Food System 101
In November of 2022, the human population crossed 8 billion. When I first heard of the news, I felt a sudden shock. The weight of it bore many questions, and concerns.
Our population has been increasing at a steady rate in the last century. Calling it an increase is an understatement, it’s quite truly a boom. The human population was only 30% of what it is today in 1950 (2.5 billion). To put things into perspective, this is a 75 million increase per year, in the last 74 years. For context, it took 123 years to reach 2 billion people in 1927 from 1 billion in 1804. This steady increase is a testament of human advancements, and what is to come.
Although there is more of us now than ever, we don’t live in a fair world. In some places, people have access to more wealth, stronger institutions, and overall a better quality of life. This directly impacts their ability to live longer and hopefully healthier lives. Part of this comes from the quantity and quality of the food that is readily available thanks to a robust food system. A food system is an interconnected network of different variables that govern the lifecycle of food, from farm to plate, and beyond. This involves stages like production, processing, distribution, retailing, consumption and waste management.
For instance, I live in London, where the food system is really good. I can go to supermarkets, corner shops and farmers markets quite easily. The food that I can find is readily available year round. Since London is a diverse city, I can find foods from all over the world. If I can’t find something in one place, I can probably get it elsewhere (or online). Now on paper this sounds perfect, but there’s a catch – all of this costs money. If you can afford it, great, if you can’t, too bad. Finally, I need to have the right appliances to use and store my food. Without a stove, oven and a fridge, it will be difficult to cook and maintain my food.
Food Insecurity
If we categorise these points individually, we end up with the pillars of food security. Being food secure means that you can access nutritious food, and can use it without interruptions. Thus, the stability of a food system ensures food security. However, the unfortunate truth is that there are 828 million individuals that go hungry every day. 40% of them live in acute hunger, and sadly, 2.3 billion people around the world don’t have access to adequate food. This reality, which many have to endure, is the result of various factors. They include poverty, conflict and displacement, unfavourable climate, food waste and inadequate infrastructure. People in these conditions live in food insecurity.
Food insecurity entails that an individual or household doesn’t have access to nutritious food on a regular basis. This means that someone isn’t meeting one or more pillars of food security. This can range from being anxious about affording food, to extended periods of hunger and malnutrition. To simplify things further, we can place food insecurity in two main categories:
- Chronic Food Insecurity
- Transitory Food Insecurity
Chronic food insecurity is long-term or persistent. An individual or household is unable to meet their food requirements over a lengthy period of time. Transitory food insecurity refers to a temporary or short-term inability to access nutritious food. Individuals and households in developing and developed countries can face various forms of food insecurity. For instance, people in both developing and developed countries can face chronic food insecurity as a result of poverty. Lack of adequate food over a long period of time can lead to adverse health effects. This can impact an individual’s economic productivity, leading to more food insecurity, and poverty.
A tale of two cities
Poverty in developing countries might be exacerbated by environmental factors such as unfavourable climate. For example, 80% of the population in Burkina Faso works in agriculture, and 86% relies on subsistence farming. Burkina Faso’s climate is characterised as having a short rainy season and a long dry season. This means that families and individuals are at a high risk of becoming food insecure if things don’t go their way. Moreover, the country ranks amongst the most climate vulnerable countries in the world, even though it only emits 0.08% of global emissions. As a result, over 50% of the population is experiencing severe food insecurity, in addition to living in extreme poverty.
In developed countries on the other hand, high living costs might be the culprit. According to the Food Foundation, weekly food baskets in the UK have increased by 24-26% in the last two years, despite the recent reduction in inflation. In January of this year, 15% of UK households reported experiencing food insecurity. As the cost of living still remains high, low-income households will continue to face difficulties accessing nutritious food. 60% of food insecure households are buying less fruits, and 44% are buying less vegetables. Lack of adequate nutrition can have negative consequences on people’s health. The long-term outcome can lead to deficiency related diseases, cancer, and paradoxically, obesity, as a result of malnutrition.
These are but two small examples of how food insecurity affects people around the world. The wealth of a country can surely help curb food insecurity, but it’s evident that nobody is immune to it. So, what does this mean in the grand scheme of things? By 2050, the global population will be 9.7 billion, and even though we produce enough food to feed everyone in the world, people still go hungry. Producing more food to feed a larger population will become a necessity. However, more means less in this instance, and if things continue the way they are, they will only get worse.
