"I was determined to know beans"

I think this may be the biggest long term threat to our food security. Food production is mysterious, dirty (for point of fact it is filthy, if we're talking about the way meat, milk and eggs are mass produced in this country -- and plant agriculture is dirty by virtue of the pesticides, etc.), and it takes place far away. If our economy is compromised to the point that other countries are more lucrative markets for the agricultural imports we depend on? If the way we currently ship our food over extremely long distances becomes too expensive due to oil and gas shortages? We're basically f****d. A five day shipping strike would mean empty grocery store shelves, and the price of food is inextricably linked to the state of government subsidies (largely for corn and soy, much of which becomes animal feed -- fruits and vegetables receive a pittance, despite their prominent place on our recommended food pyramid), and the cost of fuel and the other inputs necessary for our low-effeciency production systems.

The way we produce food needs a complete overhaul for a wh*** bunch of reasons. The government needs to incentivise better practices, because farmers are largely trapped by debt into keeping the status quo. And unable to keep farms in the family. So one solution that can't be overlooked is political rabble-rousing about the contents of every farm bill. And educating ourselves on the subject.

At the more personal level, I think we need to become (again, since it was basically the status quo until a couple of generations ago) a country to food producers with day jobs. We need to diversify our sources of food to defend against the vagaries of pests, economic forces and climate, like we would diversify a stock portfolio to defend against the vagaries of the market.

Here in DC, many people are already economically excluded from regular access to food. There are some really innovative models here, like DC Central Kitchen, which seeks to feed as many homeless as possible, but also trains homeless and formerly incarcerated people through its Fresh Start catering program so that they have a job and a marketable skill. The program is also doing admirable work to get local and fresh food into school cafeterias in the area, at no cost to the students, while saving money for the schools.