The Challenges and Strategies of Food Security under Global Change

Food insecurity corresponds to a deficit in households’ access to appropriate food, either in quantity and/or quality, due to limited financial resources or other factors. A related concept of nutrition insecurity is also gaining relevance, and this refers to a lack of access to food that has the adequate nutritional value necessary for a good health status and well-being [1]. Currently, the world faces troubling challenges that greatly impact food/nutritional security. One of the most worrying trends is an increase in the world’s population and the rising number of countries that are food importers owing to their inability to produce the food they need to feed their population. The United Nations World Population Prospects [2] estimates a rise in the world’s population from about 8 billion in 2025 to 10.5 billion by 2100. An increase in the world’s population brings the added challenge of feeding such a large number of people with the Earth’s limited resources. This is only possible with more efficient food production, more sustainable use of natural resources, and the minimization and reutilization of food and agricultural waste [3]. Complying with efficient food production while minimizing environmental impacts is a major issue since the more environmentally friendly agricultural practices, such as organic farming and integrated protection, do not allow the production of food at the same rates as conventional intensive farming practices [4,5]. Nevertheless, organic farming has a decisive role in achieving sustainability in agriculture, meeting a number of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations [6]. In what concerns the minimization of agricultural and food waste and its reutilization, these goals have been at the top of priorities of academics, farmers, industrials, and even consumers in attempts to minimize waste along the whole food supply chain and to find alternative ways to value foods that are discarded [7–10].