미국은 사회경제적 계층에 따라 식습관의 불평등이 존재한다
고소득층은 건강한 식습관을 가지고 있는데 반해 그 외의 계층은 에너지 고효율의 식습관을 가지고 있음.
계층에 따라 식품 소비의 차이가 있음을 제시.
개인의 선택에 의한 것이기보다 구조적 요인으로 인해 식단이 결정됨을 증명
“신자유주의적 식습관 지표(neoliberal-diet risk)”를 개발하여 식습관의 차이를 비교

The neoliberal diet and inequality in the United States

This paper discusses increasing differentiation of U.S. dietary components by socioeconomic strata and its health implications. While upper-income groups have had increasing access to higher-quality foods, lower-to-middle-income class diets are heavily focused on “energy-dense” fares. This neoliberal diet is clearly associated with the proliferation of obesity that disproportionately affects the poor. We provide a critical review of the debate about obesity from within the critical camp in food studies, between individual-focused and structural perspectives. Using official data, we show how the US diet has evolved since the 1960s to a much greater emphasis on refined carbohydrates and vegetable oils. Inequality is demonstrated by dividing the population into households-income quintiles and how they spend on food. We then introduce our Neoliberal Diet Risk Index (NDR), comprised of measures of food-import dependency, the Gini coefficient, rates of urbanization, female labor-force participation, and economic globalization. Our index serves to measure the risk of exposure to the neoliberal diet comparatively, across time and between nations. We conclude that only a societal actor like the state can redirect the food-production system by modifying its agricultural subsidy policies. Inequality-reducing policies will make the healthier food involved in such change widely available for all.