New article published in Humanities

New article published in Humanities journal. Dr. Mejía co-authored with colleagues at Arizona State University.

Sally Kitch, Joan McGregor, G. Mauricio Mejía, Sara Aly El-Sayed, Christy Spackman & Juliann Vitullo
Gendered and Racial Injustices in American Food Systems and Cultures. Humanities 10(2), p. 66. https://doi.org/10.3390/h10020066

Abstract: Multiple factors create food injustices in the United States. They occur in different societal sectors and traverse multiple scales, from the constrained choices of the industrialized food system to legal and corporate structures that replicate entrenched racial and gender inequalities, to cultural expectations around food preparation and consumption. Such injustices further harm already dis- advantaged groups, especially women and racial minorities, while also exacerbating environmental deterioration. This article consists of five sections that employ complementary approaches in the humanities, design studies, and science and technology studies. The authors explore cases that rep- resent structural injustices in the current American food system, including: the racialized and gen- dered effects of food systems and cultures on both men and women; the misguided and de-territo- rialized global branding of the Mediterranean Diet as a universal ideal; the role of food safety reg- ulations around microbes in reinforcing racialized food injustices; and the benefits of considering the American food system and all of its parts as designed artifacts that can be redesigned. The article concludes by discussing how achieving food justice can simultaneously promote sustainable food production and consumption practices—A process that, like the article itself, invites scholars and practitioners to actively design our food system in ways that empower different stakeholders and emphasize the importance of collaboration and interconnection.