Food Security in North America

The most recent official definition of food security is from 2001, from the Food and Agriculture Organization’s report, The State of Food Insecurity in the World. It declares that food security is “a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (“State of Food Insecurity”). The determination of whether a region is food secure depends on three components – food availability, or regularly having enough food to eat; food access, having the resources to get foods that will help maintain a balanced diet; and food use, knowing which foods to eat and how to prepare them in order to have a nutritious diet, including having access to clean water and sanitation services. There is a lot of debate about food security and insecurity, mainly revolving around how to solve the cases of extreme hunger and starvation in some areas of the world. Some scholars say that there is enough food in the world for everyone to eat a nutritious diet, but the problem lies with the skewed distribution of food. Experts disagree on whether the current level of food production will be sufficient to feed the projected 9.1 billion world population of the future, and also whether globalization perpetuates the food insecurity and poverty of rural areas (“Food Security”).

As of 2010, the number of undernourished people was estimated at about one billion. Food security varies throughout the world, but countries or regions that are food secure tend to have similar characteristics, while places that are food insecure also exhibit many of the same traits as each other. The majority of the most dire food insecurity situations are in the global south. Most of them have high poverty rates, and many have had internal conflicts and natural disasters. These areas include sub-Saharan Africa, parts of Asia, and some countries in Central and South America and the Caribbean (Barrett).

A region that is not considered food insecure is the northern region of the continent of North America, namely Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Canada and the U.S. were ranked 159^th and 158^th out of 163 countries on risk analysis and ratings firm Maplecroft’s 2010 Food Security Risk Index, making them the countries at the 4^th and 5^th least risk of food insecurity. Mexico was classified as having a medium risk, the second lowest level of risk of the four levels countries were classified by (“African Nations Dominate Maplecroft's New Food Security Risk Index”). Clearly the situation is not dire as it is in countries like Somalia or India, but it is important to look at the factors that make food-secure countries succeed so that they can perhaps help determine what areas can be improved for struggling nations. It would also be beneficial to look at what can be made even better in the food-secure nations so that the small percentages still going hungry in those nations can be helped, as well as tracking the effectiveness of hunger relief policies and programs.

Canada is the least at risk of the three nations, and as of December 2008 had the lowest percentage of residents living in food-insecure households, at just seven percent. 8.3% of children were in food-insecure households (“A Comparison of Household Food Security”). Roughly one in five, or 20.9% off-reserve Aboriginal households were food-insecure, three times the national average. 8.1% of urban households were food-insecure, while 6.1% of rural households were food-insecure (“Household Food Insecurity In Canada”). In comparison, in 2010 the U.S. had 14.5% of its residents living in food-insecure households. Some groups had significantly higher rates of food insecurity, such as African-American households with 25.1%, Hispanic households with 26.2%, and households of single mothers with children at 35.1% (“Food Security in the United States”). Food insecurity was higher in cities at 17% in contrast with the rate in “nonmetro areas” and areas outside of metro areas, which were 14.7 and 12.6% respectively. By region, the South had the highest food insecurity rate at 16%, followed by the West at 15.1%, Midwest 13.3% and Northeast 12.4%. As of 2008 in Mexico, 18.2% of the population was food insecure and at least 10 percent of residents of all Mexican states do not have adequate access to food. The most impoverished states, which are the southern states, suffer the harshest poverty and food insecurity rates. One of the poorest southern states, Chiapas, had 47% food insecurity. Chronic malnutrition of children under five was 13% nationally, 18% in Southern Mexico and 33% for the indigenous population (Juarez and Gonzalez).

There are some patterns that we are able to observe from this data. Minorities and native peoples have disproportionately higher percentages of food insecurity, often two or three times the national average. This huge gap between natives/minorities and the general population demonstrates that policies to assist these groups to reach food security are failing and should be reevaluated and adjusted to make them more effective. The data also illustrates the classic North-South gap. Canada has lower food-insecurity rates than its southern neighbor, the U.S., who in turn has lower food-insecurity rates than its own neighbor to the south, Mexico. Even within Mexico, the southernmost states are the most poverty-stricken and food-insecure. In this way, North America is a cross-section of non-extreme food insecurity that can provide information for further research and policy making.

Works Cited

"African Nations Dominate Maplecroft's New Food Security Risk Index - China and

Russia Will Face Challenges." Maplecroft. Maplecroft, 19 Aug. 2010. Web. 12 Dec. 2011.

Barrett, C. B. "Measuring Food Insecurity." Science 327.5967 (2010): 825-28. Web. 11

Dec. 2011.

FAO. 2002. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2001. Rome.

"Food Security." World Health Organization. World Health Organization, 2011. Web. 11

Dec. 2011.

“Food Security in the United States: Key Statistics and Graphics.” Economic Research

Service. United States Department of Agriculture, 7 September 2011. Web. 12

December 2011.

“Household Food Insecurity In Canada in 2007-2008: Key Statistics and Graphics.”

Health Canada. Health Canada, 1 January 2011. Web. 12 December 2011.

Juarez, Benjamin and Carlos Gonzalez. “Food Security and Nutrition in Mexico.” USDA

Foreign Agricultural Service (9 July 2010). Web. 11 December 2011.

Nord, Mark and Heather Hopwood. “A Comparison of Household Food Security in

Canada and the United States.” United States Department of Agriculture (December 2008). Web. 11 December 2011.