Geographies of Food: Global Visions of Healthy and Unhealthy Food (Springer Geography)

The book offers a multi-scale, epistemically diverse, and sense-making perspectives on the food system. The book argues that sustainable food system transformation is a complex proposition that can better thrive upon the inclusion of consumer perspectives. The book brings together scholarly works of critical scholars and practitioners who bring to bear the uniqueness of places, cultures, histories and interactions in the milieu of food. Foreword Preface About This Book Contents Editors and Contributors 1 Introduction to Understandings of Healthy and Unhealthy Food Introduction Consumers to Play a Central Role in Healthy Food Transformations The Problem of Insufficient Attention to Inclusion Inclusive Perspectives as the Way Forward Theoretical Framework: Place, Space and Sensemaking Sensemaking Significance and Uniqueness of This Book Chapter Layout Conclusion References 2 Meanings and Visions of Healthy and Unhealthy Food in Flevoland, the Netherlands Introduction The Context—Almere Material and Methods Photovoice Online Surveys Findings Meanings of Healthy and Unhealthy Food in Flevoland Are Largely Nutrition-Based A Desired Healthier Food Future for People in Flevoland is One with Less Consumption of Meat Discussion Conclusion References 3 Cameroon: Land of Good Food, Agriculture, and Various Visions of Good and Bad Food Introduction Material and Methods Study Area Data Collection Data Analysis Findings Understandings of Healthy and Unhealthy Food in Cameroon Are Predominantly Nutrition-Based Cameroonians See Organic Food as the Future of a Healthier Food System Climate Change is Identified as a Critical Threat to Future Food Security in Cameroon Conclusion References 4 Achieving Food System Transformation Through an Inclusive Understanding of Healthy and Unhealthy Food: The Case of Winneba, Ghana Introduction Material and Methods Study Area Data Collection Positionality of the Researcher Findings Healthy/Unhealthy Food is Predominantly Understood to Be Based on How Balanced the Diet is in Terms of Nutrition Healthy or Unhealthy Food Meanings Are Linked to Food Hygiene People Are Pessimistic About Their Food Future People See a Bleak Future for Healthy Food in Ghana Because of Rising Food Costs Discussion Conclusion References 5 Perceptions of Healthy Diets and Food Futures in Veneto, Northern Italy Introduction Material and Methods Study Area Data Collection Data Analysis Findings Respondents Have Diverse and Fairly Equally Significant Understandings of Healthy Food Demography Plays an Important Role in Determining Venetian Understandings of Healthy and Unhealthy Younger People Are Inclined Towards Biological Foods as Healthy Food; Older, Towards Non-processed Foods Gender as a Determinant of Understandings of Healthy and Unhealthy Food Participants Expressed Ambivalence in Their Visions of Food Futures Discussion Limitations Conclusion References 6 Exploration of the Diverse Meanings Ascribed to Food by Consumers in Eastern Visayas, Philippines Introduction Study Area: Eastern Visayas Material and Methods Sampling Technique Data Collection Data Analysis Findings Healthy Food is Fruits and Vegetables Healthy Food is also Meat and Fish Meanings of Healthy Food Consider How Food is Prepared People Are Aware that Certain Foods Are Unhealthy but Still Consume Them Enhancers of Transition in Food Practices Are More Bottom-Up Than Organisational or Institutional Conclusion References 7 Perceptions of Healthy and Unhealthy Food among People with Migrant Backgrounds in Canada: The Case of Toronto Introduction Material and Methods Findings GMOs Are Significant in Data Concerning Food in Canada Socio-economic Exclusion is a Major Driver of Meanings and Visions of Healthy and Unhealthy Food Conclusion References 8 From Heritage to Health: The Many Meanings of Food in South Africa Introduction Literature Review Material and Methods Generating the Questionnaire and Conducting the Surveys Photovoice Tweets from 2015 to 2020 Analysis Findings A ‘Braaiing Nation’: Fruits, Vegetables, but Mostly Meat as Healthy Food A Coherent and Homogenous View of What Unhealthy Food is, but Such Unhealthy Food Remains Appealing Negative Views on the Future of Healthy Food Because of High Costs and Increasing Availability of Processed Foods From Perception to Action: Sustainability, Gardens and Informed Choices Breaking Barriers to Healthier Food by Overcoming Socio-cultural and Economic Barriers Conclusion References 9 Exploring the Complexity of the Food Environment in India to Understand Healthy and Unhealthy Food Introduction Material and Methods Research Design and Study Areas Sampling Data Collection Data Analysis Findings Weather Conditions Are Important Determinants of Healthy/Unhealthy Food in India There is a Misrepresentation of India as a Vegetarian Nation Because of Hinduism Taste Before Health: The Deliciousness of Indian Food is a Blessing and a Curse As Indians Get Richer, They Eat More Unhealthy Food Discussion Conclusion References 10 Contradictions and Consistencies in Understandings of Food in High and Low-Middle-Income Countries Introduction Material and Methods Design Photovoice Findings HICs and LMICs Vegetable Consumption Preferences Differ Snacking Habits Differ Between Consumers in HICs and LMICs Meat is Perceived Differently in HICs and LMICs Fast-Food Chains from HICs Hold an Element of Prestige in Some LMICs The Cost-of-Living Crisis is Seen Everywhere as a Threat to a Healthier Food Future Conclusion References 11 The Entangled Islands: The Influence of Space–Place Relations in Global Meanings and Visions of Healthy Food Introduction Rethinking Space-Place relations in Understandings of Health and Unhealth in Food Terms Comparing Understandings of Health and Unhealth Between Rural and Urban Conclusion References