Food Insecurity: Disparity in Gender from an Ecofeminist Perspective
According to unwomen.org, in nearly two thirds of countries, women and other marginalized genders are more likely to experience food insecurity than men. Why is there such a drastic disparity, and how can applying an ecofeminist lens help to better illuminate the issue?
Ecofeminism is neither feminism nor environmentalism, but a combination of both philosophies that allow researchers and academics the ability to approach environmental challenges from a feminist perspective, and feminist issues from an ecological perspective. Ecofeminists believe that the two intertwine; the main connector being the oppression of nature by human domination, and the simultaneous patriarchal domination of women.
Women are more often associated with nature, as nature is seen as feminine. This socially constructed view of women and nature has led to the degradation and domination of both. What does this look like, and how does it apply to the issue of food security?
- Approximately 343 million people globally are hungry right now.
- 60% of those people are women and girls.
- In nearly two thirds of countries, women are more likely than men to report food insecurity.
- 1:3 = the proportion of women with nutrition-related anemia.
– World Food Program USA (wfpusa.org)
According to the Food Research and Action Center, there are over 10 million households with children in the US that are headed by a single female. 26.6% of these families live below the federal poverty line. 14.9% of households with children headed by a single male are living below the federal poverty line.
According to USDA’s most recent report, single-parent, female-headed households are also significantly more likely to be food-insecure than single-parent, male-headed households (31.6 to 21.7 percent).
Current figures for a year’s worth of wage disparities equal approximately 78 weeks of food lost for a woman’s family.
Gender wage gaps, unequal opportunity, lack of access to reproductive healthcare, unpaid caregiving labor, environmental changes, and so much more contribute to the food insecurity disparity among genders.
A quote by Rosemary Radford Ruether from New Woman/New Earth found in the Hobgood-Oster Introduction, says that “Women must see that there can be no liberation for them and no solution to the ecological crisis within a society whose fundamental model of relationships continues to be one of domination. They must unite the demands of the women’s movement with those of the ecological movement to envision radical reshaping of the basic socioeconomic relations and the underlying values of this modern industrial society.”
This is as much a feminist issue as it is ecological, and one that would be better analyzed and acted upon using an ecofeminist perspective.
Sources Cited:
Doughten, L. (2023, July 13). Women and girls eat the least and last. Center for Disaster Philanthropy. Retrieved February 5, 2025, from https://disasterphilanthropy.org/blog/women-and-girls-eat-the-least-and-last/
Hobgood-Oster, L. (2002, August 18). Ecofeminism: Historic and international evolution. Southwestern University.
UN Women. (n.d.). SDG 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. UNWomen.org. Retrieved February 5, 2025, from https://eca.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-the-sdgs
I had no idea that food insecurity was an issue disproportionately affecting women. I knew that the wage gap existed, but I never thought about how that actually translated to real life in terms of necessities, such as food. I’d be willing to bet that the disparities are even greater for Women of Color. According to a US Department of Labor news release I found from March 2024, the wage gap (comparing women and white, non-Hispanic men working full-time year-round), non-Hispanic white women earned 80 cents per dollar earned by white men, Black women earned 69 cents per dollar, and Hispanic women earned 57 cents per dollar. I can only imagine how that all translates in terms of access to food and other needed resources. I agree that the issue of food insecurity and the factors causing it definitely benefits from being examined and worked on from an ecofeminist perspective, given that that perspective also includes race as an important factor. Thank you so much for bringing my attention to this issue, this is definitely something I’m going to think about and pay attention to more. Can’t wait to keep reading your blog!
Source:
US Department of Labor releases research on continued economic effects of job segregation, pay disparities on Black, Hispanic women. U.S. Department of Labor. March 12, 2024.
https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/wb/wb20240312
Hi Lauren,
I appreciated your post, particularly the UNICEF graph highlighting the gender gap in food insecurity. As someone who works in a central area providing support services for women, including those fleeing domestic violence, I find it disturbing that women are more likely to experience food insecurity than men.
The World Food Programme’s data on nutrition-related anemia among women and the gender wage gap further underscore the need for equal access to resources, including reproductive healthcare.
I have witnessed firsthand the impact of these inequalities. In my previous role, I experienced pay disparities despite being the longest-serving employee and performing the same tasks as my male colleagues.
This issue is both a feminist concern and an ecological one. I believe that an ecofeminist perspective, which recognizes the interconnectedness of social and environmental justice, would provide a more comprehensive framework for analyzing and addressing these issues.