einstein (São Paulo). 09/Jun/2026;24((spe1)):eAE2172.

Can we negotiate dignity with a plate of food? The intersections of food, homelessness, and Dussel’s philosophy

Thifany Helena

Torres

, Fernanda

Sabatini

, Fernanda Baeza

Scagliusi

DOI: 10.31744/einstein_journal/2026AE2172

Highlights

■ Institutional food practices mediate dignity and recognition.
■ Power relations shape autonomy in food assistance  services.
■ Food provision can reinforce power asymmetries in institutional relations.
■ Dignity is ontological and cannot be negotiated.

ABSTRACT

This essay draws on a qualitative study that explored the understandings of employees responsible for planning, preparing, and distributing meals in three food assistance services in downtown São Paulo (Brazil) regarding food provision for people experiencing homelessness. In that study, 12 semi-structured interviews and materials from in-depth fieldwork conducted between December 2022 and December 2023 were analyzed using thematic content analysis. We revisited the previously identified themes through the lens of Enrique Dussel’s Philosophy of Liberation, particularly the concepts of Totality, Exteriority, and Dignity, and explored how institutional food practices mediate recognition, autonomy, belonging, and humanity in contexts of social vulnerability. We examined how service workers construct interpretations that shape everyday food practices and how their positions within broader power relations influence daily routines. We also considered the perceptions of belonging, identity, and pleasure associated with the food provided, as well as different conceptions of autonomy within these institutional contexts. The debate centers on the tension between recognizing the human dignity of a group that society often treats as “non-human” and the practices that either reinforce or challenge this treatment. Drawing on Dussel’s framework, we argue that food provision simultaneously challenges and reinforces the boundaries of Exteriority, thereby shedding light on the ethical and political dimensions of food as a social and cultural act.

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