The Energy Basis of Food Security

Food security includes elements of food availability, access and use. In the complex system that is our global food system, many variables influence an individual’s ability to achieve food security, but given that many people access food through economic markets food prices have come to be a vital component of food security. Food prices are influenced by many factors, but among these are fuel prices. For the last decade trends in food prices have tracked those of fuel prices consistently, and just as fuel prices have generally increased since 2005 food prices have done the same. Rising and increasingly volatile food prices have hampered the access to food for millions of people worldwide, and led to food riots and social unrest the world over.