Food Security is an important and widely discussed topic and a point of interest for governments, businesses, and individuals alike.
What is Food Security?
Food security, as defined by the World Food Summit (WFS) and the Food and Agricultural Organization, ‘exists when all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary and food preferences for an active life’.
These foods must be of adequate amounts, safe, and culturally appropriate. The foods must also be produced in an environmentally sustainable and socially just manner, and that people are able to make informed decisions about their food choices.
Food security does not only cover the consumers of the foods, it also means the people who are responsible for producing the foods make a decent living wage doing so.
Food security also focuses on maintaining a healthy, sustainable food system
A healthy, sustainable food system focuses on:
- Environmental Health: it ensures that the production of food and its procurement do not compromise the elements of the environment.
- Economic Vitality: it ensures that the people who are producing our food are able to earn a decent living wage doing so. This means that the process can be sustainable and long lasting.
- Human Health & Social Equity: it ensures that the attention is on community development and the health of the community, making sure that healthy foods are available economically and physically to the community and that people are able to access these foods.
Additional Resources:
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2015-01-09/what-is-food-security/
https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/environment-and-energy/food-security
https://issuu.com/dccepublications/docs/190706_dubai_carbon_the_sustainabilist_n1
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09700161.2018.1560916
https://www.foodsource.org.uk/building-blocks/what-food-security
