognizing culturally appropriate food as foundational to identity, dignity, belonging, and food security, rather than as an optional accommodation.