IDS 202: Food Security vs Food Justice

This semester we have spent a lot of time talking about food security and food justice. Both issues are important to talk about and are not the same thing.

Food security is having access to not just food, but healthy nutritious food that can fuel the body and mind. Food security is about eating a meal and not having to worry about when the next meal will be.

Food justice is having the right to grow, sell, and eat healthy foods that are affordable and grown locally, with care for the well-being of workers, the land, and animals.

Both issues effect many people today, and both issues need to be addressed.

Things such as school lunch programs, Feed My Starving Children, and food pantries work to provide food security to people. Food security is not just about patching a whole and moving on. It is about teaching people how to grow food, and how to change their lives to make this food obtainable.

Food justice addresses making sure that healthy food is locally grown, in a sustainable, and humane way. We want to make sure that our farm workers are treated well, which is not always the case.

Food justice and food security are both very important to help the world run smoothly. Today, these topics are not addressed as much as they should be. I urge you to work to make a change in your community, and communities around you to grow healthy, sustainable food, that is accessible to everyone.