Falling Through The Safety Net: Poverty, Food Assistance And Shopping Constraints In An American City

Abstract

Many anthropological studies of poor communities have neglected the connections between individual circumstances and the external institutional forces that create and perpetuate poverty. This study examines the relationship between the devel- opment and growth of an emergency food assistance network in Wilmington, Delaware, and the transformation of the local and national food retailing industry. A preliminary discussion of the effect of these changes on the lives of low-income city residents follows. The research is part of a statewide, collaborative, multi- methodological examination of hunger and food security. Food security is defined as obtaining a culturally acceptable, nutrition- ally adequate diet through affordable, non-emergency sources. Lack of food security in Wilmington is demonstrated by large increases in the use of emergency food providers and an expansion of the network itself. We also documented a sharp decline in access 93