Food Insecurity and Social Work: Food Justice, Capabilities, Decoloniality, and Community Agency from an Intersectional Perspective

This chapter examines the structural causes of food insecurity through critical theoretical frameworks—food justice, the capability approach, and decolonial theory—emphasizing their relevance for social work. It argues that hunger is not merely a logistical failure but the outcome of interconnected systems of oppression, including racism, neoliberalism, and colonialism, which shape unequal access to food. Through an intersectional lens, the analysis explores emblematic cases such as the impact of agribusiness on Indigenous women in Latin America and the prevalence of food apartheids in urban Black communities in the United States. The chapter proposes concrete tools for professional intervention, including food autonomy models (e.g., seed cooperatives), advocacy strategies against extractive policies, and participatory methodologies that connect critical theory with community-based action. It concludes by calling for a rethinking of Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) through anti-racist and decolonial approaches, and by outlining actionable recommendations for social work practice aimed at tackling food insecurity at structural and community levels.