Food Security

Food security is when all people have consistent physical/economic access to safe and nutritious food to meet their needs for a healthy living. It has become a huge issue, and not everyone has entire food security. It’s absolutely crucial to the wellbeing and life of each and every individual, as without it, malnutrition and/or starvation can occur. When an individual doesn’t have adequate food security, it’s usually a sign that they are in poverty or are part of an entire community that doesn’t have food security- signifying a food security problem that is becoming global and needs attention immediately.

Right now, there are multiple threats to global food security. Four of the most major threats are droughts, diseases, salination and fertiliser dependence. Droughts are particularly devastating to Australian farms at this point in time, posing a large threat to our nation’s food security- farmlands can dry out very quickly and easily, killing mass amounts of crops. New pathogens/diseases have begun to emerge, with a new variety of the panama disease fungus already starting to affect crops in Southeast Asia.

Salinisation is when the levels of salt in the soil are increasing- something that has the potential to majorly harm many farming environments. Irrigation water contains salt minerals that are recycled back into the ground- a seemingly natural process. However, salt levels are becoming too high and plants that aren’t salt-tolerant can be harmed or killed by this salty soil. Finally, the dependence on fertiliser that countless farms now have is now becoming more harmful than it is convenient. Excess ammonia fertiliser, made by taking nitrogen from the atmosphere and combining it with hydrogen in high temperatures, can harm microorganisms, create toxic algal blooms and contribute to climate change- the creation process requires temperatures of 500°C, creating harmful carbon emissions, contributing to climate change. Fertilisers are used to increase produce in order to feed a hungry planet, but now this heavy dependence is actually posing a threat to our world’s food security.

Individuals can take action to help increase food security in various ways, such as using water efficiently, encouraging young people to take up careers in agriculture, reducing food waste, preventing introduced species taking over (increased biosecurity), using technology to our advantage, and most of all, volunteering. There are countless ways anyone and everyone can volunteer all over the world to help achieve global food security and have rewarding experiences along the way, such as working with farmers and/or agricultural workers in places such as Costa Rica, Peru, Fiji and Ghana to better their practises by assisting with efficient water use etc.

Food security is an issue that simply can’t be ignored- the lives of many are at risk, and with enough people taking action, global hunger can be combated, and farming practises can be bettered all over the world.