Economics, Soil and Water Conservation and Food Security.

Food security is generally thought of as lack of access to food, but it also includes the availability and utilization of food (Tweeten 1999; Richardson 2010).  Availability relates to supply of food from domestic production, foreign imports or stocks on hand.  Access to food is constrained by availability, but also by income (purchasing power) and prices (in part a function of supply).  According to Tweeten (1999), the third aspect of food scarcity is utilization – essentially a person’s ability to metabolize (extract nutritive value) food, which may be limited by improper preparation or handling of the food, or poor health from intestinal parasites or persistent malnourishment.  Despite strides that have occurred toward increased productivity in agriculture, one in seven people suffer from inadequate access to sufficient food (protein and energy) (Godfray et al. 2010).  Agriculture faces the daunting task of supplying an increasing population, much with increased income, sufficient food to meet its needs, as well as meeting the needs of that portion of the population ill-fed, all with increased sustainability (environmental and economic) (Godfray et al. 2010; Richardson 2010).  Therefore, this discussion will focus on socioeconomic and policy aspects of meeting the challenges of food scarcity by focusing resources on soil or water conservation practices that increase agricultural production, not just avoid diminished production from soil losses, runoff or inefficient use of water resources, particularly in the US.