Food security

Food security is an important social determinant of health, the absence of which has severe negative impacts on physical and mental health. Despite its critical importance, food security is unequally distributed between and within nations, with hundreds of millions of people worldwide experiencing hunger and malnutrition. A number of shocks have increased global hunger, including the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing climate crisis, resulting in another food crisis in which skyrocketing prices across the world are impacting those struggling with food insecurity. These shocks accentuate the vulnerabilities and fragility of the current food system, including reliance on agrochemical inputs, commodity speculation, corporate concentration and growing debt among food-importing countries. A more equitable food system, however, can be achieved by shifting away from the industrial agriculture model towards one aligned with the principles of agroecology and food sovereignty.