Who Is Food Insecure? Political Storytelling on Hunger, Household Food Choices, and the Construction of Archetypal Populations

Abstract

Food insecurity, inadequate access to adequate food due to economic constraints, affects one in eight households. Food insecurity is a serious structural problem affecting health, but dedicated policy action has been limited. In this study, we analyzed causal stories in Canadian political discussion about household food insecurity in provincial and federal Hansard records over two decades. Specifically, we examined patterns of archetypes–dominant characterizations of individuals and populations who experience food insecurity–and how these were used to convey a collective consciousness about ‘model’ food-insecure persons or groups. Archetypes aligned only with selected evidence of populations actually experiencing food insecurity.