A Capabilities Approach to Food Choices

Abstract

I question the notion of food choice and consider how much food choice someone living on low income actually has. In my fieldwork, it became clear that food choices, and hence one's nutritional and health state, cannot be viewed in separation from the participants' individual stories and the complexities of their lives. Daily routines, financial situation, and food accessibility have an impact on people's food choices. In realising this, I found Amartya Sen's (1979Sen's ( , 1985 capabilities approach useful, which moves beyond food entitlements. More specifically, a health capabilities approach as introduced by Venkatapuram (2007Venkatapuram ( , 2011 and the association made between health and capabilities by others (e.g. Ruger Yale Joural Law Humanities 18 (2): 3, 2003) views health as the combination of the influence of socioeconomic structures, as well as personal agency resulting in choices. I present the main learnings from viewing Foodways and Futures through the 'capabilities lens' and thus view food choices as the combination of the complex interrelations between socio-economic structures and agency.

‘In most supermarkets food does not cost £3 per day …’ The impact of the school food voucher scheme during COVID‐19

“…The second section reflects the problems vulnerable families experienced with gaining access to food and through the Capabilities Approach (Sen, 1999 ), in order to problematise the influence of conversion factors (see Appendix 1 ), which might prevent a focus on the quality of life. Often, achieving this involves removing obstacles in people's lives so that there is more freedom to live the kind of life which individuals find valuable (Gombert et al, 2017 ). The notion set out by Sen ( 1999 ) is based on individual agency, which is crucial in order for individuals to decide for themselves on a valuable life.…”

“…school meal vouchers) into capabilities is also problematic as they are not necessarily guaranteed to reach families. The relationship between food intake and nutritional value is analysed through the work of Sen, who discusses the underlying problems of agency and choice which are relevant in the context of food insecurity of vulnerable individuals (Gombert et al, 2017 ). Below, an account of responses from participants is presented, specifically in relation to such barriers, which include ICT literacy, ‘on‐school barriers’ (social cultural) and a lack of understanding of using the voucher system.…”

“…To take the concept of agency, it is useful to refer to the work of Gombert et al ( 2017 ), who discuss the conversion factors, as ‘someone's capability to be healthy is a function of his or her access to resources’, such as accessing the school food voucher, ‘and various psycho‐social capabilities that allow him or her to translate those resources into healthy behaviour and ultimately health’ (p. 147). Sen places an emphasis on how the translation of resources into capabilities is subject to variation (Lewis, 2012 ), based on an individual's characteristics and circumstances (socio‐economic background, gender, class, race, disability etc.).…”

Contributory Outcomes of Medium Term Agriculture Sector Investment Plan and the Northern Rural Growth Programme Interventions on Smallholder Farmers Food Security Based on Sen’s Entitlement and Capability Approaches

“…The Capabilities Approach is a broad normative framework for the evaluation of individual well-being and social arrangements, and the design of policies and proposals about social change in society (Gombert et al, 2017;Bassinello, 2009;Robeyns, 2005). The core characteristic of the capability approach is to de-emphasize an exclusive preoccupation with income-led evaluation methods, and to focus more generally on the ability people have to achieve the things they value (Robeyns, 2003;Bassinello, 2009;Frediani, 2007;Todaro & Smith, 2012).…”

“…According to Sen, daily routines including utility, price negotiations etc., financial situation and food accessibility have an impact on people's food choices, therefore, Sen's (1979); Sen (1985) capabilities approach becomes useful, as it moves beyond food entitlements (Gombert et al, 2017). In view of this, as shown in the Table 4 above, it is revealed that the intervention of METASIP together with NRGP have yielded positive outcomes in terms of food security amongst smallholder farmers in the UWR following Sen's entitlement and capability approaches.…”