Food citizenship: an overview of scientific production and its relationship with constitutive dimensions

Abstract

Food citizenship represents a theoretical and practical approach that highlights the behavior of actors who support, rather than threaten, more democratic, socially and economically just, and environmentally sustainable food systems. Beyond the social right to food, the expanded concept emphasizes obligations and responsibilities, articulated through eight constitutive dimensions of food citizenship. This article aims to explore the scientific literature published in English on the topic in recent years and to identify how these constitutive dimensions have been addressed. The study adopted a hybrid systematic-narrative approach, including publications from 2017 to 2023, a period delimited based on the theoretical framework proposed by Lozano-Cabedo and Gómez-Benito (2017), which redefines the concept of food citizenship in its expanded formulation. The main keywords identified were food citizenship itself, sustainability, food democracy, food insecurity, and food literacy. All constitutive dimensions are addressed, either as elements associated with the alternativity of the object of study or as direct objects of analysis, with emphasis on the recognition of the right to sufficient, healthy, and quality food; the recognition of all as subjects of citizenship, the manifestation of citizenship in private and public spheres, and the governance of food citizenship.