2025/03/06 by Alexander Theophilus, Jessica D. Ulrich‐Schad, Courtney G. Flint · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Health Professions · #Organic Food and Agriculture #Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development #Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/soin.70006
openalex publication_date 2025/03/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/15
Food sovereignty, a framework focused on systemic change in the food system that accounts for food access, food justice, and food security, is an important driver of community wellbeing. However, the complex determinants of food sovereignty are not fully understood. Interdisciplinary assessments of food systems are needed to establish the impact of socioeconomic status, race, gender, and other social identities on food access. Understanding the goals and lived experiences of diverse communities and community members is critically important to advancing research on the sociology of food and agriculture. Drawing from community interviews addressing local food systems in six different communities in Washington's Upper Yakima River Basin, a qualitative assessment of expert perspectives on local and regional food systems illuminates perceived connections between food sovereignty and wellbeing. Findings suggest that food access and dependence on local agriculture varies across and within communities. Additionally, we find that agriculture is undergoing social, economic, and political transitions that may have immense community impacts moving forward. Given the diverse array of both agricultural and recreational economies in the study site, qualitative data informs our understanding of stakeholder perceptions at multiple levels of the food system. The implications of these findings lead to a forward‐looking discussion of linkages between food dimensions and other variables that impact local and regional wellbeing.