Food Justice and the Moral Horror of Mass Incarceration

What does food justice in an era of mass incarceration require of us? As I come to argue, putting criminal justice and food justice in conversation benefits both. By highlighting the indispensable part food plays not only in well-being, but also in identity and community, food justice teaches criminal justice to see better some of the most serious threats posed by incarceration. Meanwhile, by highlighting the conflicting interests at the heart of ethics and political philosophy, criminal justice urges food justice to make its moral theory (or theories) explicit in order to judge better what we owe incarcerated individuals as well as those they have harmed. In the end, I argue that we all, incarcerated and unincarcerated alike, have pro tanto positive rights not only to food security, but also to food autonomy, if not also to food sovereignty.