Unequal foodwork: Situating the sociology of feeding within diet and nutrition disparities

Widespread inequities in diet and nutrition present a pressing public health problem. Sociologists working to illuminate the causes contours of these often center role family foodwork, or multifaceted domestic labor that supports eating, including planning preparing meals. Mounting sociological scholarship on foodwork considers how food's meanings are socially patterned reflect broader social structures, ideologies institutions influence their manifestation families' resources enact them. Here, we three core contributions from sociology can advance essential transdisciplinary conversations around disparities as well efforts tackle disparities. We lay out (1) is historically rooted structures capitalist exploitation women's subordination, today remains gendered through normative discourses equating “good” feeding with mothering; (2) moralization buttressed by an ideological context idealizing homecooked meals lamenting foodwork's decline, and; (3) foodwork—and societal evaluations it—are shaped stratified intersecting gendered, classed, racial inequalities. After reviewing each contribution its importance for addressing inequities, conclude advocating closer conversation across disciplines highlighting important future directions sociologists.