Conceptualising the relationships between food sovereignty, food security and oral health among global Indigenous Communities: a scoping review.

OBJECTIVE: Invasive colonial influences and continuing neoliberal policies have a detrimental impact on Land, health, food and culture for Indigenous Communities. Food security and sovereignty have significant impacts on Indigenous well-being and, specifically, oral health. Aspects relating to food security, such as availability of nutritious foods, are a common risk factor of oral diseases. This scoping review aimed to collate existing evidence regarding the relationship between food sovereignty and/or food security and oral health for Indigenous Communities, globally. DESIGN: Four databases were searched using keywords related to 'Food security' or 'Food sovereignty,' 'Indigenous Peoples' and 'Oral health.' Duplicates were removed, and two independent reviewers screened the titles and abstracts to identify articles for full-text review. Extracted data were summarised narratively, presenting a conceptual model which illustrates the findings and relationships between food security and/or food sovereignty and oral health. RESULTS: The search identified 369 articles, with forty-one suitable for full-text review and a final nine that met inclusion criteria. The impact of food security and food sovereignty on oral health was discussed across different populations and sample sizes, ranging from eighteen Kichwa families in Brazil to 533 First Nations and Metis households in Canada. Pathways of influence between food sovereignty and/or food security are explored clinically, quantitatively and qualitatively across oral health outcomes, including early childhood caries, dental caries and oral health-related quality of life for Indigenous Communities. CONCLUSIONS: Innovative strategies underpinned by concepts of Indigenous food sovereignty are needed to promote oral health equity for Indigenous Communities. The nexus between oral health and Indigenous food sovereignty remains largely unexplored, but has immense potential for empowering Indigenous rights to self-determination of health that honour Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing.

'It is human work': qualitatively exploring community roles that facilitate cultural food security for people from refugee backgrounds.

OBJECTIVES: Cultural food security is crucial for cultural health and, for people from refugee backgrounds, supports the settlement journey. Cultural communities are vital in facilitating access to cultural foods; however, it is not understood how refugee-background communities sustain cultural food security in the Australian context. This study aimed to explore key roles in refugee-background communities to understand why they were important and how they facilitate cultural food security. DESIGN: Interviews were conducted by community researchers, and data analysis was undertaken using best-practice framework for collaborative data analysis. SETTING: Greater Brisbane, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Six interviews were conducted between August and December 2022 with people from a refugee-background community, lived in Greater Brisbane and who fulfilled a key food role in the community that facilitated access to cultural foods. RESULTS: Fostering improved cultural food security supported settlement by creating connections across geographical locations and cultures and generated a sense of belonging that supported the settlement journey. Communities utilised communication methods that prioritised the knowledge, wisdom and experience of community members. It also provided community members with influence over their foodways. Community leaders had an ethos that reflected collectivist values, where community needs were important for their own health and well-being. CONCLUSIONS: Communities are inherently structured and communicate in a way that allows collective agency over foodways. This agency promotes cultural food security and is suggestive of increased food sovereignty. Researchers and public health workers should work with communities and recognise community strengths. Food security interventions should target cultural food security and autonomy.

Scale up of the learning circles: a participatory action approach to support local food systems in four diverse First Nations school communities within Canada.

