Food security

Food security is when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access
to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food
preferences for an active and healthy life.
Food security has emerged as a global crisis and is a cause for concern in South
Africa. Despite our political and economic progression since 1994 our country has
a large income inequality percentage. We are a poverty and unemployment
afflicted country. As a result we struggle with food security and a large portion of
our population are food insecure, meaning that they dont have access to
nutritious food easily.
According to The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) report in 2004 814
million people in developing countries are undernourished of these people 204
million people live in Sub-Saharan Africa including South Africa.
What causes food insecurity?

Food prices (inflation)

Harsh natural conditions amongst the poor (i.e. droughts)
Insufficient economic resources
Response from article 1
Our context for our biology project is the Cape Royal Hotel. I am looking at
food security within the context and how the Cape Royal hotel and hotels
in general affect food security in South Africa.
From the Article I can conclude that hotels waste a lot of food and
resources used to make the food. I.E.) When a 5 star hotel produces a
plate of food for a guest, they will throw away peels, skins, over cooked
food, shells, old food, bones etc. This therefore produces waste. It
contributes massively to the problem of food security in a country like
South Africa. The food Hotels purchase and then waste can easily be given
to people who cannot afford food.
Therefore food waste contributes/creates food insecurity amongst the
poor. Instead of hotels throwing out food that is fine but just not preferred
by guests, they can supply communities that dont have easy access to
nutritious food. This will benefit people who are victims to food insecurity
and will benefit the environment because of the pollution some waste
foods create as mentioned in the article.
Therefore I believe hotels can reduce wastes by

Measure their food waste

Avoiding spoilage
Staff training and communication
Recycling
Feed hungry people - food banks and collection (The best way to use
excess food is to feed hungry people. Many charities around the world will
collect excess food, including prepared food, to provide for the needy).

Animal feeds (I.E. bones and food that are not suitable for humans)