Sustainability in Mind
There are a plethora of possible solutions that can help tackle this calamity, like sustainable agriculture and better food waste management. For the sake of brevity, I will cover these topics at a later time. If you’re interested in learning more, I’m linking this article, which discusses this very issue.
Conscious Eating
Fortunately, not all hope is lost, and we can definitely contribute positively to our food systems. At the end of the day, change starts with us. Since most of my readers live in developed countries, I think that these two tips are quite applicable. First, be conscious of what you’re eating. If we think about it, this is something that we do quite a lot, and often times it’s automatic. For instance, when we go to a restaurant, we deliberately weigh out our options. We think about quantity, taste, value, and other factors before making a decision. We often think about our next meal, and what it might be (if we don’t know already). Sometimes we’re conflicted if we should eat in or takeaway, buy a ready-meal or cook something up.
We also think about the quantity of food that we have, and whether or not it’s healthy for us. However, how often do we think about where our food comes from? What kind of environmental impact it had on our planet? Who was affected by the production of the food? These are certainly deeper, and harder to ask questions than what’s for dinner tonight?. Nevertheless, they shouldn’t be daunting. An easy way to start is by outlining foods that we typically eat on a regular basis. For me, it’s tofu. I buy my tofu mainly from The Tofoo, and I can read more about their product online. Is it satisfactory? Sure. Can I go deeper? Most definitely. I can research in-depth into the other ingredients that the company uses, in addition to the product’s packaging, among other things.
Additionally, there are calculators, like this one, which calculate the carbon footprint of our food. Even though they aren’t 100% accurate, it’s still a decent starting point. Ultimately, we can simplify or complicate this exercise as we like. I believe that having a better understanding of our food will push us to make more informed consumer decisions. This in turn will hopefully impact our own footprint on the world.
Reducing Personal Waste
The second tip that I want to share, which I think is super important, is food waste. Our individual food waste matters! A third of all food fit for human consumption is lost or wasted every year. This is equivalent to 1.3 billion tonnes of food that is perfectly edible. People in the UK throw out 9.5 million tonnes of food every year, even though 8 million individuals are food insecure! This is an extortionate amount of food, and I believe we have all been guilty of food waste. It’s not the best of feelings, but if we do a bit of digging, we come to realise that it’s an easy fix.
There are a couple of ways we can do this. The easiest way is to portion our food properly. This might sound easy, but how many times did we end up with more food than expected? Planning how much food we’re making ahead of time will surely reduce any unnecessary food waste. Besides, we can always safely store and eat leftovers if need be. Secondly, food scraps! I’ve been learning a lot about low-waste cooking, and I can assure you that we unconsciously waste so much food. Before, I used to throw out broccoli stems without much thought. Now, I incorporate the whole head of broccoli in my daily meals. If you want to learn more about low-waste cooking, I highly recommend checking out Max La Manna and Carleigh Bodrug!
Finally, buying food in moderation, and repurposing ingredients, can go a long way. Sometimes we might buy an ingredient or a food item for one recipe, only for it to sit unused in our fridge or pantry till the end of time. Feels bad, but we’ve all been there. In my case, it’s celery, not a big fan and definitely not something that I buy often. Fortunately, I can buy specific portions of celery, so that I don’t have any remainder. If that’s not the case for a specific item, say a sauce, then we can always get creative and find ways to incorporate it in our regular dishes. This way, we can avoid unnecessary food waste, and give our food a second chance!
Final Thoughts
I’ve been thinking a lot about food insecurity as a global problem, and my own footprint, for some time now. I’ve come to realise that this problem will always be bigger than myself. Global hunger is a multifaceted issue that requires collective thinking and agreement. However, I believe that on a personal level, we can definitely play a role in making a positive change. I’ve said this before, we vote with our money. I think that we only begin to appreciate our food choices when we start to understand the food system that we live in. When we stop blindly consuming, and start reflecting on what we buy and eat. This understanding helps us stay connected and rooted with where our food comes from, but also with what we put in our bodies. In the end, education is key, and by taking an initiative to learn more, we take one step closer towards a brighter future.