Global Security

According to the website of World Population Projections, the planet’s occupants would
have reached 7,714,576,923 by the year 2019 and around 1,441,181,813 in China alone by the
year 2030. With an estimated 1.07% growth in population from 2018, another grave issue is
threatening the human populace – hunger. In the Philippines, news about price increases in basic
food commodity is plaguing the nation affecting each and every one of its inhabitants. Images of
how common Filipino folks make ends meet are frequent topics covered by the media and
flashed in our daily television screens. The pagpag phenomenon, wherein a number of extremely
poor groups ‘recycle” food scraps and use it for personal consumption or for enterprise is part of
these marginalized groups’ lives. For many, this kind of lifestyle seems to be unbearable, but for
some it is a reality.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, “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.” Basing on
FAO’s definition, food security is not only about filling the stomach with food, but an important
element of it involves having nutritional adequate and safe foods. Consequently, researchers
conducted by the State of Food Security in the World reveals that Asia has the largest number of
people growing hungry each day. In keeping with the Malthusian principle, the study growth of
global population challenges world leaders and scientists alike on how to produce solutions to
meeting human food and nutritional needs while sustaining the finite resources of the world.

In this lesson we will look into the different facet of global food security, how different
organizations work together and address this issue on a world wide scale.

The Unites States Department of Agriculture (USDA) states that household food security
occurs when all of the members of the unit have access to enough food for an active and healthy
lifestyle. This entails that nutritionally acceptable and safe food are readily made available and
acquiring these are made through socially accepted methods and not attained through food
scavenging, stealing and the likes. To put it simply, a family is food secure when they are able to
pay for and obtain nutritious foods hence they do not have to live in fear of starvation and
hunger. The definition strongly urges people to shy away from the consumption of emergency
food supplies such as instant noodles unless totally deemed necessary like during calamities and
other natural disasters.

A number of researches spearheaded by international food insecurity organizations shows

that statistically speaking, almost 900 million people all over the globe do not have enough to eat
meaning one in every four people experience hunger and starvation. With the growing number
of people experiencing food insecurity, this matter is no longer deemed as a developed-
developing world issue- it is everyone’s concern. We are all affected.

Elements of Food Security

In accordance with the recommendation of the World Health Organization, there are
three important elements involved in food security. The first aspect is about the Availability of
food, this element demands having adequate supply of quality food on steady and reliable basis.
Moreover, this component concerns itself with providing measures and procedures to ensure a
continuous and undisrupted food supply in spite of risk factors involving war, drought, economic
instability, and disease outbreak involving both livestock and crop production. These foods can
be made available through domestic production or importation from foreign land which is
usually resorted to by communities incapable of producing their own supply due to several
constraints like lack of fertile soil, climate disruption and inadequacy of man power to engage in
agricultural labor. Further collaborations of food security agencies also included an additional
parameter in this element. They strongly propose that the people are given a wide selection or
options of healthy and safe foods to choose from. And by doing so, both the peoples’ dietary
needs and food preferences are satisfactorily meet.

Studies show that there is a direct relationship between poverty and food insecurity. This
bring us to the second aspect of food security which is Access to Food. In a highly
commercialized world, almost every commodity comes with a price tag separating the
population between the haves and have-nots. To become food secure means having enough
resources to enable families to obtain foods leading to a healthy diet. Family units with enough
financial stability and resources stay clear to the threat to poverty guaranteeing their access to
available food in the market. Poor families however often become the victims of habitual hunger
and are considered as the most vulnerable group during food scarcity and famine. Factors
contributing financial constraints resulting to inadequate access to food may include
unemployment, underemployment, or lack of income generating opportunities. It is such an
intermingling of several factors that no single remedy is enough to solution this problem.

When financial resources isn’t enough to access nutritious food required for a healthy
lifestyle, the tendency is for people to cut costs and opt for a less nutritive selection of food such
as instant noodles, canned sardines to get them by for a day. A very familiar scenario that is
common to many Filipinos struggling to feed members of their household with a limited budget.
This now leads us to the third aspect of food security which is Food Utilization, Safety and
Sanitation. Food utilization signifies the proper use of food taking into consideration the body’s
needed vitamins and minerals. Nutrition education increases the awareness of the people with
regards to the proper selection of food items to be included in the daily meal plan. Alongside
this, access to sanitation and safe water supply is require in the preparation of a hearty and
nutritious meal for the family. Contaminated water and neglect for safe practices in the prepping
of food leads to gastrointestinal infections, diseases and in some cases food poisoning.
Consuming less nutritious and unsafe food items become a part of everyday living for many,
they unknowingly put their health at risk of contracting diseases such as high blood pressure,
cancer and diabetes to mention a few.

However, with the growing awareness and realization that the worlds’ resources is finite
and milking it dry to the bone will be detrimental for our race, another aspect of food security
comes into play. This element looks into the element of Environmental Stability which
basically concerns itself with the status of our ecology. Pressures are rising all over the world as
finite resources become smaller by the hour posing problems to the production of food.
Untimely, it boils down to measures being planned and implemented by the international
organizations to mitigate the causes and effect of pollution, climate change and overpopulation to
our food supply.

Challenges to Global Food Security

Global Food Security is a huge problem that concerns each and every one of us. Today,
we might be confident that we won’t get affected by food shortages experienced by other
countries. But who knows? Nowadays, anything is possible. The most unthinkable
circumstances are quickly becoming part of our reality. Food availability is not exempted from
among these possibilities. In a result in a study conducted in 2013 by the FAO, reveals that Sub-
Saharan Africa has the largest prevalence of hungry people. Another study made by the WHO in
2012 shows that one in every six children is suffering from malnutrition and are underweight.
These are but few of the numerous contemporary issues plaguing the world today. In this
section, we will look into some of the factors that contribute largely to issues pertaining to world
hunger and food insecurity.
1. Global Water Crisis
 With the demand for clean and safe water growing rapidly each day, water table
reserves are drying out in countries such as Northern China, parts of USA, and
India caused by over irrigation and over-pumping. Several underwater reserves,
and bodies of water are also subject to undergoing massive pollution brought
about by irresponsible chemical waste disposals of factories and other
manufacturing agencies.

2. Climate Change
The frequent changes in climate patterns and remarkable increases in
temperatures tend to have a catastrophic effect on the harvested crops,
supplementary land and water resources. Miles and miles of fertile land are now
barren incapable of sustaining produce decreasing food supply that could be
distributed to feed the population. Typhoons and similar catastrophes flood rice
fields washing away most of the crops and rendering them inedible for the human
populace. Extreme changes in temperature results to massive fish kills affecting
the harvest of fisher folks. Poultry, seafood, and other forms of livestock cannot
escape the crutches of drought caused by climate change – again reducing food
availability for the people. Food supplies move at a downward spiral motion but
the demand for it continues to rise.

3. Land Degradation
Innovation, ingenuity, and the advent of technology gave birth to a lot proposed
solutions to bridge the widening gap between the supply and demand of food.
Intensive farming modernization processes promising high yields became the new
trend for food production. But as with anything else, success comes with a price.
Fertile lands become exhausted because of an unending cycle of production. The
use of gallons after gallons of chemicals pesticides poison the land while making
the crops dependent on the former. Mankind has mastered the art of exploiting
the land for maximum profit without talk a step back and asking themselves what
is the true cost for all these advancements.

4. Greedy Land Deals

Corporations purchase millions of acres of agricultural lands and convert them
into commercial establishment such as shopping malls, gasoline stations, and fast
food restaurants. Agrarian lots allocated for food production are replaced with
concrete structures rendering farmers powerless to use the land for its purpose.
Urbanization is an impossible force to slow down targeting farm and pastoral
lands alike.

Activity 2
Final – Global Food Security

Name: ______________________ Score: ___________

Course: ______________________ Date: ____________

Direction:
1. You are task to survey the demographic backgrounds of your family
about how to manage and carefully plan your family’s meals for a
week.
 2. Using the data from the internet, you are tasked to search two families
with different demographic backgrounds about how they manage and
carefully plan their meals for a week.
A. Family that comprise of father, mother and 2 children.
B. Family that comprise of father, mother and 5 or more children.
3. In accomplishing the ordeal, you will be using the given meal plan
format below.
Breakfast Snack Lunch Dinner Snack
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
My Family’s Weekly Meal Plan

Name of Student: ___________________________

Number of Family Member: ___________________
Estimated Monthly Income: ___________________
Allocated Meal Budget for the week: ____________

Breakfast Snack Lunch Dinner Snack

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Family A - Weekly Meal Plan

Name of Student: ___________________________

Number of Family Member: ___________________
Estimated Monthly Income: ___________________
Allocated Meal Budget for the week: ____________

Breakfast Snack Lunch Dinner Snack

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Family B - Weekly Meal Plan

Name of Student: ___________________________

Number of Family Member: ___________________
Estimated Monthly Income: ___________________
Allocated Meal Budget for the week: ____________
Guide Questions:
1. Which of these statements best describes the food eaten in three households? Why?
a. Enough of the kinds of foods we want to eat.
b. Enough but not always the kinds of food we want to eat.
c. Sometimes not enough to eat
d. Often not enough to eat.

Family A.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.

Family B.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.

My Own Family.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.

2. What are the types of food that is generously consumes by the three families? What are
the similarities and differences that you have observed?

Family A.
Similarities:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Differences:
______________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.

Family B.
Similarities
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Differences:
______________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.

My Own Family.
Similarities:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Differences:
______________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.

What are the coping mechanisms made by the families when they are running out of money for
food in order to make their food go further?
Family A.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.

Family B.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.

My Own Family.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.

3. Based on your research and observation in your own family, is there a direct link between
poverty and food security? (at least 200 words essay)