Final answer:
Raj Patel suggests that 'poverty' and 'food availability' are closely connected in relation to food insecurity, emphasizing the role of economic access beyond agricultural productivity. Food security rests on availability, access, utilization, and stability, and efforts should be made to address disparities that cause food deserts.
Step-by-step explanation:
Raj Patel suggests that poverty and food availability are neighbors as they relate to food insecurity. Poverty, rather than the sheer lack of food, is the primary driver of food insecurity. Despite improvements in agricultural productivity, which are undoubtedly important for increasing rural household incomes and access to food, they are not sufficient to ensure food security. Food insecurity involves multiple dimensions, including having the economic, social, and physical access to food and adequate nutrition, commonly referred to as 'hidden hunger.'
Food security is built on four pillars: availability, access, utilization, and stability. It requires that all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Socioeconomic levels, gender, ethnicity, religion, and age can influence one's ability to achieve food security. Thus, it is imperative to expand the reach of healthy local food movements to include those in less affluent areas and fight the economic disparities that contribute to food deserts and exacerbate inequality in food access.