Food is any substance that is consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. This is usually derived from plants or animals, and contain essential nutrients, like carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingested by the organism and assimilated by the cells of organisms in an effort to produce energy, maintain life, and / or stimulating growth.
Historically, the food is guaranteed through two methods: hunting and gathering, and agriculture. Currently, most of the food energy consumed by the world’s population is supplied by the food industry, which is operated by multinational companies that use intensive farming and agricultural industries to maximize the output of the system.
Food safety and food security are monitored by agencies like the International Association for Food Protection, World Resources Institute, World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Food Information Council. They discuss issues such as sustainability, biological diversity, climate change, economics of nutrition, population growth, water supply, and access to food.
The right to food is a human right derived from the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, recognizing the “right to adequate standard of living, including adequate food”, and “the fundamental right to be free from hunger”.