Food Security: A Post-modern Perspective

The paper explores post-modern currents in food security. It identifies three main shifts in thinking about food security since the World Food Conference o f 1974: from the global and the national to the household and the individual; from a food first perspective to a livelihood perspective; and from objective indicators to subjective perception. It finds these shifts to be consistent with post-modern thinking in other spheres. And it draws on the wider debate to recommend food security policy which eschews meta-narratives in favour of recognising diversity, providing households and individuals with choices which contribute to self-determination and autonomy. The current conventional wisdom on food security is reviewed and some post-modern amendments are suggested.