Fighting Back: Inner-City Community Responses to Food Insecurity

This study investigated perceptions of stigma stemming from food insecurity experienced by residents of an inner-city community described as a food desert. Sixty inner-city residents were interviewed about their difficulty in providing healthy food for their families. The study measured four kinds of structural barriers which contributed to the experience of stigma. Participants agreed that welfare created a barrier and reported experiencing health disparities, neighborhood stigma, and welfare stigma. Participants who read high-stigma messages agreed more with health-stigma beliefs compared with participants who read low-stigma messages. Low-income White residents perceived more nutritional and neighborhood barriers compared with other racial groups. In spite of these perceptions of being stigmatized, the people included in this study engaged in stigma resistance in their efforts to secure nutritious food for their families.