Sustainable Livelihoods for Food and Nutrition Security in Canada: A Conceptual Framework for Public Health Research, Policy, and Practice

Abstract

Current definitions of food insecurity center around the dominant themes of (1) individual and household food insecurity, stemming from a lack of access to resources needed to obtain adequate food; and (2) community food insecurity, which occurs when dominant food systems falls short in terms of social, economic, and environmental sustainability. These definitions do not sufficiently incorporate the concept of nutrition security or adequate nutritional status in terms of macro- and micronutrients, a state not achieved by most Canadians. We propose the Sustainable Livelihoods for Food and Nutrition Security Framework, which integrates food security and nutrition security to achieve public health nutrition goals.

KEYWORDS:

• food security
• nutrition security
• sustainable livelihoods
• public health

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors acknowledge the participants at the Dietitians of Canada conference (2012) session “Does Healthy Eating Cost More in Canada?” who provided feedback on the SLFNS Framework.