Call for Papers: Food as a Commons? Philosophical and Political Foundation 1/2025

There could be no life without something we might call “food.” That is, those edible and nutritious entities that people consume for sustaining their lives. This basic fact grounds the shared idea that food is, or should be, a commons, i.e., a good that is non-excludable and non-rivalrous (see the essays collected by Vivero-Pol Jose et al. 2018). However, the inaccessibility of resources, driven by social and economic factors, the absence of a reliable retail infrastructure, and the restriction of distribution in significant parts of the planet, effectively deprives entire communities of access to food (FAO 2023). This brings about different phenomena, such as structural hunger, especially in the Global South (see the report by the Global Network against Food Crisis 2023), and the emergence of food deserts, i.e., the systematic lack of access to fresh and healthy food in specific geographical areas, transcending continents from North to South (Kolb 2021). While these phenomena elicit per se justice and political concerns, contemporary philosophy of food and critical food studies bring about other issues that hinder the realization of food as a commons. Food cannot be limited to be just any edible and nutritious entity as it is intricately woven into our sense of belonging and cultural identity. As pointed out by Pogge (2016), offering starving communities food that does not align with their cultural preferences or providing nutrition suitable only for a sedentary lifestyle, when more energy is actually required, deprives those people of politically essential goods. This injustice is rooted in the marginalization of voices within starving communities, who claim their right to determine their own food, constituting an epistemic injustice. Moreover, globally, individuals are exploited in their labor and land to produce food for affluent societies, irrespective of whether that food is part of their gastronomic identity or if its production encroaches upon their food space, thereby diminishing or obstructing their food sovereignty (Trauger 2015). Another example is the widespread denial of access to delicious and tasty culinary experiences, available only to those who can afford high prices or reside in central cities (Johnston & Baumann 2015). Some scholars have recently highlight how large corporations acquire lands protected by geographical indications (marks of origin linking a product with a specific territory), thereby stripping local communities of their economic and social rights to what should be their common resources (Borghini et al. 2023). Numerous other contentious examples can be presented to illustrate various factors that impede the realization of food as a commons, ranging from climate injustice (Gilson & Kenehan 2018) to gender discrimination (Portman 2018). A careful analysis of these cases might cast doubt on the adequacy of the traditional concept of commons in capturing the unique nature of food and food justice.
This special issue of Ethics, Politics and Society aims at offering papers that provide a new philosophical and political foundation of food as a commons, tracing the limits and the potentiality of this concept as well as raising controversial cases along with philosophical tools for addressing injustice.

We welcome contributions from philosophers working in any tradition and adopting various methodological perspectives (e.g., analytic political philosophy, conceptual engineering, philosophy of food, legal theory). Contributions should not exceed 8,000 words and must be submitted by February 28, 2025. Accepted papers will be published in the first issue of 2025. For any inquiries, please contact: nicola.piras88@gmail.com

References.
Borghini, A., Piras, N., & Serini, B. (2023). Hot Grapes: How to Locally Redesign Geographical Indications to Address the Impact of Climate Change. World Development Sustainability, 2, 100043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wds.2023.100043

FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, & WHO (2023). The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023. Urbanization, Agrifood Systems Transformation and Healthy Diets across the Rural–Urban Continuum. Rome: FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc3017en

Gilson, E., & Kenehan, S. (Eds.) (2018). Food, Environment, and Climate Change. Justice at the Intersections. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield International.

Global Network against Food Crisis (2023). FSIN and Global Network Against Food Crises. 2023. Rome. Stable link:
< https://www.fsinplatform.org/sites/default/files/resources/files/GRFC2023-hi-res.pdf>

Johnston, J., & Baumann, S. (2015). Foodies. Democracy and Distinction in the Gourmet Foodscape. London: Rutledge.

Kolb, K. H. (2021). Retail Inequality. Reframing the Food Desert Debate. Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Pogge, T. (2016). The Hunger Games. Food Ethics, 1(1), 9–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41055-016-0006-9

Portman, A. (2018). Food Sovereignty and Gender Justice. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 31(4), 455–466. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-018-9739-2

Trauger, A. (Ed.) (2015). Food Sovereignty in International Context. Discourse, Politics and Practice of Place. London: Routledge.

Vivero-Pol Jose, L., Ferrando, T., De Schutter, O., Mattei, U. (Eds.) (2018). Routledge Handbook of Food As a Commons. Expanding Approaches. London: Routledge.