Food securing and innovations in farming and the food industry: Towards a new research agenda? A review of the literature

Abstract

This paper suggests to use the concept of "food securing" in order to take into account actions and processes that can improve a food situation, instead of the concept of "food security", which above all refers to the fulfilment of food needs. In the first part, the two concepts are specified and discussed. Food security is assessed through several dimensions: food availability, access, quality and stability but also social and political issues. "Food securing" is specified by the coexistence of intentional actions and no intentional processes, working at different scales. It calls for a systemic approach. In the second part, current issues of food securing are explored, leading to the definition of new research lines. Changes in food systems are making food securing more difficult, which is also facing financial, energy and ecological crises, and their huge consequences on food markets in 2008. Research on food securing can first rely on the reaffirmation of studies coping with the food security dimensions: increase of agricultural production, quality management along the food chain, food consumption analysis, new features of food governance. Research may also involve more specific approaches, which take into account "action systems" contributing to food securing, make clearer the debate on food, underline the diversity of food systems, and try to build the capacity of food securing in communities.