A global scoping review of alternative food movements calls for food justice and justice beyond individual humans

Abstract

This study aims to synthesise evidence on an under-researched area of food systems, the justice implications of alternative food movements (AFMs) globally across all possible contexts (e.g., geographic, socio-political, and historical). The search strategy involves two sets of keywords, representing food justice and alternative food movements, and three databases (Scopus, Web of Science, and Medline). A total of 140 peer-reviewed studies met the inclusion criteria and were subjected to topic modeling. The modeling exercise resulted in nine topics: (1) genesis of food banks; (2) second-generation food banks; (3) food aid for nutrition security; (4) food aid for health equity; (5) food policy coalitions; (6) food advocacy coalitions; (7) bringing back nature into agriculture; (8) the new garden city movement; and (9) food sovereignty. Cluster analysis grouped these topics into two themes: technical aspects of food provisioning and institutional dimensions of food system governance. Together, these themes describe how the literature addresses multiple dimensions of food justice: anthropocentric, multispecies, and planetary justice. The findings reveal that literature on AFMs focuses more on reformist, protectionist approaches within urban-centric public and private welfare systems than on emancipatory, transformative food justice movements. Our findings suggest an important gap in the literature in understanding structural barriers to food justice and how expanding the subject of food justice beyond individual humans advances emancipatory food movements toward more-than-human non-dualism.