Right to food in rural Appalachia: hunger in the ‘hidden America’

Abstract

This dissertation consults with a select sampling of primary participants of the United States food aid system regarding their perceptions of the universal concept of ‘right to food’ and its possible implications on the practice of seeking and distributing food aid. This thesis argues that food aid administrators may be aware of the concept of the right to food, but do not find it useful in the process of dispensing emergency aid. Correspondingly, food aid recipients may have no knowledge of the right to food, but will find the idea empowering as they consider their own food insecurity. In communicating with food bank clients and administrators, this project will look to assess whether a consciousness of ‘right to food’ exists among food aid participants, and if its existence affects participants’ ability to access the right to food. The aims of this project will be to provide a focused understanding of: (1) the concept of right to food, (2) the motivations guiding the operation of food banks, and, in a greater sense, (3) the relationship between human rights as a concept and the real-world institutions currently addressing them. It will review literature on the subjects of food insecurity, food aid, and human rights in developed states. This dissertation will feature a case study of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee, but further how its employees and clients perceive the human right to food. In doing so, it will advance existing research by using qualitative methods to understand the current phenomena located at the intersection of hunger, aid, and the active assertion of a fundamental human right.