WIS²H for Global Food Security

On July 1, 2000, following a presentation by Dr. Kenneth Marsh, the Board of Directors approved an emphasis on Global Food Security. Food Security, as defined by Dr. Rick Foster of The Kellogg Foundation, consits of access to a safe, adequate, and appropriate food supply. In this sense, security relates to securing food, which is broader than tamper concerns. The world produces enough food to feed itself, but cannot provide universal access to that food.

Why World Hunger Persists:
In 1996, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations held the World Food Summit and drafted the Rome Declaration which pledged to reduce world hunger by 50% by the year 2015. This document was endorsed by all 185 member nations of the UN. Although progress has been made, 840 million people remain chronically hungry. Director General of the FAO stated that the goal to reduce hunger would not be met with “business as usual”, and the World Food Summit: five years later was held to re-establish political will to reduce hunger. Dr. Marsh represented the Institute of Food Techologists (IFT), the world’s largest food organization, and was endorsed by the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) the world’s largest packaging organization, at the summit. He recognized that most of the efforts to reduce hunger relate to agricultural production. This alone, however, is not sufficient to feed the hungry. Food must be distributed to hungry people to reduce hunger. To that end, Dr. Marsh has championed the addition of transportation and post harvest intervention in the effort to reduce hunger.

If we have enough food to feed the world, why can't we? The food supply is not evenly distributed, and some of the food is lost in transit. Although marginal food losses are expected, 840 million people are still chronically hungry.

WIS²H (or WISSH) combines the skills of its members and those of a global network of post harvest practitioners with a program to improve distribution and reduce food losses around the globe, which is described in our plan of action.

Dr. Kenneth Marsh  heads the food security program and has combined food science, packaging, and distribution to reduce food losses. A partial list of his efforts is presented on The Chronology Page.