{"id":1253,"date":"2025-10-02T04:04:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/the-securitiness-of-food\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T04:04:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:04:51","slug":"the-securitiness-of-food","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/blogs\/towards-a-food-secure-world\/the-securitiness-of-food\/","title":{"rendered":"The Securitiness Of Food"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"content column wide left blog_post content view\" id=\"content\">\n<div class=\"edit image\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/var\/broker\/storage\/images\/blogs\/towards-a-food-secure-world\/the-securitiness-of-food\/301070-1-eng-gb\/the-securitiness-of-food_full_view.jpg\" alt=\"\">\n\t<\/div>\n<article class=\"fader\">\n<header class=\"contents\">\n<div class=\"share\">\n\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    var addthis_config = {\n        ui_language = 'en'\n    }\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis sharing\">\n\t<!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style addthis_32x32_style\" addthis:title=\"The \u2018securitiness\u2019 of food\">\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_twitter\" tw:via=\"thebrokeronline\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_facebook\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_pinterest_share\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_preferred_4\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_compact\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_counter addthis_bubble_style\"><\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<p>\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">var addthis_config = data_track_addressbar;<\/script><br \/>\n\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/js\/300\/addthis_widget.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n\t<!-- AddThis Button END -->\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"addthis article_options\">\n\t\t<!-- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/mandrill\/subscription\/add\/33332\/33797\">Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t -->\n    \t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe \u2018securitiness\u2019 of food<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"pubDate\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/experts-and-authors\/siegenbeek-van-heukelom-tim\/\">Tim Siegenbeek van Heukelom<\/a>\t\t|<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t14 January 2025\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"body contents\">\n\t<!-- body --><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"><b><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">There is a need to consider food as human security, says Tim Siegenbeek van Heukelom. Technological problem-solving approach is no panacea as it does not truly address the root causes of hunger.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\u2018Food\u2019 has a strong normative connotation with \u2018security\u2019, which inexplicitly links the notion of \u2018food security\u2019 to the political realm. This explains the tremendous amount of time and resources devoted towards achieving the desirable situation that we refer to as \u2018food security\u2019. Even so, the actual meaning of the term \u2018food security\u2019 unfortunately remains problematic in that it presents semantic as well as conceptual challenges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">The cornucopia of ideas that underlie the notion of food security has practical significance for considerations pertaining to which measures, policies, interventions and investments are most appropriate to realise a situation of food security. But notwithstanding the importance of critical consideration of food policies, at the same time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\" target=\"_blank\"><i>the emerging securitisation of food<\/i><\/a> raises the notion of a fundamental, perhaps even existential, relation between \u2018food\u2019 and \u2018security\u2019. In other words, can \u2013 and should \u2013 \u2018food\u2019 be considered as a matter of security?<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">To be secure, the human species is highly dependable on food \u2013 like any other species. In recent years, however, the social unrest and political instability generated by major events like the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2007%E2%80%932008_world_food_price_crisis\" target=\"_blank\">Global Food Price Crisis of 2007\u20132008<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arab_Spring\" target=\"_blank\">Arab Spring of 2011<\/a> have <a href=\"http:\/\/necsi.edu\/research\/social\/foodcrises.html\" target=\"_blank\">demonstrated<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/external\/pubs\/ft\/wp\/2011\/wp1162.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">serious<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/bellemarefoodpricesaugust2011.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">vulnerabilities<\/a> and confirm the relevance of such a \u2018security\u2019 assessment of \u2018food\u2019. Yet, counter-intuitively, contemporary debate about food and the future of the world often lacks any discussion of the \u2018security\u2019 factor. Instead, discussions revolve by and large around the \u2018food\u2019 part of the food security equation, and not so much \u2013 if at all \u2013the relation with \u2018security\u2019. Only on the odd occasion are attempts made to comprehend the concept of security in relation to food. The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foreignpolicy.com\/articles\/2011\/04\/25\/the_new_geopolitics_of_food\" target=\"_blank\">recent work<\/a>by Brown emphasises the need to seriously consider the \u2018geopolitics of food\u2019, whereas <a href=\"http:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007%2Fs12571-009-0050-y\" target=\"_blank\">Fullbrook sensibly suggests<\/a> that \u201cfood security will only improve when values and perceptions adjust to reflect food as security\u201d. But bringing the polysemous concept of food security into the security paradigm necessitates a thorough and comprehensive approach and methodology.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">When placing food in the perspective of the mounting challenges the world is facing (e.g. population growth, climate change, environmental destruction, shifting diets), there is certainly a normative obligation and a practical sense of urgency in addressing this security question. More so, in a world of finite and constrained resources we need to start thinking seriously, strategically and sustainably about the role and availability of food in the remainder of this century. We need to ask ourselves when the time comes to consider food as more than a habitual part of our daily existence; namely, when should we perceive it as a political priority and, perhaps even, elevate it to the realm of existential threats? The answer to these questions will hinge upon how we explain and understand food in terms of being a challenge, a threat, or even a security measure. In other words, is it practical, logical and theoretically sound to bring food into the realm of security studies?<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Prudence demands a rather cautious approach when commingling the concept of food with the concept of security. Looking at the roots of \u2018food security\u2019, Gibson offers three reasons for conceptual concern: \u2018food as security\u2019 could misunderstand what is meant by security; it could lead to more political expediency than objective analysis; and by aligning food with security, there is an inherent connotation with risk management. Against the first concern, however, can be brought that discussing whether food can or should be seen <i>as a matter of security<\/i> does not impede on the meaning of the <i>concept <\/i>of security, rather it is a debate about broadening and deepening the security agenda, and whether this is a good thing or not. The second concern seems to overlook that political prioritisation at times actually drives objective analysis, for which the polarised climate change debate serves as an example. The \u2018three debilitating flaws\u2019 Gibson points at in the potential association with risk management are not unfounded. Indeed, sparsely available data and subjective experiences in combination with probabilistic \u2018what-if\u2019 scenarios can indeed artificially construct impact indicators that are not meaningful or objective.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">To conceptualise food as a matter of security also propounds the notion that achieving \u2018food security\u2019 on a global scale will in effect function as a precautionary principle of security by reducing human suffering and preventing food-related conflict and violence. Falcon and Naylor conclude, therefore, that \u201cperhaps the most direct ways to security and democracy, as to love, may be via the stomach\u201d. \u2018Food as security\u2019 therein deepens the security agenda vertically by highlighting and emphasising the existential type of threat that food poses against national security, human security, and environmental security.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Practically this means that in terms of national security we may need to consider a return to the debate on \u2018food power\u2019. During the 1970s there was particular interest in the potential of food as a political or economic weapon. The then US Secretary of Agriculture, Earl Butz, made great effort to make food power part of the American diplomatic toolbox. He contended it would be an eloquent way to influence world politics. At the time, this move was far from surprising as the notion of food power came to pass as the obvious response to the 1973 oil embargo in which Arab oil producing states used \u2018petropower\u2019 as a geopolitical tool. However, one of the key arguments against the potential utility of food power was the reality of a world food market characterised by abundance rather than scarcity \u2013 with the latter a structural condition required to turn an economic asset into a political instrument. Now, more than three decades later, there appears to be an emergingconsensus that we have reached the end of the era of cheap and abundant food. With the crucial comprehension that food, water, and land are finite resources that face a mounting demand, perchance this century will see food power truly assume the potential as a powerful geopolitical weapon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">More urgently, however, is the need to consider \u2018food\u2019 as human security. There were still some <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fao.org\/docrep\/016\/i3027e\/i3027e00.htm\" target=\"_blank\">870 million people classified as hungry<\/a> over the period 2010\u20132012. Solutions are sought, amongst others, in increasing food production, enhancing distribution channels, state-of-the-art agricultural technology, and accelerating economic growth. Yet, such a technological problem-solving approach is no panacea; some would even suggest that it does not truly address the root causes of hunger. Hence, what is needed in <i>addition<\/i> to these technological fixes is a critical re-conceptualisation of \u2018food security\u2019, one that transcends traditional conceptualisations of food security as a measure of national availability by advocating for a stronger focus on the household and individual level. The idea of \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/library\/1996 declaration of food sovereignty.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">food sovereignty<\/a>\u2019 has therefore been presented as a logical precondition for achieving genuine food security. While hard to define, food sovereignty amounts to the cosmopolitan human right to maintain and develop one\u2019s own capacity to produce basic foods respecting cultural and productive diversity, in the absence of social injustice, speculation, and violence. In practical terms this means providing small-scale farmers assistance in many forms: better infrastructure and refrigeration to reduce pre-market food-waste (from field to market), closure of rural technology gaps, the empowerment of (female) farmers with education and (micro)credit, fair market-competition conditions, agrarian reform, improved land tenure rights or even \u2018land sovereignty\u2019, and sustainable use and protection of natural resources.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">That said, in pursuance of food security, we thus need to accept that the contemporary challenge of feeding the world is as much about sustainable development as it is about security and survival. In other words, the idea of \u2018food as security\u2019 supports, and even promotes, the quest for global food security, but it does so by emphasising the \u2018securitiness\u2019 of food. The raison d\u2019\u00eatre for this approach is captured best in <a href=\"http:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007%2Fs12571-009-0050-y\" target=\"_blank\">Fullbrook\u2019s assertion<\/a> that \u201cputting food first will strengthen the security in food security\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">In conceptualising food as a matter of security we ultimately come to the point where three overarching realms require further exploration: the philosophy of science, security theory, and the empirical reality of food as security.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<p>\t\t<!-- body -->\n\t<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<section class=\"commentform content column wide left\">\n<div class=\"disqus_content\">\n\t\t\t<a name=\"comments\" id=\"comments\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"disqus_thread\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\t\t\t\t\/* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT BEFORE PASTING INTO YOUR WEBPAGE * * *\/\n\t\t\t\tvar disqus_shortname = 'broker'; \/\/ required: replace example with your forum shortname\n\t\t\t\tvar disqus_identifier = '8834';\n\t\t\t\t\/* * * DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE * * *\/\n\t\t\t\tfunction trackComment(comment)\n\t\t\t\t{\n\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(comment);\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\tfunction disqus_config() {\n\t\t\t\t\tthis.callbacks.onNewComment = [function() { \n\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(comment);\n\t\t\t\t\t}];\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t(function() {\n\t\t\t\t\tvar dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text\/javascript'; dsq.async = true;\n\t\t\t\t\tdsq.src = '\/\/' + disqus_shortname + 'https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/blogs\/towards-a-food-secure-world\/.disqus.com\/embed.js';\n\t\t\t\t\t(document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq);\n\t\t\t\t})();\n\t\t\t<\/script><br \/>\n\t\t\t<!--\n\t\t\t<noscript>Please enable JavaScript to view the <a href=\"http:\/\/disqus.com\/?ref_noscript\">comments powered by Disqus.<\/a><\/noscript>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/disqus.com\" class=\"dsq-brlink\">comments powered by <span class=\"logo-disqus\">Disqus<\/span><\/a>\n\t\t\t-->\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false,"raw":""},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The \u2018securitiness\u2019 of food Tim Siegenbeek van Heukelom | [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template_2.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1253","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcsecuritiness\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 of food \/ Towards a food secure world \/ Blogs - The Broker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There is a need to consider food as human security, says Tim Siegenbeek van Heukelom. 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