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Integrating Food and Nutrition Security in a Middle-Income, Globalized, Food-Exporting Nation: Thailand’s Food Policy Challenge who each have their own budgets and legal mandates thus limiting the ability of the NFC to carry out its functions in the holistic manner envisioned. Never- theless, the NFC provides an innovative approach that should be monitored by other countries to determine its effec- tiveness as a model for food policy de- velopment and administration. The remarkable health gains recorded by Thailand in recent decades, includ- ing the conquest of undernutrition and rapid increase in longevity, need to be consolidated. Monitored, comprehen- sive food policy will make a critical contribution to this process. References 6. Conclusion Aekplakorn, W. (2011). Report on the National Thai Food Consumption Sur- his review demonstrates that vey 2008–2009. Nonthaburi: National the last 50 years of Thailand’s Health Examination Survey Office. involvement in the global food trade has complicated assumptions Aekplakorn, W., & Mo-Suwan, L. about how best to deliver nutrition se- (2009). Prevalence of obesity in Thai- curity for agriculturalists and urban land. Obesity Reviews, 10(6), 589–592. consumers. Two important strategies doi:10.1111/j.1467-789X.2009.00626.x dominate—the Kitchen to the World and the Sufficiency Economy—current- Bamman, H. (2007). Participatory val- ly, neither approach is improving farm- ue chain analysis for improved farmer er incomes. Farmers require additional incomes, employment opportunities training, resources, and formal com- and food security. Pacific Economic Bul- mercially oriented networks (whether letin, 22(3), 113–125. cooperatives, locally organized food hubs) to be able to enjoy the benefits of Boselie, D., Henson, S., & Weather- Thailand’s food export economy. spoon, D. (2003). Supermarket pro- In the past, Thai health and nu- curement practices in developing coun- trition researchers and policymakers tries: Redefining the roles of public and have focused on undernutrition, but private sectors. American Journal of Ag- they are now confronting the unfamil- ricultural Economics, 85(5), 1155–1161. iar challenge of overnutrition arising, doi:10.1111/j.0092-5853.2003.00522.x in part, from Thailand’s involvement in the global food trade. To address Cabinet Office (UK). (2008). Food mat- the rising obesity and health challenge, ters: Towards a strategy for the 21 st cen- it is necessary to understand the com- tury. London, UK: The Strategy Unit, plex ways in which this trade impacts Cabinet Office. on the population’s diet. Over the next 20 years policymakers in Thailand will Carlisle, S., & Hanlon, P. (2014). Con- need to manage the productive and dis- necting food, well-being and environ- tributive complexity of the food system. mental sustainability: Towards an inte- T 25