Does an Alternative Local Food Network Contribute to Improving Sustainable Food Security?

Abstract

Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, safe, and nutritious food for all people. It is a critical point to be achieved yet has many aspects to be considered, which include food availability, stability, access, and utilization. Each aspect has its own challenge, which makes food security a complex goal to achieve. Therefore, this paper aims to demonstrate how the Local Food Network (LFN) might be able to address the challenges of food security and eventually achieve it. Moreover, this paper also takes the standpoint of sustainability aspects to ensure food security can be achieved sustainably and responsibly. A case study in Indonesia is given in this paper to provide a concrete explanation of the topic. Rice commodity is used in this study as the staple food of Indonesia. To achieve the goal of this paper, a Multi-objective Linear Programming (MOLP) model, which reflects the LFN, is developed. Furthermore, sustainability’s social, economic, and environmental aspects are directly incorporated into the model. Through several measures obtained from the model results, this paper indicates that food security can be achieved sustainably through the concept of LFN.