as I'm sure you've noticed, the focus of this blog thus far has primarily been energy. the goal is to share developments in renewable energy markets, policy and research both domestic as well as abroad. but if you take a step back, you can see that the underlying interest in renewable energy is really based in an inherent desire to thrive as a humanity in a sustainable fashion. we see a major solution to that end goal- as renewable energy.
but i'd like to venture away from energy for a second and talk about food security. surprisingly enough, however, i'm not venturing very far. folks focused on the various issues like energy, water conservation, food security, etc are consistently seeing connections in each others work. and as we keep learning it is becoming clear that only by approaching all of these issues can we find sustainable solutions to any one of them.
Rufo Quintavalle writes about this trajectory for food security in his article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review titled, Food Security 3.0: The environment is the fifth pillar of international food security.
Quintavalle explains that originally food security was thought of simply as "we must produce more food." He calls this Food Security 1.0. Recently, however, the international community acknowledged that food security was actually a more complex issue. They decided that there are actually four pillars to food security, and Quintavalle calls this Food Security 2.0: 1. availability: food must be available 2. accessibility: people must be able to access the available food 3. utilization: people must be able to utilize the food through adequate infrastructure for cooking, cleaning and preparing 4. stability: these things must be true at all times- even through times of crises.
And now a new element is starting to be understood by those focused on food security, a development Quintavalle calls Food Security 3.0. Food security depends on environmental preservation. As land becomes eroded with chemicals and farming, and water becomes scarce- overproduction is threatening the environment. and as much as underproduction threatens humanity, so will a depletion of resources. and thus a new movement to incorporate environmental consideration in food security measures is borne.
as policy makers, voters and global citizens, we can no longer ignore the interconnectedness of our environment, our energy needs and our food security. which means, as someone interested in energy access and environmental stewardship, i just might wander into food security issues a couple more times in the near future. hope you'll follow!
but i'd like to venture away from energy for a second and talk about food security. surprisingly enough, however, i'm not venturing very far. folks focused on the various issues like energy, water conservation, food security, etc are consistently seeing connections in each others work. and as we keep learning it is becoming clear that only by approaching all of these issues can we find sustainable solutions to any one of them.
Rufo Quintavalle writes about this trajectory for food security in his article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review titled, Food Security 3.0: The environment is the fifth pillar of international food security.
Quintavalle explains that originally food security was thought of simply as "we must produce more food." He calls this Food Security 1.0. Recently, however, the international community acknowledged that food security was actually a more complex issue. They decided that there are actually four pillars to food security, and Quintavalle calls this Food Security 2.0: 1. availability: food must be available 2. accessibility: people must be able to access the available food 3. utilization: people must be able to utilize the food through adequate infrastructure for cooking, cleaning and preparing 4. stability: these things must be true at all times- even through times of crises.
And now a new element is starting to be understood by those focused on food security, a development Quintavalle calls Food Security 3.0. Food security depends on environmental preservation. As land becomes eroded with chemicals and farming, and water becomes scarce- overproduction is threatening the environment. and as much as underproduction threatens humanity, so will a depletion of resources. and thus a new movement to incorporate environmental consideration in food security measures is borne.
as policy makers, voters and global citizens, we can no longer ignore the interconnectedness of our environment, our energy needs and our food security. which means, as someone interested in energy access and environmental stewardship, i just might wander into food security issues a couple more times in the near future. hope you'll follow!
