SOC808 Test 2

1974 UN World Food definition of food security

Availability at all times of adequate food supplies of basic foodstuff to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption and to offset fluctuations in production and prices

1983 FAO definition of food security

ensuring that at all times people have both physical and economic access to the basic food they need

1986 World Bank definition of food security

access of all people at all times to enough food for an active healthy life

1996 World food summit definition of food security

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

2001 FAO definition of food security

all people at all times have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (same as 1996 but has added social access)

6 dimensions of food security

Food availability, food access, food utility, food stability, agency, sustainability

Food availability dimension of food security

addresses supply side of food in terms of availability, considers food produced locally vs imported, determined by food production, food stocks, and trade

Food access dimension of food security

focuses on physical and economic access, can it reach the consumer, do they have enough money, must be culturally acceptable and social nets are available to help under/unwaged people to purchase food

Food utility dimension of food security

how the body digests food, how it is prepared, whether it is safe to eat, adequate amounts in quantity/quality

Food stability dimension of food security

Food availability, access, and utility must be stable to achieve food security and must be able to withstand shocks (natural disasters, political instability, wars, economic factors) to the food system [short term]

Agency dimension of food security

focuses on improving rights and capabilities of people to feed themselves with dignity and relate to and shape their food systems, on their own terms

Sustainability dimension of food security

focuses on strengthening the economic, social, and ecological bases that generate food security and nutrition for future generations [long term]

TMU centre for studies in food security definition of food security

Availability, accessibility, adequacy, acceptability, and agency (5As)

Household food insecurity

the inability to acquire or consume an adequate diet quality or sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways, or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so-

results from an an inability to access food due to financial constraints, people are more likely to be diagnosed with chronic health/mental health conditions

Food insecurity effects/causes

tied to social and economic disadvantages, significantly lower incomes, likely to rent and receive social assistance, more prevalent in households with children (single parent households)

Food banks

most common charitable food assistance in Canada, often collect donations from food drives, corporate sources (surplus/cannot be sold), mostly ran by volunteers.

Government’s role is facilitative, no direct government support, actual effectiveness is being questioned (e.g. food banks, soup kitchens, feeding programs that redistribute excess food)

Do food insecure households use food banks?

Only a fraction of food insecure households use food banks, one of multiple strategies, remains a last resort strategy for many. More likely to delay bill payments, ask for financial help by friends/family to avoid social stigma associated with food banks

Criticism of food banks

have failed to solve the problem of hunger because it frames it as a lack of food/hunger rather than a lack of income/poverty and that the solution is distribution, not structural change.

Critics argue that food banks ignore and reinforce the root causes of hunger, create the illusion it is solved but don’t tackle structural problems and that it is a win-win for everyone despite its issues

Effective and evidence based policies

involve the government at many levels, address vulnerability of households reliant on employment incomes but unable to make ends meet, ensure sufficient income for those not in the workforce, public programs for debt relief/direct financial assistance

Food insecurity and COVID19

half the job losses affected younger, hourly paid, non unionized workers food insecurity decreased after CERB was implemented (temporary), most food insecure were those who could not work from home, COVID business loss and layoffs

How to secure more resilient food system

recognize and incentivize food production in urban areas, reduce food waste and food loss and use as a resource, facilitate networks between local food systems and communities

Cultural food security

ability to acquire and access culturally appropriate foods to one’s ethnic origins as fulfilment to cultural identity, often unacknowledged, actively engage with Black communities and consider racism’s effects structurally and systemically

Right to food

1948 Universal declaration of food, Canada signed 1966 International covenant in 1976 and has a legal obligation to fulfil this right

Food sovereignty

right of people to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems, markets, production modes, and environments (La Via Campesina)

6 pillars of food sovereignty

Focuses on food for people, values food providers, localizes food systems, puts control locally, builds knowledge and skills, works with nature

Focus on food for people

Puts all people at the center of food policies, ensuring sufficient, healthy, and culturally appropriate food for all individuals and communities, rejects proposition food is a commodity or industrial component

Valuing food providers

values and supports the contributions, respects right of all those who cultivate, grow, harvest, and process food, rejects policies actions and programs that undervalue, threaten, and eliminate them

Localizing food systems

brings food providers and consumers closer together, puts providers and consumers at center of decision making, resisting governance structures that depend and promote unsustainable and inequitable trade and give power to corporations

Putting control locally

places control over territory, land, water, livestock, fish populations on local providers and respects their rights

Building knowledge and skills

builds on the skills and local knowledge of food providers, local organizations, reject technologies that undermine these (e.g. GMOs)

Working with nature

uses contributions of nature in diverse, low external input production and harvesting systems that maximize contribution of ecosystems, rejection of methods that harm beneficial ecosystem functions

7th pillar of food sovereignty

Food is sacred- for indigenous peoples, this is the essential relationship between humans and natural elements, those who provide food must be seen as central to system, must be shared, never commodified

Food sovereignty vs food security

Food security criticized as production oriented, evolved from production, availability, and then access- food sovereignty is a precondition for food security

3 Challenges for Black Farmers in the GTA

1. Land ownership and access to land,

2. exploitation of Black Canadian labour in food production,

3. complex food supply chain for ethnocultural vegetables results in food insecurity for Black Canadians,

must ensure community based food system, mobilize Black Canadians for collective action

2024-2027 Black food sovereignty alliance strategic plan

Values: inclusive, honoring ancestral and traditional knowledge, self determination, respect and protection of the environment, collaboration and knowledge sharing, integrity

Strategic pillars: capacity building, policy advocacy and research, government relations, collabs/partnerships

Food justice

challenging and restructuring dominant food system, providing core focus on equity, disparities, and struggles by those most vulnerable, shares linkages/common goals with other forms of social justice activism.

