Previous studies of dietary acculturation explain how immigrants’ diets change over time, but they don't tell us why. In response to calls for additional research on the complex social processes that shape health disparities, this study uses an intersectional approach to examine the role of food in the daily lives of 23 Latina immigrants living in North Carolina. Our findings, based on semi-structured interviews conducted over a five-year period, refute the idea of a unidirectional process in which immigrants abandon dietary customs from their home countries. Instead, we show how food decisions are complex, contradictory, and contextual. Latina immigrant mothers embraced and resisted parts of dominant food cultures. They strategically took risks and made tradeoffs to ensure that their families had enough food and the right kinds of food. However, political and economic structures limited their access to food and impeded their ability to autonomously make food decisions. We argue that an unequal and industrialized food system, restrictive and punitive immigration policies, and narrowly-defined food assistance programs infringe on immigrants’ ability to feed their families. By excluding and othering immigrant families, these structures reduce immigrants’ autonomy and perpetuate inequalities, contributing to what previous studies have described as dietary acculturation.

Universities have implemented a range of initiatives to address food and housing insecurity, but few studies have examined how campus communities are engaging around these issues. This article explores how North Carolina State University conducted asset-mapping workshops, a community-based participatory research (CBPR) method, to mobilize the campus community and identify solutions to address the root causes of food insecurity and other forms of basic needs insecurity among students. Workshop participants identified exemplary resources focused on addressing students’ immediate needs (e.g., campus food pantries, a student emergency fund). At the same time, they stated that basic needs insecurity is tied to longer-term, systemic issues like wage inequality and a lack of affordable housing. Participants also noted that historically marginalized students (e.g., LGBTQ+, low-income, first-generation college) often experience food and housing insecurity in complex ways requiring targeted solutions. Our results suggest that CBPR methods like asset mapping offer an approach that, when done well, can center the voices and experiences of diverse campus populations to identify and address the complex structural and systemic processes that shape students’ experiences of food and housing insecurity.

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