One Health for Food Safety, Food Security, and Sustainable Food Production

Abstract

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Globally, our society faces an enormous challenge to feed, house, and provide a healthy life for the growing human population while preserving the environment and natural resources for the benefit of future generations. In order to meet these challenges, sustainable food production and environmental stewardship is paramount and will require a One Health approach. One Health is the concept that the health of humans, animals, and the environment are inextricably linked. This approach can be applied to food safety, sustainable food production, and environmental stewardship by bringing together interdisciplinary teams to create a One Health network to address these challenges. In order to achieve food security for the global population, preserve natural resources, and improve health through safeguarding food safety, there is a need for increased awareness among academics, producers, consumers, and government agencies in the following topics: (1) One Health Initiatives for Sustainable Food Systems, Food Safety and Food Security, (2) Brief History of Food Safety in the United States, (3) Food Safety in the Twenty First Century: The Need for a New Perspective, (4) Food Security in the Twenty First Century: Disasters and Transboundary Disease. These topics cover the need for incorporating One Health education into curriculum for scientific, engineering, and humanities programs to build capacity in One Health competencies with the goal of established networks that will work toward improving public health, food safety, and sustainable agriculture by establishing new perspectives on interactions among plants, animals, and humans and recognizing the threat of disasters and transboundary diseases to food security.

Keywords

• One Health
• food safety
• food security
• food systems
• education