BACKGROUND: Addressing Indigenous food security and food sovereignty calls for community-driven strategies to improve access to and availability of traditional and local food. Participatory approaches that integrate Indigenous leadership have supported successful program implementation. Learning Circles: Local Healthy Food to School is a participatory program that convenes a range of stakeholders including food producers, educators and Knowledge Keepers to plan, implement and monitor local food system action. Pilot work (2014-2015) in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia (BC), showed promising results of the Learning Circles (LC) approach in enhancing local and traditional food access, knowledge and skills among youth and adolescents. The objective of the current evaluation was therefore to examine the process of scaling-up the LC vertically within the Haida Nation; and horizontally across three diverse First Nations contexts: Gitxsan Nation, Hazelton /Upper Skeena, BC; Ministikwan Lake Cree Nation, Saskatchewan; and Black River First Nation, Manitoba between 2016 and 2019. METHODS: An implementation science framework, Foster-Fishman and Watson's (2012) ABLe Change Framework, was used to understand the LC as a participatory approach to facilitate community capacity building to strengthen local food systems. Interviews (n = 52), meeting summaries (n = 44) and tracking sheets (n = 39) were thematically analyzed. RESULTS: The LC facilitated a collaborative process to: (1) build on strengths and explore ways to increase readiness and capacity to reclaim traditional and local food systems; (2) strengthen connections to land, traditional knowledge and ways of life; (3) foster community-level action and multi-sector partnerships; (4) drive actions towards decolonization through revitalization of traditional foods; (5) improve availability of and appreciation for local healthy and traditional foods in school communities; and (6) promote holistic wellness through steps towards food sovereignty and food security. Scale-up within Haida Gwaii supported a growing, robust local and traditional food system and enhanced Haida leadership. The approach worked well in other First Nations contexts, though baseline capacity and the presence of champions were enabling factors. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight LC as a participatory approach to build capacity and support iterative planning-to-action in community food systems. Identified strengths and challenges support opportunities to expand, adopt and modify the LC approach in other Indigenous communities with diverse food systems.

Neo-Traditional and Industrialized Dietary Patterns Coexist and Are Differentially Associated with Cardiometabolic Health among Adults in Puerto Rico.

BACKGROUND: An increasingly industrialized food system has marginalized local, traditional food cultures in Puerto Rico (PR). Recent efforts to decolonize diets have promoted local food intake; however, how resulting dietary patterns may influence cardiometabolic disease remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to 1) identify dietary patterns in PR and 2) determine their associations with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components. METHODS: Data were obtained from participants (30-75 y) in PROSPECT (PR Observational Study of Psychosocial, Environmental, and Chronic Disease Trends; n = 989). Dietary patterns were derived using partial least squares analysis with food frequency questionnaire data, using nutrients associated with local food purchasing (dietary fiber, magnesium, saturated fat) as response variables. MetS was classified using harmonized criteria from clinical and laboratory measures and medication use. Fully adjusted generalized linear models tested associations between tertiles of dietary patterns and MetS. RESULTS: Approximately half (52%) of the participants were classified with MetS. Four dietary patterns were revealed: conventional (legumes, coffee, and dairy), industrialized starch and meat-centric (red/processed meats, pasta, and starchy roots), industrialized sugar-centric (rice, sugary beverages, and refined grains), and neo-traditional (local plants and seafood). Individuals in the highest (compared with lowest) tertile of the industrialized starch and meat-centric dietary pattern had higher mean waist circumference (102 compared with 99 cm) (P = 0.01), fasting glucose (106 compared with 98 mg/dL) (P = 0.019), and systolic blood pressure (123 compared with 119 mmHg) (P = 0.022). Individuals in the highest (compared with lowest) tertile of the neo-traditional diet were 0.69 (0.49, 0.97) times less likely to have MetS (P = 0.035) and had 4.1 cm lower mean waist circumference (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Promoting a neo-traditional diet and curbing industrialized starch and meat-centric diets may improve cardiometabolic health in PR. Results can guide local food promotion as a healthful, decolonizing approach in island settings.

Impacts of colonization on Indigenous food systems in Canada and the United States: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Indigenous populations in Canada and the United States (US) have maintained reciprocal relationships with nature, grounded in respect for and stewardship of the environment; however, disconnection from traditional food systems has generated a plethora of physical and mental health challenges for communities. Indigenous food sovereignty including control of lands were found to be factors contributing to these concerns. Therefore, our aim was to conduct a scoping review of the peer-reviewed literature to describe Indigenous disconnection from Indigenous food systems (IFS) in Canada and the US. METHODS: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-SR) and Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines, we searched MEDLINE, SCOPUS, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, Sociological Abstracts, and Bibliography of Native North Americans. Data was extracted from 41 studies and a narrative review completed based on study themes. RESULTS: The overarching theme identified in the included studies was the impact of colonization on IFS. Four sub-themes emerged as causes for Indigenous disconnection from traditional food systems, including: climate change; capitalism; legal change; and socio-cultural change. These sub-themes highlight the multiple ways in which colonization has impacted Indigenous food systems in Canada and the US and important areas for transformation. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts to reconnect Indigenous knowledge and values systems with future food systems are essential for planetary health and sustainable development. Traditional knowledge sharing must foreground authentic Indigenous inclusion within policymaking.

