OPINIE STUDENTÓW WYBRANYCH KIERUNKÓW STUDIÓW NA TEMAT BEZPIECZEŃSTWA ŻYWNOŚCIOWEGO I BEZPIECZEŃSTWA ŻYWNOŚCI

Abstract

In every country and on every continent, food security is one of the most important and even fundamental human needs, and thus feeding people should be an overriding goal at the in- ternational, national, and even household level. Food security involves meeting three conditions – physical access to food, economic access to food, and production of healthy food ensuring a nu- tritionally optimal diet. The aim of the study was to assess basic knowledge of food security and safety among students of agriculture and medicine at the global and household level. The survey found a satisfactory level of knowledge on the subject of the research. Students indicate differences in the concepts of food security and safety as well as variation in economic access to food and the need to eliminate it. They indicate the causes of hunger and malnutrition, and particularly the need to ensure production of safe food. Most respondents regarded food security in their households as satisfactory and stated that an increase in income does not necessarily lead to an increase in ex- penditures on food. Irrespective of their area of study, the survey participants correctly identified the main causes of hunger and malnutrition in the world, as well as the regions and countries in which these phenomena occur. The main causes of hunger and malnutrition in the world were considered to be the increase in the population, authoritarian systems of government and associated armed conflicts, and unfair distribution of food.