Food security

The low proportion of plant foods in the diet of the majority of the world's population is the cause of cardiovascular, cancer and diabetes. The situation worsened since the first months of 2020. with a relatively stable supply of basic food products, there was a drop in demand due to a decrease in per capita income and destabilization of the transport and logistics systems.
The decline in household incomes due to the limitation of economic activity in the context of a pandemic in developed countries led to a change in the structure of food consumption in the direction of simplifying consumer preferences. Closed catering establishments (restaurants, cafes), reduced freedom of movement within and between countries, fears of shopping in traditional distribution networks have led to a redistribution of food consumption in favor of places of residence and to an increase in contactless shopping.
This has resulted in a drop in demand for perishable foods and an increase in demand for processed foods, and fast food is "junk" food that is high in trans fats, artificial additives and preservatives. Despite the fact that a direct connection between the so-called "diseases of civilization" and nutrition has been proven, it has not been possible to stop this production and persecution of people. It is legally possible to prove the guilt of manufacturers, and companies pay multimillion-dollar compensation for physical and genetic damage in those rare cases when lawyers are ready for years of struggle. (As, for example, it was with tobacco products and Teflon utensils.)
In all countries, declining incomes have led to a marked restriction in physical consumption, exacerbating the picture of malnutrition and hunger. This global trend manifests itself in the most dangerous form in countries dependent on food imports. By the second half of May 2020, a number of studies on the state and prospects of changes in food security have been carried out in the world community.
Threats to food security in the short term, in addition to general economic ones, can be structured according to such groups as epidemiological (actual morbidity, forced isolation as the impossibility in a number of regions to ensure the availability of food), trade networks, trade and political (the introduction of protective export duties and other export restrictions on the part of some countries and changes in the policy of food access to the domestic markets of other countries.) phenomena such as the plague of locusts in Africa, which is becoming more difficult to combat in a lockdown.
Of particular concern is the limitation due to the lockdown of the normal functioning of the production process (adequate access of farmers to their fields, to resources, including seeds). In general, the situation with food security in the world in the short term can be assessed as alarming, and in a number of countries - as critical, which once again emphasizes the need to strengthen the interaction of the countries of the world in solving this global problem of mankind.
Therefore, taking the entire range of food security issues seriously (including careful validation of food products) is extremely important.
Useful links:
"Global food security: short-term threats" Author: MGIMO expert: Lilia Sergeevna Revenko, Doctor of Economics, Professor (22.05.20)

ANNOTATION of a scientific article on agriculture, forestry, fisheries, the author of the scientific work is A.A. Grudneva.
No. 9 2018. - The magazine "Innovations and Investments"

KEYWORDS
human life / innovative technologies for growing food / growing food directly in large cities / vertical farms / population in cities ANNOTATION of a scientific article on agriculture, forestry, fisheries, the author of the scientific work - A.A. Grudneva.
The development of human civilization in the last 100-150 years has been accompanied by an explosive population growth. At the same time, the population of cities is significantly increasing, as well as the formation of large urban agglomerations, where a significant number of the population is concentrated in a relatively small area. At the same time, the continuing increase in anthropogenic pressure on the environment due to agro-industrial activities leads to the depletion of agricultural and natural resources. In addition, constantly growing urban settlements become hostages to the health of food supplies from the places of its production (growing) to the final consumer. The larger the settlement, the more territories are required for growing food for it, and the longer the logistic chains are as a result. All this together makes it necessary to introduce new technologies of agricultural production, which will allow, at least partially, not only to reduce the burden on the environment, but also to bring agricultural production as close as possible to the final consumer. The article highlights the current problems of agricultural production for the constantly growing urban population, and also discusses the possibilities of using technologies for the production of agricultural products directly in large cities or in territories adjacent to them in order to partially provide urban residents with agricultural products of plant origin. As a result, the possibilities of using innovative technologies of vertical farming to cover the food needs of residents of large urban settlements were considered.

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