Gap between intent and outcome, alternative food systems may only create safe spaces for privileged

Social justice

equitable distribution of fundamental resources and respect for human dignity and diversity, no minority group’s life interests and struggles are undermined and that political interaction allows for all groups to voice concerns

Food apartheid

shifts framing from geographic and economic access towards the root causes of food system injustices and systemic issues, only by addressing these root causes will we achieve the basic human right of nourishing, affordable food for all people

Food insecurity in Northern Canada/territories

much higher rates of food insecurity, high food prices and low access

Food insecurity in Indigenous communities

often much higher rates of food insecurity, disruptions to land based traditional food systems, higher risk for health conditions such as obesity and diabetes,

studies have been criticized for failing to address food conditions, histories, of Indigenous people

Indigenous food sovereignty

specific policy approach to address the underlying issues impacting indigenous peoples and ability to respond to own needs for healthy and culturally adapted indigenous foods

4 principles of Indigenous food sovereignty

sacred/divine sovereignty, participatory, self determination, policy

Sacred/divine sovereignty principle (Indigenous)

food is a gift from the creator, right to food is sacred and cannot be constrained by colonial laws, policies, institutions.

Indigenous food sovereignty is fundamentally achieved by upholding sacred responsibility to relationship of food with land, plants, and animals

Participatory principle (Indigenous)

IFS is based on action or day to day practice of maintaining cultural food methods, continued participation at individual, family, community, and regional levels

Self-determination principle (Indigenous)

Ability to respond to own needs for healthy, culturally adapted indigenous foods, ability to make decisions over amount and quality of food hunted, gathered, grown, and eaten. Freedom from dependence on industrial food system or grocery stores

Policy principle (Indigenous)

reconciling Indigenous food and cultural values with colonial laws and policies, providing restorative framework for policy reform in forestry, fisheries, environmental conservation, health, agriculture, development etc.

Public policy

governance and policy done by the state, non state actors can be involved in the process

Private policy

governance and policy done exclusively by non state actors (industry, society, consumers, etc)

Policy

an action or inaction chosen to address a given issue or interconnected issues

Politics

influencing other people to do things through exercising power, building relationships, and looking after certain interests and goals

Governance

principles, processes, decisions, and social interactions that shape and administer sociopolitical state from local to global

Food policy

policy area that addresses issues in food system, its components, and their interconnections, embedded within biological, social, political, health, and economic systems in each area

Food policy uses

approach to understanding and addressing linkages within food systems and plans for making decisions about food, guiding public, private, nonprofit sector actions relating to improving food outcomes and working together across sectors, potential change (e.g. junk food tax, mexico, hungary, colombia)

Canadian food policy actions

Income support programs, policies to support healthy food choices and food environments, reductions of greenhouse gases, investments in food innovation

Canadian food policy vision

All people in Canada are able to access a sufficient amount of safe, nutritious, and cultural diverse food. Resilient and innovative, sustains our environment and economy

Canadian food policy action areas

1. Help canadian communities access healthy food

2. Make canadian food the top choice at home and abroad

3. Support food security in Northern and indigenous communities

4. Reduce food waste

Canadian food policy priority outcomes

1. Vibrant communities

2. Increased connections within food systems and sectors

3. Improved food related health outcomes, especially for those at higher risk of food insecurity

4. Strong Indigenous food systems

5. Sustainable food practices and reducing environmental impact of food system

6. Inclusive economic growth for diversified and economically viable food system

Recent news in Canadian food policy

April 2024, one billion dollars over five years for national school food program, March 2025, Eat, think vote campaign

Food literacy

describes the everyday practicalities of navigating the food systems that are associated with healthy eating, overall goals of human health, environmental,plant, and animal health, preserving cultural/traditional aspects of food, developing sustainable food systems

Food literacy categories

Food and nutrition knowledge, food skills, self efficacy and confidence, food decisions, and ecologic/external factors

Food and nutrition knowledge

Food knowledge (what is food and what is in it)

nutrient knowledge (understand nutrients, how they can affect health)

knowledge of food, food preparation, and nutrition language and terms

Food skills

to be able to prepare meals using basic skills and recipes

Self efficacy and confidence

nutrition literacy (what is false and what is true, how to find reliable nutrition information)

Food and nutrition self efficacy (ability to apply knowledge to buy select and prepare food)

Cooking self efficacy (confidence in ability to use cooking techniques)

Food attitude (desire to learn, prepare food, engage in community and culture)

Ecologic/external factors

Food systems (impact of food system)

Social determinants (access to living wages, health food, cooking equipment, etc)

Sociocultural influences (impact of sociocultural values, norms, beliefs, cultural identity)

Food decisions

Dietary behavior (to make healthy food choices)

Food literacy emergence

emerged from crises in food system from industrial food, rise of social movements, interdisciplinary field of food studies, engagement with literacy in education, increasing public interest

4 core components to critical food literacy

1. Knowledge of food and food systems

2. Food procurement with mindfulness

3. Basic food preparation skills

4. Social networks (people learn and act in social networks which influence and are influenced by)

Sustainable food systems

need to be socially, economically, and environmentally viable to be sustainable, involve an interdependent web (Production, processors, distributors, consumption, and disposal)

Bottom up movements

led by grassroots projects and local initiatives

Top down movements

legislation by governments, etc.