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Abstract Critical development and food studies scholars argue that the current food security paradigm is emblematic of a ‘New Green Revolution’, characterized by agricultural intensification, increasing reliance on biotechnology, deepening global markets, and depeasantization. High-profile examples of this model are not hard to find. Less examined, however, are food-security programs that appear to work at cross-purposes with this model. Drawing on the case of Feed the Future in Guatemala, I show how USAID engages in activities that valorize ancestral crops, subsistence production, and agroecological practices. Rather than the result of macro-level planning—of either the New Green Revolution or a greener reform regime—I argue that nonconforming food security projects can be traced to individual actors and their interactions on the ground. I draw on an ‘interface approach’ (Long 1990), focusing on the lifeworlds of development workers, their interfaces with each other, and with the to-be-developed. Doing so reveals how food security projects are significantly shaped by the relationships and interests of development actors enmeshed in particular organizational and national settings. This research contributes a fresh perspective on the food security paradigm and its role within the ‘corporate food regime’.
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This content will become publicly available on July 18, 2026
Methods for using worker-centered research to improve food donation and reduce wasted food in a grocery retail setting
IntroductionThis project took a novel approach to reducing wasted food and improving food donation by prioritizing and centering the ideas and experiences of frontline grocery retail workers, who were integrally involved in each step of the research process. In this paper, we describe in detail the methods used in the Food Donation Champions Project, a worker-centered project in collaboration with a large US grocery retail chain. We provide the context, process, and lessons learned through our partnership with corporate leaders and frontline workers. MethodsThis project was conducted using a convergent, human-centered design process, involving design, public health, and anthropology research methodologies. The process involved six steps: planning, research, synthesis, ideation, prototype development and testing, and strategy finalization. We collected qualitative data through interviews and observations with grocery retail workers, members of corporate leadership, and stores' donation partners (i.e., food pantries and food banks). Frontline workers informed this research strategy and participated in all stages of analysis and strategy development. DiscussionThe process and findings described in this paper provide researchers and leaders in grocery retail a guide to a novel methodology and research approach that may be used to enhance projects that elevate the lived experience of people most central to addressing social and environmental problems.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2115405
- PAR ID:
- 10637706
- Publisher / Repository:
- Frontiers in Public Health
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Frontiers in Public Health
- Volume:
- 13
- ISSN:
- 2296-2565
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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