Purpose This paper aims to investigate dynamics of food consumption practices among poor families in a developing country to advance the Food Well-being (FWB) in Poverty framework. Design/methodology/approach The research design used semi-structured interviews with 25 women and constructivist grounded theory to explore food consumption practices of poor families in rural South India. Findings Poor families’ everyday interactions with food reveal the relational production of masculinities and femininities and the power hegemony that fixes men and women into an unequal status quo. Findings provides critical insights into familial arrangements in absolute poverty that are detrimental to the task of achieving FWB. Research limitations/implications The explanatory potential of FWB in Poverty framework is limited to a gender (women) and a specific country context (India). Future research can contextualise the framework in other developing countries and different consumer segments. Practical implications The FWB in Poverty framework helps identify, challenge and transform cultural norms, social structures and gendered stereotypes that perpetuate power hegemonies in poverty. Policymakers can encourage men and boys to participate in family food work, as well as recognise and remunerate women and girls for their contribution to maintaining familial units. Originality/value This paper makes an original contribution to the relevant literature by identifying and addressing the absence of theoretical understanding of families, food consumption and poverty. By contextualising the FWB framework in absolute poverty, the paper generates novel understandings of fluidity and change in poor families and FWB.

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Extant literature in the field of subsistence marketplaces adopts a gender-neutral framing of marketplace exchanges despite the overwhelming experience of disadvantage faced by women relative to men as a consequence of patriarchal structures. The authors employ feminist perspectives to render visible constructions of power inequities. First, the authors employ a gendered lens to revisit the topics and data in four published papers in the field of subsistence marketplaces, revealing new questions for future research to answer as well as opportunities to reimagine policy responses. Second, they demonstrate how a gendered analysis was conducted in a primary research study with 21 men and women involved in microfinance programs in rural South India. The findings reveal that gender is a social construction that can be “done and undone,” to transform unequal power relations between men and women in subsistence marketplace exchanges. Several implications for theory and marketing practice are then provided.