In these challenging times ‘food security’ has returned to the agenda in what was assumed to be the well-fed countries of the World. That includes in Ireland, even though it is ranked first in the Economist’s Global Food Security Index. To inform this debate ARC2020 will present an article series  – an extended op-ed – from Stuart Meikle.

Author’s note: all the data is sourced from FAOSTAT with 2018 taken as year where all data sets were available. It is accepted that this is superficial, and the that the information needs further reinforcing through undertaking more detailed research, including from Ireland’s Central Statistics Office. The data in the paper is, nonetheless, indicative of the overall situation. This is not definitive as deeper research is needed to analyse multi-year trends and wider data sources. The aim is instead to indicate the direction of travel.