"Food Security"

I woke up today thinking I would start a casual conversation about food security...ha! Who was I kidding?! Boy, do I have a lot to learn...but I have to say FOOD SECURITY on the household level has been my primary, no primal, objective since we discovered our multiple food allergies. (God, how naive I was, as an employed Westerner having such easy access to food all my life...)

According to the Rome Declaration on World Food Security (World Food Summit, 1996), "food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life." (from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's website) This seems to be the prevailing definition for many.

If you haven't stopped reading, yet, you'll know why this calls me. We're seeking justice here on an individual level for ourselves, for our families, and for every individual and community around the world. Safety from contaminants, poisons, and allergens (!), freedom from the constrictions of poverty, freedom from the global domination of agri-business. I think I'm starting to get my head around it.

At this point, "food security" is intensely meaningful to me on a gut level, but intellectually and practically it's complex. It will need days, weeks, years, a lifetime, to parse out. Hang in there, readers, we are in for a long and wild ride!