Measuring Food Insecurity and Assessing the Sustainability of Global Food Systems

There are few areas of human endeavor in which the challenge of sustainability is clearer than in food and agriculture. Farmers and animal keepers must use natural resources the physical environment of soil, water, and the sun in ways that generate a continuous supply of food adequate to satisfy people's biological needs for survival and their economic demands.

Degradation of soil, inappropriate management of water, and the use of practices that have negative effects on the climate may increase food security in the short run, but will decrease output over time and threaten the survival of future generations. Sustainable management of natural resources and the environment is fundamental to future food security. Action by governments and other agents within and outside the food system may help or hinder sustainability. There is much evidence showing that the current global food system is not sustainable.

Measuring Food Insecurity and Assessing the Sustainability of Global Food Systems summarizes the National Research Council's workshop, held in May 2011, which explored ways to assure sustainable food availability, identifying (a) the major barriers to expanding food production to meet future food demand without damaging future productive capacity and (b) policy, technology, and governance interventions that could reduce these barriers and promote sustainable food availability as a basic pillar of sustainable food security. The workshop was organized around the three broad dimensions of sustainable food security: availability, access, and utilization. Within these topics, the workshop aimed to review the existing data to encourage action and identify the knowledge gaps.

Committee on Food Security for All as a Sustainability Challenge; National Research Council

Measuring Food Insecurity and Assessing the Sustainability of Global Food Systems:Report of a Workshop