Exploring food environment interventions for diet-related outcomes using a food sovereignty framework: a systematic review.

Building local food systems through a food sovereignty lens, harnessing the right of people to control their own food systems, may enhance healthy food access and increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables in local communities. While research to date has described the outcomes of various multilevel, multicomponent food systems interventions, no known literature reviews to date have systematically examined food system interventions and dietary and health outcomes through the context of a food sovereignty lens. Utilization of a food sovereignty framework allows for the incorporation of key food systems and community-based concepts in the food environment literature. The purpose of this systematic review was to describe and summarize the efficacy of community-based local food system interventions, using the food sovereignty framework, for both pediatric and adult populations and their impact on health behaviors and physiological outcomes. We searched for peer-reviewed articles using Scopus, PubMed, PsychInfo and CINAHL databases and identified 11 articles that met the inclusion criteria for this study. Seven studies found that food systems interventions had a significant positive effect on improving health outcomes, three had null findings and one had null or negative results. Two studies utilized a community-based participatory approach. The most successful interventions involved community-based engagement involving multiple aspects of the food system and involving both children and adults for maximum impact. Our results inform how community-based food systems interventions can be guided by food sovereignty principles to improve health outcomes, such as body weight and fruit and vegetable intake, for both pediatric and adult populations.

Food Sovereignty and Health: A Conceptual Framework to Advance Research and Practice.

Settler colonialism disrupted traditional Indigenous foodways and practices and created high rates of diet-related disease among Indigenous peoples. Food sovereignty, the rights of Indigenous peoples to determine their own food systems, is a culturally centered movement rooted in traditional Indigenous knowledge. This approach directly intervenes upon systems-level barriers to health, making it an important strategy for health equity. While food sovereignty initiatives can be found within many Indigenous communities, the conceptual linkages between food sovereignty and health have not been well documented within the public health literature. We present a practice-informed conceptual framework developed as part of the Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity (CIIHE) initiative, a community-academic partnership with the goal of strengthening Indigenous food systems and practices to promote health and well-being. The framework emphasizes connectedness, including the transmission of knowledge across generations and the restoration of relational responsibilities, as central to Indigenous concepts of health and wellness.

Food Security and Food Sovereignty: The Difference Between Surviving and Thriving.

Previous research in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities has documented high prevalence of food insecurity. Yet many AI/AN scholars and communities have expressed concerns that the dominant societal conceptions of food security are not reflective of the teachings, priorities, and values of AI/AN communities. Food security initiatives often focus on access to food and, at times, nutrition but little consideration is given to cultural foods, the spirituality carried through foods, and whether the food was stewarded in a way that promotes well-being not just for humans but also for plants, animals, land, and water. Despite the concerns of AI/AN communities that their needs are not centered in dominant societal food conceptualizations and food security programming, the food sovereignty efforts of AI/AN communities have captured national attention as a solution to modern food system inequities. Indigenous Food Sovereignty (IFS) is a holistic approach to food that incorporates values of relationality, reciprocity, and relationships. Fundamental differences exist between food security and food sovereignty, yet dominant society often reduces IFS as a solution to food security, rather than an entirely different food system that is predicated on values that contrast with that of dominant society. Despite calls to decolonize the definition and measurement of food security, we explore whether fixing the concept of food security is a worthy endeavor or whether efforts would be better spent supporting the resurgence and revitalization of AI/AN food values, food knowledge, and community food sovereignty initiatives.

Growing Kalo (Taro) in the Continental United States.

