World Food Crisis

The recent skyrocketing cost of food staples around the world is making national and international headlines. The crisis is prompting economists, agronomists, finance ministers and heads of state to come up with immediate and long-term solutions so that more widespread price increases are averted and increasing discontent is mitigated.

As one of the largest private providers of food aid in the world, Catholic Relief Services is assessing how these price increases are affecting the people we serve and leading to food insecurity.

Food Security

The right to food, as one specific aspect of a worthy standard of living, is a fundamental human right. To live a healthy and productive life, however, the right to food must include a reliable supply of food. This concept is known as food security.

The food insecure individual or household does not consume a sufficient quantity (or quality) of food to survive; or, if there is sufficient food, the individual does not have the good health to use it properly. Food insecurity is measured by low consumption and high malnutrition and mortality rates.

The reasons for widespread food insecurity in a world of plenty are varied and complex, but the immediate causes are:

• The insufficient availability of food
• Lack of physical and economic access to food

• Poor biological absorption (or use of the food)

CRS' food security programming objectives aim to ensure that people can access the food they need to live healthy, productive lives today and in the future.

Read about how the growing food crisis is affecting the people of Egypt, Haiti and Burkina Faso. And visit Catholic Relief Services’ website for the latest news on how CRS is responding to the global food crisis.