ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a rapid broad-brush historical review of how the international community has defined and addresses the issues of food security since the end of World War II. The entire globalized distribution process of the currently dominant world food system is dependent on being able to ignore or externalize the energy, petrol, and emissions cost of whisking food around the world before it ends up on a supermarket shelf. The opening act of the uprisings that toppled the French Ancient Regime was the women's march on Versailles, sparked by the high prices of bread in the market places. This chapter examines the comparative effects of differentiated food systems regarding important challenges such as maintaining dwindling biodiversity, addressing climate change, dealing with the energy crisis, protecting the health of the world's population, halting the phenomenon of land and water grabbing, and combatting waste.