As an increasing number of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults move to the continental United States, the development and implementation of resources that promote access to cultural foods and support food sovereignty on the continent is crucial to perpetuate cultural practice and connection to the 'aina (land that feeds). Kalo (taro) is an important cultural food central to Native Hawaiian identity. Native Hawaiians connect their genealogy as far back to the cultivation of kalo and the creation of kalo itself. In this practice note, we describe the creation of a mala kalo (cultivated field for taro) in Oregon by the Ka'aha Lahui O 'Olekona Hawaiian Civic Club. An ongoing project over the past 3 years, the creation of a mala kalo exceeded expectations. Not only did the mala allow the cultivation of kalo outside of Hawaii, the mala became a place for the community to unite toward common goals of connecting with the land, promoting mental health, and creating a sense of place in their diaspora. This project indicates that not only is the creation of mala kalo in Oregon feasible, it may also be an important opportunity for the growing number of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders adults living on the continent to improve health outcomes through connections with cultural foods and practices.

Food Systems, Food Sovereignty, and Health: Conference Shares Linkages to Support Indigenous Community Health.

The Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity (CIIHE) at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences (OSU-CHS) is a community-academic partnership with Indigenous peoples from Alaska, Hawai'i, and Oklahoma. The CIIHE supports communities to strengthen traditional food practices and food sovereignty and evaluate the impact of those efforts on health. In February 2022, the CIIHE sponsored and hosted a virtual conference to better understand how food sovereignty initiatives can improve health. More than 600 participants gathered to hear the latest research and practice in the areas of public health and agriculture, nutrition, community-based and Indigenous knowledge, and health economics. Community-led food sovereignty initiatives being implemented as part of the CIIHE were featured along with other Indigenous initiatives in urban, rural, and reservation communities. A survey was administered to conference participants to assess food sovereignty topics and priorities for future research. In this Practice Note, we describe innovative community-led initiatives presented as part of the conference and recommendations for action emerging from qualitative and quantitative data collected from conference participants.

The Choctaw Nation's Growing Hope Program.

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma's Historic Preservation Department (HPD) and the Center for Indigenous Health Equity (CIIHE) are partnering to implement and evaluate food sovereignty interventions to better understand the potential impact of such programs on individual and community health. The HPD's Growing Hope Program is a food sovereignty initiative that aims to restore traditional Choctaw gardens, which were once a physical, social, and cultural center of Choctaw life. The program combines heirloom seeds and the stories of their origins, gardening education and technical assistance, cooking classes, and a Choctaw youth internship program to support intergenerational knowledge and the restoration of culture and food security. Since its inception the program has provided Choctaw families with ancestral Choctaw cultivar seeds and provided the technical assistance to support the growing of sustainable, healthy, traditional Choctaw foods.

Supporting Traditional Foodways Knowledge and Practices in Alaska Native Communities: The Elders Mentoring Elders Camp.

The transmission of generational knowledge in Alaska Native communities has been disrupted by colonization and led to declining health among Alaska Natives, as evidenced by the loss of knowledge regarding traditional foods and foodways and increasing rates of cardiometabolic disorders impacting Alaska Natives. Elders play a central role in passing down this generational knowledge, but emerging Elders may have difficulty in stepping into their roles as Elders due to the rapid social and cultural changes impacting their communities. The Center for Alaska Native Health Research (CANHR) and the Denakkanaaga Elders Program are partnering with the Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity to uplift and support traditional food knowledge and practices to promote health in Alaska Native communities. Guided by a decolonizing and Indigenizing framework, researchers at CANHR are working with Athabascan Elders in the Interior of Alaska to strengthen and protect the intergenerational transmission of cultural knowledge and practices for emerging Elders. This community-academic partnership will implement and evaluate an Elders Mentoring Elders Camp to focus on repairing and nurturing relationships through the practice and preservation of cultural knowledge and practices, including traditional foodways. This initiative contributes to the intergenerational transmission of knowledge, which is necessary to keep culture alive and thriving.

The Development of a Community-Led Alaska Native Traditional Foods Gathering.

Traditional foods and foodways are a critical part of health and well-being for Alaska Native/American Indian (ANAI) peoples. However, many of these foods are being replaced by ultra-processed foods high in fat, sugar, and sodium. The cultural knowledge needed to gather, hunt, and fish to acquire these foods is not being passed down to younger generations, due to lingering effects of colonialism, leading to poor health outcomes among ANAI peoples. Southcentral Foundation (SCF) and the Center for Indigenous and Health Equity (CIIHE) are using community-based participatory research to identify and prioritize food sovereignty interventions to strengthen the transmission of cultural knowledge across generations and improve ANAI health. Through the implementation of a comprehensive landscape analysis and the development of a community advisory board, SCF has planned an Alaska Native Traditional Foods Gathering to highlight regional efforts to document, revitalize, and share cultural food knowledge and practices to build healthy communities.

