Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Apr;26(4):725-737.
doi: 10.1017/S1368980023000101. Epub 2023 Jan 23.

A scoping review of the conceptualisations of food justice

Sandra Murray  1 , Fred Gale  2 , David Adams  3 , Lisa Dalton  1
Affiliations

A scoping review of the conceptualisations of food justice

Sandra Murray et al. Public Health Nutr. 2023 Apr.

Abstract

Objective: The emerging concept of 'food justice' describes a social movement and a set of principles. It align with the goals of social justice, demanding recognition of human rights, equal opportunity, fair treatment and is participatory and community specific. The aim of this study was to investigate the conceptualisation of food justice and to explore how community participation is positioned in food justice scholarship.

Design: A scoping review of peer-reviewed literature was conducted using the term 'food justice'. This study used a five-step scoping review protocol. The databases included Scopus, Web of Science and Medline (OVID). Data were extracted on country of origin, research discipline, study type and conceptualisations of food justice. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify the themes.

Results: The search identified 546 abstracts of which ninety peer-reviewed studies met the inclusion criteria. Thematic analysis identified five themes of food justice across these ninety studies: (1) social equity, (2) food security, (3) food systems transformation, (4) community participation and agency and (5) environmental sustainability.

Conclusions: Current conceptualisations of food justice are evolving. Together, these five themes, using the term food justice, embrace a more holistic and structural view of the food system. They emphasise healthy, sustainable and equitable food as a human right and acknowledge the need to address structural barriers to that right. Community participation and agency in food justice decision-making is critical for transformative change towards a healthy, sustainable, and more just food system.

Keywords: Community participation and agency; Food justice; Food security; Social justice; Sustainable food systems.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have NO affiliations with or involvement in any organisation or entity with any financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow diagram of search process
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Liebenberg S (2018) Participatory justice in social rights adjudication. Hum Rights Law Rev 18, 623–649.
    1. Loo C (2014) Towards a more participative definition of food justice. J Agric Environ Ethics 27, 787–809.
    1. Story M, Hamm MW & Wallinga D (2009) Food systems and public health: linkages to achieve healthier diets and healthier communities. J Hunger Environ Nutr 4, 219–224. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bahadur K, Goretty M, Dias G et al. (2018) When too much isn’t enough: does current food production meet global nutritional needs? PLoS One 13, e0205683. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205683. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lartey A, Meerman J & Wijesinha-Bettoni R (2018) Why food system transformation is essential and how nutrition scientists can contribute. Ann Nutr Metab 72, 193–201. - PubMed

Publication types