Global food security/GFS101/Thinking Through Food Security/What is Food Security
Did you know that this Unit is part of a Global Agenda?
Building on decades of work on Sustainable Development, in 2015 Member states of the United Nation adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals(SDG's).
This global agenda and its goals provides a call to action to all countries, developing and developed, to address some of the biggest challenges of our time, now and into the future.
At its core is a concern for people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership. Important to note is that many of the 17 SDG's are interrelated such that they aim to tackle an integrated web of global challenges.
SDG 2 narrows specifically in on global food security and ending hunger.
In addition, we have just entered the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025).
Fact Sheet: SDG 2: Why it Matters: Zero Hunger
A good place to start to understand Global Food Security is asking what being food secure means and understanding that many people on this earth, in particular from the developing world, on a daily basis face the existential threat of being food insecure. Equally, it is important to realise that many in the developed world have a context of privilege that can make being food insecure hard to appreciate. In the following lecture, Aidan starts by asking food security students what food security means to them before providing a thought experiment to highlight some of the power dynamics and realities of securing food. He then provides and unpacks the definition of 'Food Security' used by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.
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A large part of being a successful learner in an online environment is being able to share thoughts and learning with peers. This learning activity is designed to help you start engaging with the OERu online community.
After watching the previous lecture brainstorm the following questions:
1. What does food security mean to you personally?
2. What is the key to achieving global food security?
Please direct your self to the Discussion Board: Activity 1: Thinking through food security so that other students can engage with your response. Feel free to comment on other posts as it will help you with your own thinking.
After you have done the activity above have a listen to some of the answers from other students.
Topic: Student responses on what food security means.
In terms of your own thinking and listening to those of others you should be now able to see that there are many different meanings that can be given to food security.
Another way to think about food security is in terms of different concepts each with their own set of assumptions
security
sustainability
futures
justice
ethics
sovereignty
In the next lecture, Aidan expands on these concepts.
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