| Over the last decade new attention has been paid to the issue of food security in the United States. Food security represents a useful lens through which to examine the issue of agency since food is difficult for a large sector of the population to access, even though it is considered a basic human right. By examining two classes of households, food secure and food insecure, I shed light on some factors that lead to the relative ability of households to successfully and reliably obtain food. I focus on the perception and behavior of consumers related to decisions to shop, or not to shop, at food retailers. Some theories of consumer behavior tend to focus either on class-related cultural elements which determine taste while others focus on structural elements of the food system which force a limited selection onto different social groups. While it is assumed that culture affects taste to some extent, results from this study suggest that structural elements of the food system and economic differences among households have a larger influence on store choice than cultural preferences. In fact, both food secure and insecure individuals indicated similar sets of criteria that they used in determining store choices. However, food insecure households were more likely to shop at deep discounters and more likely to travel farther to obtain food. These results suggest that structural elements such as food retailer locations may lead to increased transaction costs for food insecure households when compared to food secure households. While food insecure households do have limited agency in terms of procuring food, their options are more limited and, in many cases, more costly than those of food secure households. Therefore, the structure of the conventional food system, in particular as it relates to physical distribution of food retailers, most closely fits the interests of those who already have few, if any, problems reliably purchasing healthy food. |
