Education
Phase 4
Food security
What is food security?
There are many different definitions of food security. The definition below is
frequently used.
The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as existing “when all
people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain
a healthy and active life”.
What is food security?
Food security includes the following aspects:
• Availability
• Access
• Affordability
• Quality
• Nutrition
• Safety
Think of an example of an issue which may affect each
aspect of food security.
What are some of the issues affecting world food security?
Food security is one of the biggest challenges facing
humankind. There are many factors which have combined to
make food security such a large issue. This includes:
Increasing population - In 2009, the world population was 6
billion. By 2050, it is predicted to reach 9 billion. Our current
output of food is not enough to feed a population of 9 billion.
Changing diets - As countries develop and people become
richer they tend to eat a more varied diet, including more
meat, which requires more energy to produce. This also
means there is more competition for the same types of food.
Reduced arable land - The drive to produce more biofuels for
transport uses edible crops and has reduced arable land.
What are some of the issues affecting
world food security?
Transport costs - The relatively high price
of oil in recent years has increased the
price of food storage and distribution.
Climate change - Climate change is
leading to a warmer world which will
affect what crops can be grown where.
Climate change can also lead to more
frequent extreme weather events (e.g.
floods) which can damage crops.
Pests and diseases - Pests and diseases
are becoming more resistant to pesticides
and sprays. The changing climate is also
bringing pest and diseases into new areas
where they could not previously survive.
What is being done?
There are a number of EU funded projects investigating how food security can
be improved.
PROteINSECT – background
An important of aspect of food security is food availability. As previously discussed, the
global population is increasing, along with a rise of per-captia meat consumption in
developing countries. This has led to a need to investigate alternative sustainable
sources of protein for use in animal feed.
For generations, a variety of insects have been a valuable source of protein for both
human consumption and animal feed across continents other than Europe. For
example, insects and insect protein are natural daily feeds for many species of wild fish
and monogastric livestock across the world. As consumption habits shift to pork,
chicken and fish, insects have the potential to be utilised more effectively as a natural
ingredient in high-protein feed.
Currently, more than 80% of the protein required for livestock rearing in the European
Union is imported from non-EU countries. The European parliament has stated that
urgent action is needed to replace imported protein crops with alternative European
sources to address the EU’s protein deficit.
PROteINSECT – the project
PROteINSECT is an EU funded project investigating
how flies can contribute to the growing demand
for protein in animal feed. Insects need a feed
source themselves, and to avoid competing with
other uses, PROteINSECT will focus on the use of
waste materials for production of fly larvae.
The PROteINSECT project is working with two
types of fly – the black soldier fly and the domestic
household fly. PROteINSECT is running production
and feeding trails with insect derived proteins with
pigs, chicken and fish. The project is also running
safety, quality and life-cycle analyses, as well as
creating a Pro-Insect Platform across Europe to
support legislative and regulatory change.
PROteINSECT – the project
The PROteINSECT consortium brings
together expertise from non-EU countries
who have already made advances in
rearing insects for incorporation in animal
feed (e.g. China), together with European
insect breeders and feed production
companies, to optimise systems and set
up pilot scale production facilities in the
EU and improve quality issues in non-EU
countries.
Would you be happy to eat chicken reared on fly larvae? What do you think
about the PROteINSECT project? Look on http://www.proteinsect.eu/ for
more information about the product.
Veg-i-Trade
One aspect of food security is food safety. Global trade makes the
management of food safety extremely difficult and concerns have
emerged regarding fresh produce safety in response to recent
outbreaks and alerts linked with these products.
Veg-i-Trade is an EU funded project which provides platforms for
the identification of the impact of anticipated climate change and
globalisation of trade on food safety of fresh produce, focusing on
microbial safety and safety related to pesticide residues and
emerging mycotoxins.
Veg-i-Trade is aiming to create quality assurance
recommendations on a EU and global level, to guarantee food
safety of produce on agricultural, processing and trading level and
setting performance criteria and performance objectives for the
fresh produce chain.
Veg-i-Trade Objectives
Veg-i-Trade has set specific objectives to achieve in their project. Examples include:
• Development and validation of diagnostic instruments as a tool for the systematic
assessment of the performance of Horticulture Safety Management Systems in
the fresh produce chain.
• Modelling of water treatment technology with respect to the adequacy of the
microbiological quality of water used in the fresh produce supply chain and
evaluation of production of chemical by-products.
• Risk communication in order to respect the principle of food sovereignty in the
setting of risk management strategies.
Veg-i-Trade Webinar
Why not watch the Veg-i-Trade Webinar presented by Mieke Uyttendaele, one of the
Veg-i-Trade researchers. The webinar introduces viewers to the world of microbial
bugs and other hazards and how to deal with them.
http://commnet.eu/03_What_We_Do/Education/ESeminar/ESeminar.kl