Viva Vitality: Let’s talk about food security

By Alison Van Dyke on May 14, 2021.

This past year has laid bare many things about the food we eat and how we get it.

Where and when can we obtain our groceries safely? What risks are being taken to bring us our food by the essential grocery store workers, migrant farm workers and meat processing plant employees? Are we even able to put food on our tables in these uncertain and changeable times? And what is the model we’ve seen that most effectively meets these food needs – is it charity, mutual aid or social programs? All of these things have brought the value and importance of food security, along with a possible new vocabulary, to the forefront of our lives.

Food security is the most common term referenced in any number of news stories and conversations, and it’s defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as “existing 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.”

When we talk about being able to access what we want, when we want it, we’re talking about availability, which is the supply side of food security – are there adequate quantities of food available to meet the population’s needs? You may have noticed certain foods, both fresh and processed, weren’t available for part of the pandemic. This was a result of manufacturing priorities and worker availability for both for harvesting and processing.

How we access the food we need can be as diverse as the people eating it – you may purchase it, grow it, raise it, hunt or fish for it, forage for it, exchange for it, or receive it as a gift. This leads to another term, food sovereignty, which is the right of people to choose where their food comes from and how it was produced. Do the people producing the food have control of the food system? Was the food obtained in a way that did not negatively affect the dignity of the consumer?

Ideally, all of our food, and these food concepts, originate in a sustainable food system which delivers food security and nutrition for everyone in a way that is profitable throughout (economic sustainability); broadly benefits society (social sustainability); and has a positive or neutral impact on the natural environment (environmental sustainability). An example of a sustainable food system is a worker-owned collective where ecological and environmentally friendly farming practices don’t deplete the soil, the workers share the profits from their labour, and the wellbeing and development of both the workers and community are supported through fair practices in marketing and sales.

If you want more information about the Lexicon of Sustainability, please visit http://www.thelexicon.org

Alison Van Dyke is the Food Security Coordinator with Community Food Connections Association. For more information, please see http://www.foodconnections.ca

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