Feed America Plan
Food security is having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.
4 pillars of food security can be labeled as:
Availability, Access, Utilization or use, and Stability.
We should also add that food safety is an important requirement of the “nutritional” part in food security.
Food safety and security for all American citizens is dependant upon the ability to obtain food, whatever the source. There are many factors that play into one’s ability to obtain food; income, where you live, your health to name a few.
It would be great to see greater scrutiny, support and accountability of local and government agencies charged with providing safe food availability and resources for our citizens.
How about we start with a few actions:
1-Food chain and Access- Do a govt agency focus on building a resilient food system, and cultivating availability and access through expanded market sources. Create strong community and state partnerships and mandates to provide nutritional food sources to all citizens. In the US, we rely on grocery stores as the main source of food. What if the government, through national initiatives, required community Focus on promoting food markets and co-ops as other viable community resources? Focus on the various components of the food chain ( transport, food manufacturing costs, ingredient costs, etc) to find where cost reductions can be enacted.
Who may be these govt agencies? Start with
the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Food and Drug Administration.
2- Food products. In our free society, food products are created to cater to various tastes and for convenience. Processed food packages are replacing nutrient dense foods. Chemicals, dyes and other food additives are contributing to increased health problem. We are not creating well balanced meals anymore, rather many households rely on cheap microwaved or meals in a box. Healthy food is often more expensive because manufacturing costs and cost of food ingredients are more expensive. So that expense is passed on to the consumer. Would be great to see hard line legislation focing on reducing processed food products, banning dyes and the reduction of chemical content. Create mandates on the requirement of production of more Nutritional food products.
- Food industry safety and standards. Recall after recall of contaminated food products. The manufacturing process is about speed and quantity. Who’s really watching this process and how often?
This is a start. My thanks for giving a platform to make suggestions.