Food Security

The Levels of Influence

1.Family and Household Decisions

O Who brings home the money or resources?

O How safe is the food-preparation process?

O Who prepares the food? How long does it take?

O Who cares for and supervises the children?

O Do they have access to education?

O Consider the poverty cycle typical in a developing country or underprivileged family situation:

O A pregnant mother is overworked and does not get enough nutritious, good-quality food

O A child is born into poverty and doesn’t grow to its full potential – he or she may have physical, mental or intellectual development problems

O Children are often required at home to work – if they are allowed or can afford to go to school

O They may be tired or sick or miss much to gain employment when they are older so that they can bring food or money to the family (many girls never go to school)

O Due to lack of education, social class, access to resources, adults are likely only able to get low paying jobs or farm jobs which is very hard work with low productivity

O All of the above leads to low incomes and less access to resources

O Low income allows less access to resources, food, water, which continues the cycle for the family

2. Community/Local Organizations

O Food banks, community kitchens, homeless shelters, health units, school food programs, donations

O How does the community encourage and/or discourage access to food?

O Who monitors the rights of the people?

3. Provincial and National Political Decisions

O Subsidies to farmers, taxes on certain products, import and export agreements, free trade, immigration policies

O Government money and policies encouraging particular products

O In Canada, smaller farmers find it very difficult to make ends meet; they are often bought out by larger farms or companies

4. International/Global/Economic and Political Decisions

O Trade agreements (free trade, economic unions, etc.)

O World crop prices and food pricesO Mega-corporations and the right of

the workers, ethical use of resources (Pepsi, Coke, Nestle, clothing, car companies, etc.)

O Non-governmental and aid organizations (ex. World Vision)

Ending Hunger Now

http://www.ted.com/talks/josette_sheeran_ending_hunger_now.html

FOOD SECURITYOur aim is that all people (regardless of race, religion, gender, or age) have access to safe and nutritious food to maintain a healthy and

active life (World Bank, 1986)

There are four main components to ensuring food security:

1. Food availability – good agricultural productions and marketing to provide enough food in all climates and seasons

2. Food access – having the money to pay for or the ability to acquire the food; being able to get good-quality food in enough quantity

3. Food Use - proper preparation and storage of the food; maintaining the nutritional integrity of the food; fair distribution of the food (gender, food, ethnicity, religion, etc.)

4. Asset creation – designing ways to maintain the food supply; in case of natural disasters, wars, and/or conflicts, etc.; stockpiling, donations, etc.

Solutions to Fighting Hunger

O Improving nutritional status – eg. Adding palm oil (contains Vitamin A) to foods, fortifying milk with Vitamin D, encouraging breast-feeding

O Policy changes (worldwide) –eg. Writing letters, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Universal Rights of the Child

O Food security – focusing on the four main causes of hunger and working with communities to improve availability of quality of food

Factors influencing food security

Just copy the headings as point form notes!

Natural DisastersO Drought and floods

may temporarily cause hunger

O Many aid programs only provide a band-aid solution (immediate food), while others develop plans to prevent hunger in the future

UndernourishmentO This happens when the

diet is not sufficient to give enough energy

O When individuals don’t get enough nutrients, micro-nutrient diseases may result

O In some countries, people get enough energy, but they don’t get enough of the required nutrients

Cash CroppingO Areas that grow

crops that are mainly used for export and not used as food for the people who produce it (cocoa, sugar, flour, tobacco, coffee, peanuts, etc.)

Lack of EducationO Some people

(especially girls and women) have limited access to education

O With less education, people are less able to get a job

DiseaseO Disease hinders

people’s ability to help their family to acquire food

O AIDS is particularly prevalent in many developing countries

O Lack of nutrients in the diet lessens people’s ability to combat the diseases

GovernmentO Policies and

actions will affect the food security of individuals

O Governments that are unstable do not focus on ensuring food security in their policies

War/ConflictsO Conflict can destroy a

country’s infrastructures

O When people are in danger, being injured and killed, food is more difficult to acquire for the family

O Food is often withheld between warring factions in order to disadvantage the “other side”