ABSTRACT
People consume an average of 2,550 kcal per day to rebuild cells, think, activate muscles and carry out all the other functions associated with life. Men consume roughly 2,900 kcal per day and women approximately 2,200 kcal (National Research Council, 1989). As a comparison, this is roughly the same amount of energy required to power two 60-watt light bulbs – a fact that will have bearing later in this chapter. In order to meet food needs, governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) alike have developed food policy statements that resemble this one, written by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). They define food security as a state in which ‘all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life’ (FAO, 2011c).
