Objective 2: To understand what it means to be food-secure

Concepts:
- To be food-secure means that we must always be able to get the food we need for an active and healthy life.
- The three pillars of food security are: availability, accessibility and use of food

Content

• To have food security depends on three pillars, or legs of support. Enough food must be Available, it must be Accessible for all and we must understand how to make the best Use of the food we have.
• Food must be Available, meaning that adequate amounts of good-quality, safe food must be produced or imported at the national and local levels.
• Food must be Accessible, meaning that it must be distributed and available locally, and it must be affordable by all people.
• Food must be Used in the best way possible for each person to be healthy and well nourished (sufficient in quantity, quality and variety for each individual's needs).
• To achieve national food security, a country must be able to produce or import the food it needs, and be able to store it, distribute it and ensure equitable access to it.

• For families to achieve food security, they must have the means, safety and security to produce or purchase the food that they need; and they must have the time and knowledge to ensure that the nutritional needs of all family members are met throughout the year.

Activities

• Discuss with the children the concept of having enough of many different kinds of good, safe foods to eat and how we must all know that we will always have the foods that we need to be healthy and grow. This is food security. For older children the definition of food security above can be written out and explained.
• Availability: Looking at the picture of Steps in the Food System (Lesson 2, Objective 1), discuss with the children how all steps in the food system affect the availability of food: getting ready to grow the food; growing enough food; transporting foods; and processing, selling or storing foods. Do we grow enough food? for our families? for our area? for our world? Do we grow the kinds of food we need? or do we need to buy additional foods? What if we do not grow enough food or all of the foods that we need? What things influence availability? The concepts already introduced in discussing food systems can be discussed in as much detail as desired here. For example, increasing productivity through crop selection, fertilizer and other agricultural techniques; more home gardens, small animal, livestock and fish production; drying and other storage; and increasing the ease of getting foods into and out of the area will all improve the availability of food.
• Accessibility: Accessibility is important because, even if there is enough food, families or households need physical and economic access to that food. All steps in the food system affect accessibility, but the ones that affect it most directly include moving foods and processing or selling foods, as well as eating foods. Things that influence accessibility include the money that is available for people to buy food, seeds, other agricultural supplies and animals; land ownership; transportation to markets; and food prices. In addition, poor safety in a region can decrease accessibility, as people may be afraid to move in and out of or around certain areas or communities because of wars, gangs or other threats to safety. Accessibility can be increased through improved earning power of all people, as well as improved government services (roads, transportation systems) and international trade agreements.
• Food use: Are people eating a variety of foods in the right amounts and at the right times to get adequate energy and nutrients to be healthy and grow? Discuss with the children how people need to understand about their food systems and know what foods to eat and how they can be prepared and stored to last until more is available. Discuss with the children how we learn about food systems and what we eat. Discuss how parents and grandparents help children to learn, but teachers, government workers and health care workers can help both children and parents to know more about using foods to be healthy and grow.

Summary

Our goal is to be sure that all people feel secure about their food. Getting our food involves many steps. We must understand where our food comes from to make the right decisions about how to feed everyone in the world.

Lesson 2 illustrated the complexity of food systems to explain the many reasons that people may be hungry. After completion of Lesson 2, children should be able to state that:

• Food security means that all people must always be able to get the food they need to be healthy and active.
• To have food security means food must be available, it must be accessible and, it must be used in the best possible way for each person to be healthy and well-nourished.
• The system that provides us with food involves many steps

Tell students that we can work together to reduce hunger. Our next lesson will show us what we can do to help fight hunger.

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