Food security must encompass sustainability in order to be truly meaningful, the Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN) has said.
In a new report, Rethink Food, the group said the global food system had been too narrowly focused on availability, without considering other important dimensions.
The report defined 鈥榮ustainability鈥� as food system practices which contribute to long-term regeneration of natural, social and economic systems, ensuring the food needs of present generations are met without compromising the needs of future generations.
Other factors to take into consideration when discussing food security include access, utilisation, stability and agency 鈥� where individuals have the ability to make choices about what they eat and how it is produced.
The report said: 鈥淎chieving genuine, long-lasting food security depends on meeting these interconnected dimensions.
鈥淚f food is not produced sustainably, stability and utilisation are threatened, which risks long-term availability and access.鈥�
According to the NFFN, transformative food system change is needed to ensure food security.
鈥淲e need the right policy and legislative frameworks that tackle issues in tandem, ensuring actions are coherent and mutually reinforcing,鈥� said the report.
鈥淪uch interventions are necessary to ensure efforts on dietary change, waste, access, trade, food production and land management are joined-up.鈥�
