WHAT IS FOOD SECURITY?
Food security exists when all people at all times have physical and economic access to adequate amounts of nutritious, safe, and culturally appropriate food to maintain a healthy and active life.
Our motto summarizes food security as Healthy Food for All, and that's what we strive for through our many projects, resources, and the work we do with communities and partners throughout the province.
Finding a Way Forward
Our province has unique and complex food security issues. Fortunately, we know we can reclaim a healthier food system here, because our ancestors, heritage, and access to a bounty of wild food are proof of it.
Our province has a rich history of self-reliance and food traditions that once enabled us to live off the land and sea, and we're seeing a resurgence of these activities lately, from farming, fishing, and hunting, to berry-picking, foraging, and preserving wild edibles. These traditional foodways provide a strong foundation upon which we can build a more vibrant and resilient food system in our province.
Food First NL’s many projects are helping to ensure that Newfoundlanders & Labradorians, at all times, have access to healthy, desirable, affordable food.
A Healthy Food System Ensures Healthier Food For All
For example, if there is a storm or strike, and ferries cannot deliver food to our province, this disruption to distribution increases in the cost of food, and decreases the availability of food pretty quickly: both of which affect our access to food.
When all the parts of the food system are strong, and working well together, we will have achieved food security.
A vibrant and sustainable food system must also be supported by local consumers being from local food producers, so they may continue to make enough money to produce enough food to build up our food system.
To achieve optimal food security in our province, we must build a healthy and sustainable food system.
The food system is made up of five parts:
Production
Distribution
Access
Consumption
Disposal
Each part of the food system is connected, so when there are problems in one part of the food system, they affect other parts of the system.
