ABSTRACT
An analysis of food security from the standpoint of nutrition must begin, of course, with the simple question of whether there will be enough food. The effects of a nuclear exchange are so unpredictable as to make further discussion of its potential effect on food availability pointless, since nuclear war would obviously affect the demand for food as well as its supply in unanticipatable ways. Outdated canned egg salad does not represent food security. Food security, in short, requires that some way be found to give everyone in the population fair access to the common food supply. The task of nutrition science is to "formulate a diet over the lifetime of an individual that will optimize health, well being and longevity," a task that "calls for providing the necessary chemical components in the right proportion and avoiding or minimizing toxic substances".
