Food Security in a Pandemic

Abstract

Coronavirus pandemic, which unfolded in the modern world, became a trigger for the development of economic crisis. Its most acute manifestation is the food crisis. There are a number of fundamental reasons for this: firstly, the world of the XXI century is a «full world» (Herman Daly), which is populated by almost 8 billion people, which results in a contradiction with the resource potential of the planet; secondly, the food crisis belongs to structural crises, which cannot be solved in the conditions of the established system of economic activity; thirdly, the world faced the before unrealized level of inequality – in human development, income, consumption and other forms, which is reflected primarily in gaps in the level of food consumption; fourthly, there is a growing requirement for quality of life in the world, which leads to new approaches to quality, calorie content and food balance. The problem of economic security is complex, aggregated, interdisciplinary, the solution of the problem requires a fundamental transformation of thinking, the development of a new system of values and civilizational shifts. The use of the latest technologies for the first time creates an opportunity to achieve a high standard of living for all people of the planet, not just for the «golden billion». However, the system of economic activity in the capitalist system is not able to provide this type of development. It is the food crisis that shows the «failures» of capitalism. Based on this, we believe that the solution to this problem should unite the countries of the world, complementaryly link them in the achievement of food security. Actualization of the solution of the food crisis requires not only the participation of the entire world community, but also a rapid response to the novel challenges. The latest technologies with enormous potential must be used rationally to enhance the welfare of all mankind, eliminate hunger and poverty. If we do not provide humanitarian guidance for new technologies, they will contribute to further deepening of food disparities and undermining food security.