Food insecurity, on the rise globally, is one of the greatest challenges facing policy makers. By developing several specialized courses and setting up a multidisciplinary research team in diversity and food safety, Université Laval is committed to training the experts of tomorrow.
Crises like the war in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic, loss of biodiversity and climate change impact global food security. Since the end of 2018, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has seen an upsurge in food insecurity, despite all our productive capacities. Canada and the industrialized countries are not left out in the face of these challenges. More and more families here, victims of economic and inflationary pressures, have to turn to food banks.
A complex international issue
“Food security is defined as the moment when all human beings have, at all times, economic, physical and social access to food that is healthy, nutritious and available in sufficient quantity,” explains Geneviève Parent, professor at the Faculty in Law from Université Laval and holder of the Research Chair in Law on Food Diversity and Food Security. It is a very broad issue, where issues of culture, economy, health, science, urban planning, agriculture, geopolitics, nutrition, anthropology and law intersect. The World Health Organization tells us that non-communicable diseases – obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease – linked to poor nutrition kill 11 million people a year worldwide. It is a food security problem which closely affects our societies and which must be resolved urgently. »
As the professor explains, food security is a global and cross-cutting problem that concerns all sciences and must be addressed simultaneously at the local, national and international levels. “Municipalities, for example, have an extremely important role to play. They are the ones who are close to the territory and who have the necessary levers to ensure access to sustainable food for their citizens. It is our role to support them and to carry out innovative research, particularly in terms of sustainable urban planning and regulations, to reflect coherently on the approaches that would make it possible to more effectively resolve the problems of food safety. And this, while respecting the areas of jurisdiction of each level of government. We must produce scientific knowledge and train the next generation capable of measuring up to these challenges. »
Value teamwork
To date, Université Laval, a leader in the Francophonie, has trained more than 335,000 people who participate, each in their own way, in the progress of the society in which we live. Driven by a spirit of innovation and a constant pursuit of excellence, this institution is among Canada’s leading research universities, ranking 7th with $515 million in research funding in 2021. In its most recent research development plan, Université Laval identified food security as a priority theme to help achieve the UN’s sustainable development goals.
Université Laval has set up an ecosystem in the field of food safety, which notably includes the Institute for Nutrition and Functional Foods, the Center for Nutrition, Health and Society (NUTRISS), the Observatory for the Quality of the food offer, the Graduate School of International Studies, the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and its graduate program, construction site of the future, as well as the Research Chair in Law on Food Diversity and Food Security directed by Professor Geneviève Parent. “All these teaching and research forums analyze the different facets of the same problem, explains the latter. They bring together experts from several disciplines who, together and in complete collegiality, produce and transmit cross-cutting knowledge that serves the actors of food systems well. The courses she has been giving to students since 1998 on national and international agri-food law have also made the Faculty of Law of Université Laval one of the first to integrate the study of food safety into its curriculum. world.
“The Research Chair on Food Diversity and Food Security, which I have directed since 2015, has the mission of carrying out a critical analysis of existing national and international legal instruments in the agri-food sector, with the aim of promoting diversity. agriculture and contribute to sustainable food security, here and elsewhere, continues Geneviève Parent. Composed of a tactical team of international lawyers, our chair trains students to become experts in national and international food law. It is extremely important that the different actors in food systems, including local authorities, understand the central role they have to play and that we can support them with solid scientific research so that they can put in place the changes required. . »
Partners of choice
As Professor Parent reminds us, the Quebec government has been advocating the idea of greater food self-sufficiency for several years now. “Université Laval works in a concerted manner with several partners who feed on our scientific knowledge and feed our reflections. The City of Quebec, for example, is funding a project aimed at establishing a more sustainable food system. This leads us to collaborate not only with municipal authorities, but also with stakeholders in the Quebec metropolitan region, agricultural producers, restaurants, food banks and community organizations involved in the food system of the greater Quebec City region. Our team works in such a way that scientific research is truly useful in the field. We also have a team of specialists who work, among other things, on the problems of food insecurity in Quebec’s Far North, together with the Aboriginal communities. »
Understand the challenges of tomorrow
The various programs and training offered at Université Laval in the area of food safety are very comprehensive, because to succeed in them, one must be able to open up to several disciplines. These sought-after trainings produce student cohorts capable of meeting the interrelated challenges of food security and climate change. “The idea behind these interdisciplinary training courses is to be able to grasp the challenges of tomorrow from different angles and also in a cross-cutting manner,” specifies Geneviève Parent. Thus, graduates of Building site of the future or from the Graduate School of International Studies will not be lawyers, economists or agronomists, but they will have knowledge in these three disciplines that will enable them to tackle global challenges in an innovative way. Because of their multidisciplinary training, these students are in high demand for positions in the provincial government, the federal government or in international organizations. »
For information on Université Laval food security programs and scholarships:
• ulaval.ca
• food-diversity-chair.ulaval.ca
• esei.ulaval.ca
Driven by a deep culture of sustainable development, Université Laval trains committed and creative generations of students, leading citizens, scientists and entrepreneurial leaders who have a marked influence on the evolution of societies. Open to the world, Université Laval aims for excellence in teaching and research. A reference for its partners as well as a source of inspiration, it brings together the forces of change – at the heart of the university effervescence of Quebec City.
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