Rutgers Around the World Podcast Features Core Faculty Member Joachim Sackey

Rutgers Global Health Institute core faculty member Joachim Sackey, a nutritional epidemiologist and assistant professor in the School of Health Professions and School of Public Health, was the featured guest in a recent episode of the Rutgers Around the World podcast.​ Produced by Rutgers Global, Rutgers Around the World is a series of “insightful discussions of global goings-on at Rutgers University,” as described on the series website.

In the episode, Sackey talks with host Carlo Santoro, Rutgers Global senior adviser for international faculty and scholars, about various aspects of food security. Sackey refers to different definitions of the term, which incorporate access to nutritious food and the ability to have food in socially acceptable ways, as well as the distinctions between hunger and food insecurity.

The factors driving food insecurity and the related global disparities are topics that Sackey discusses throughout the conversation. “To solve food insecurity or food issues, we can’t just give food. There are other factors that need to be tackled alongside,” he says. “The environment is very important. In many parts of the world, where farmers rely on rain, for example, changing climate is causing a lot of problems. There are social protection issues, because food insecurity is not just a food issue – it goes beyond food. Health is key. In the U.S., a lot of people are bankrupted or become food insecure when they incur medical debt, so addressing health systems will have an impact on food, as well.”

Sackey also talks about the disproportionate number of people who are experiencing food insecurity in specific regions of the world. He refers to studies showing that nearly 80 percent of the population living in Africa are unable to afford a healthy diet, whereas that proportion is 1.4 percent of the population in North America and 2.1 percent in Europe.

Listen to the episode on Anchor by Spotify.