Resilience and Hope: Identifying Trajectories and Contexts of Household Food Insecurity

Abstract

Household food insecurity occurs in the context of families’ experiences of difficult life events. Using the family adaptation and adjustment response model and elements of life course theory, we analyzed 14 in-depth interviews to determine the types of events that families experience, what demands and capabilities the families possess, and how they incorporate meanings into the formation of individual and family identities in the face life events and food insecurity. Commonly cited demands dealt with family issues, health, and employment. Commonly cited capabilities were family support, employment, job training, and assistance programs. Meanings within the context of individual and family identity centered around stress appraisal, religious perspectives, and meanings of food.