Framing an Indigenous Food Sovereignty Research Agenda.

Access to healthy and appealing food is essential for individuals to be able to live a healthy and quality life. For decades, food security has been a priority issue for public health professionals. Food sovereignty expands upon the concept of food insecurity (i.e., having access to nutritious and culturally relevant food) by incorporating people's rights to define their own food system. The expanded focus of food sovereignty on food systems prioritizes public health professionals' role in supporting environmental- and systems-level initiatives and evaluating their implications for health, economics, and the natural environment. Food sovereignty is of particular importance for Indigenous peoples (i.e., American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities). Colonization had demonstrable consequences, with many Indigenous communities being forcibly relocated from traditional lands, alongside the destruction of traditional food sources. Indigenous food sovereignty aligns with the sovereign nation status that American Indian tribes and Alaska Native communities have with the United States. Furthermore, the worldviews that incorporate Indigenous communities' relational responsibilities to care for their food systems, according to their traditional practices and beliefs (Coté, 2016; Morrison, 2011), uniquely positions Indigenous peoples to lead food sovereignty initiatives. In this article, we explore what is currently known regarding food sovereignty and health. We then discuss opportunities to expand the evidence on Indigenous food sovereignty's relationships with (1) health and well being, (2) economics, (3) the natural environment, and (4) programming facilitators and barriers.

The Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity: The Osage Nation's Mobile Market.

Over the last decade, the Osage Nation has actively worked to build Tribal food sovereignty within the reservation where rates of chronic disease and food insecurity are higher than the United States general population. In 2013, the Nation repurposed land toward the development of a Tribal farm with the aim of providing healthy foods to Osage citizens. Produce from the farm is distributed to elders groups, at Tribal Head Starts and schools, and to support the tribal food distribution program. These efforts have led to improved vegetable intake among Osage children, contributing to improved food security, but there is concern that tribal members who live in more remote areas of the Nation or have transportation or mobility issues are not able to access farm production. In partnership with the Center for Indigenous Health Equity (CIIHE), Osage Nation engaged in a community-based participatory research study to assess reservation areas with the greatest barriers to healthy foods and to identify community priorities for intervention. Guided by the principles of food sovereignty, which assert that intervention efforts must address the underlying structural issues of inequality, Osage has designed a mobile market initiative to expand the reach of the Harvest Land farm and deliver healthy, tribally produced meats, herbs, and fresh vegetables to areas with the highest rates of food insecurity. We describe the participatory research efforts and evaluation strategies that center Osage priorities for food security and food sovereignty.

Enhancing Indigenous Food Sovereignty and Community Health Through the Karuk Agroecosystem Resilience Initiative: We Are Caring for It: xúus nu'éethti.

Indigenous communities in the United States experience some of the highest rates of food insecurity and diet-related diseases despite an abundance of food assistance programs and other public health interventions. New approaches that center Indigenous perspectives and solutions are emerging and urgently needed to better understand and address these challenges. This Practice Note shares lessons learned from ongoing collaboration between the Karuk Tribe and University of California, Berkeley researchers and other partners to assess and enhance food sovereignty among Tribes and Tribal communities in the Klamath River Basin. Through two participatory research and extension projects, we demonstrate the importance of centering Indigenous knowledge to strengthen research findings and identify more culturally appropriate solutions to community identified food access, health, and ecosystem challenges. Key findings suggest that approaches to food sovereignty and community health must emanate from the community, be approached holistically, reflect community values and priorities, and center Indigenous land stewardship.

Industrialization and food safety for the Tsleil-Waututh Nation: An analysis of chemical levels in shellfish in Burrard Inlet.

