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The neoliberal diet and inequality in the United States

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  • Otero, Gerardo
  • Pechlaner, Gabriela
  • Liberman, Giselle
  • Gürcan, Efe

Abstract

This paper discusses increasing differentiation of U.S. dietary components by socioeconomic strata and its health implications. While upper-income groups have had increasing access to higher-quality foods, lower-to-middle-income class diets are heavily focused on “energy-dense” fares. This neoliberal diet is clearly associated with the proliferation of obesity that disproportionately affects the poor. We provide a critical review of the debate about obesity from within the critical camp in food studies, between individual-focused and structural perspectives. Using official data, we show how the US diet has evolved since the 1960s to a much greater emphasis on refined carbohydrates and vegetable oils. Inequality is demonstrated by dividing the population into households-income quintiles and how they spend on food. We then introduce our Neoliberal Diet Risk Index (NDR), comprised of measures of food-import dependency, the Gini coefficient, rates of urbanization, female labor-force participation, and economic globalization. Our index serves to measure the risk of exposure to the neoliberal diet comparatively, across time and between nations. We conclude that only a societal actor like the state can redirect the food-production system by modifying its agricultural subsidy policies. Inequality-reducing policies will make the healthier food involved in such change widely available for all.

Suggested Citation

  • Otero, Gerardo & Pechlaner, Gabriela & Liberman, Giselle & Gürcan, Efe, 2015. "The neoliberal diet and inequality in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 47-55.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:142:y:2015:i:c:p:47-55
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.08.005
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    2. Martha Traverso-Yepez & Kelly Hunter, 2016. "From “Healthy Eating†to a Holistic Approach to Current Food Environments," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(3), pages 21582440166, August.
    3. Natalia Arias & María Dolores Calvo & José Alberto Benítez-Andrades & María José Álvarez & Beatriz Alonso-Cortés & Carmen Benavides, 2018. "Socioeconomic Status in Adolescents: A Study of Its Relationship with Overweight and Obesity and Influence on Social Network Configuration," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-17, September.
    4. Sweet, Elizabeth, 2018. "“Like you failed at life”: Debt, health and neoliberal subjectivity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 86-93.
    5. Lisa Jamieson & Dandara Haag & Helena Schuch & Kostas Kapellas & Rui Arantes & W. Murray Thomson, 2020. "Indigenous Oral Health Inequalities at an International Level: A Commentary," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-6, June.
    6. Waterlander, Wilma E & Ni Mhurchu, Cliona & Eyles, Helen & Vandevijvere, Stefanie & Cleghorn, Christine & Scarborough, Peter & Swinburn, Boyd & Seidell, Jaap, 2018. "Food Futures: Developing effective food systems interventions to improve public health nutrition," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 124-131.

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