Managing Food Security During An Emergency
Food is any material consumed to provide nutrition to an organisms. Food is generally of animal, plant or fungus origin, and usually includes required nutrients, like proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, sugars, or other minerals. A wide variety of materials may be used to store foods, but the major component of food is protein. Protein is the fundamental element in building and maintaining all living beings.
People have used plants, animals and microorganisms to obtain food over the years. Plants have been an important source of food for millions of years. In particular, nuts, legumes, grains and seeds are the richest sources of nutrition. Plants are capable of providing almost all the nutrients necessary for human consumption; however, the quantities of many nutrients are depleted through the process of natural selection over millions of years. This is one of the reasons why many people suffer from nutrient deficiencies.
Many people are concerned about food safety and think that there is a lack of nutrition in modern society. This can lead to the development of deficiencies in human health and society as a whole. A sustainable food system implies that humans get what they need to survive by buying from producers who take sustainable food production seriously. This means that animal products, which account for around 80% of the food supply, are not the primary source of nutrition. Sustainable food production methods do not use pesticides, chemical additives or harmful industrial pollutants.
The concept of food security was developed in the early part of the twentieth century by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture James E. Fairburn. He recognized that agricultural productivity was improving at a steady rate but that food quality was becoming poorer due to the increased amount of toxins used in the food system. As a result, farmers were being forced to use more toxic substances and additives to produce high quality beef, pork and poultry. A food system must strive to reduce the negative environmental impact of its production and increase the “nutrient value” of the foods that we eat.
Food sources that are rich in plant life provide the necessary nutrients for a well-nourished human body. Plants, animals and insects form the bulk of the diets of humans and are a major part of their diet. Humans need a wide range of edible substances in order to meet their nutritional needs. The plants that comprise the bulk of our diets, such as fruits and vegetables, are rich in calories but provide very little in the way of nutrients. Animals and insects, however, provide a wide variety of nutrients and calories. Animal source foods include meat, eggs and dairy products while plant-based edible substances come primarily in the form of fruits and vegetables.
In this context, it is understandable how an emergency food supply needs to be carefully planned and managed. Although it is not possible to create a perfect food supply, agricultural systems change seasonally to meet the demands of the consumer market. While farmers may be able to weather a couple of weeks of bad weather before the next harvest, weather can have serious effects on harvests. In terms of climate, it is already known that some regions will be hit more severely than others. In this context, creating and storing emergency food supplies on-site is an important step toward food security.