While Indigenous food systems remain critical for community well-being, traditionally harvested foods are a potential source of toxic exposures. The Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) is seeking to restore shellfish harvesting in Burrard Inlet (British Columbia [BC], Canada), where the cumulative effects of industrial activity have nearly eliminated safe harvesting. The Trans Mountain Expansion project would triple the capacity to transport oil through the inlet, threatening TWN's progress to restore shellfish harvesting. To inform ongoing efforts we assessed contamination by heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury) and 48 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) congeners in different shellfish species (Softshell clams, Varnish clams, and Dungeness crab) in three areas. We compared our results against local screening values (SVs) established by the TWN and BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, as well as provincial and national benchmarks. In total, we analyzed 18 composite samples of Softshell clams and Varnish clams (5 individuals per sample), as well as 17 individual crabs. We found chemical contamination in all species at all sites. PAHs were most frequently detected in Softshell clams, highest in the site closest to the pipeline terminus. Clams presented higher levels of contamination than crabs for PAHs, but not for heavy metals. For Softshell and Varnish clams, all heavy metals across study sites exceeded at least one of the population-specific SVs. Of the 14 PAHs detected, benzo(a)pyrene presented a median concentration in Softshell clams of 3.25 µ/kg, exceeding local SV for subsistence fisher. Our results call for further assessment of human health impacts related to food harvesting within Burrard Inlet and establishing a long-term coordinated program co-led by the TWN to monitor contamination and inform future harvesting programs. The study draws attention to the need to consider locally-relevant toxicity benchmarks, and include potential health impacts of food contamination in appraising development project proposals.

Mutual aid organisations and their role in reducing food insecurity in Chicago's urban communities during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted food security and food access in urban communities of colour. Loss of income, often associated with food insecurity, has affected Hispanic, Black, low-wage workers, single mothers and women of colour more than other groups of individuals. Mutual aid organisations have proliferated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, yet a description of the contributions of these organisations in addressing food insecurity has yet to be described in the literature to date. This article aims to describe the unique role and contributions of mutual aid organisations in addressing food insecurity and food access disparities in Chicago's communities of colour during the COVID-19 pandemic. Local mutual aid organisations can function as hubs to feed urban communities while reducing food waste and building community. During the pandemic, mutual aid organisations in Chicago have distributed thousands of pounds of food to families and individuals. Mutual aid organisations provide short-term food security while engaging with community members to create a more equitable and sustainable food system. The development of robust mutual aid hubs facilitated unique opportunities for collaboration and expansion of infrastructure that may allow mutual aid organisations to address food access in their communities well into the future.

Interdisciplinary insights on the future of food systems research: perspectives from the next generation of research leaders.

Our dominant food system is a primary driver of worsening human and planetary health. Held in March 2022, the Public Health Association of Australia's Food Futures Conference was an opportunity for people working across the food system to connect and advocate for a comprehensive, intersectoral, whole-of-society food and nutrition policy in Australia to attenuate these issues. Conference themes included food systems for local and global good; ecological nutrition; social mobilisation for planetary and public good; food sovereignty and food equity. Students and young professionals are integral in transforming food systems, yet they are under-represented in the academic workforce, across publishing, scientific societies and conference plenaries. A satellite event was held to platform initiatives from early career researchers (ECR) in areas integral for improving planetary and public good. The research topics discussed in this commentary reflect sub-themes of the conference under investigation by ECR: food systems governance and regulation; local food policies; commercial determinants of health; sustainable healthy diets; and food equity and sovereignty.

A social-ecological analysis of the global agrifood system.

Eradicating world hunger-the aim of Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2)-requires a social-ecological approach to agrifood systems. However, previous work has mostly focused on one or the other. Here, we apply such a holistic approach to depicting the global food panorama through a quantitative multivariate assessment of 43 indicators of food sovereignty and 28 indicators of sociodemographics, social being, and environmental sustainability in 150 countries. The results identify 5 world regions and indicate the existence of an agrifood debt (i.e., disequilibria between regions in the natural resources consumed, the environmental impacts produced, and the social wellbeing attained by populations that play different roles within the globalized agrifood system). Three spotlights underpin this debt: 1) a severe contrast in diets and food security between regions, 2) a concern about the role that international agrifood trade is playing in regional food security, and 3) a mismatch between regional biocapacity and food security. Our results contribute to broadening the debate beyond food security from a social-ecological perspective, incorporating environmental and social dimensions.