For nine consecutive years, the Thai Health Working Group has been
issuing annual reports containing academic information on health
in its physical, mental, social, wisdom and cultural dimension. This
latest report, Thai Health 2012, focuses on food security so as to
reflect the ongoing insecurity in the global food market which
continues to experience many crises arising from toxic residue
to price hikes and increasing food shortages. These food related
problems are intensifying and deepening such that the general
public is increasingly worried and concerned about the safety and
quality of their lives.
The main section of this report discusses the different aspects of
food security. Food security is defined as “access for consumption by the
population to available and adequate food with safety and age appropriate
nutritional values for wellbeing as well as to ensure a secure food production
system which supports and maintains ecological balance and the country’s
natural food resource base in normal times as well as during natural disasters
and/or in case of terrorism threats against food supplies.”
This discussion article aims to shake Thai society from its position of
complacency regarding food issues so as to ensure the society begins to take
steps to ensure Thailand’s food security, with policy awareness that locally
produced food should serve, first and foremost, the Thai people. Although
food security is a recurring issue which has caused significant challenges in
the past, it is now time to raise awareness at a national level to ensure
effective policy making and concrete measures to prepare for future food
crises. Debunking the myth of fertility and food security, this report aims
to project the real situation where, as the Thai populer saying, “Money
is illusory, food is tangible.”
Prepared by | Institute for Population and Social Research , Mahidol University | |||
Supported by | Thai Health Promotion Foundation
The National Health Commission office |