Getting to the core of food security and food sovereignty

Abstract

Does food sovereignty have a core? Can it and yet still be spoken of as wildly relational, as being a process which prioritizes means over ends? Those are the type of questions posed in this commentary. After applauding Lucy Jarosz’s ability to synthesize an incredibly diverse literature, spanning decades, the author admits to his own struggles in embracing food security and food sovereignty as radically relational while retaining an ability to critique ends. For example, what if out of inclusive processes emerge problematic (and in some cases outright injustice) practices? In other words, is getting the means right ‘good enough’? Or do phenomena like food security and food sovereignty presuppose particular ends? And if so, what is that core and how can it exist in phenomena premised on nonessentialism?