FOOD SAFETY

 

Food security is the availability of food in a country (or a geographic region) and the ability of individuals within that country (region) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuff. The availability of food irrespective of class, gender or region is another element of food security. Similarly, household food security is considered to exist when all the members of a family, at all times, have access to enough food for an active, healthy life.^[1] Individuals who are food secure do not live in hunger or fear of starvation.^[2] Food insecurity, on the other hand, is defined as a situation of " limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways".^[3] Food security incorporates a measure of resilience to future disruption or unavailability of critical food supply due to various risk factors including droughts, shipping disruptions, fuel shortages, economic instability, and wars.^[4

Food security is defined as "when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life" by the World Food Summit in 1996.^[12][13]

Food insecurity, on the other hand, is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a situation of " limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways".^[3]

At the 1974 World Food Conference, the term "food security" was defined with an emphasis on supply; food security was defined as the "availability at all times of adequate, nourishing, diverse, balanced and moderate world food supplies of basic foodstuff to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption and to offset the fluctuations in production and prices".^[14] Later definitions added demand and access issues to the definition. The first World Food Summit, held in 1996, stated that food security "exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life."^[15][9]

The ‘2021 State of Food Security & Nutrition in the World’ report’ estimates that around 2.37 billion people did not have access to adequate food during 2020, which is approximately 1/3rd of the global population. The report also estimates that around 720-811 million people in the world faced hunger in 2020.