Food insecurity is a compelling global problem with compound causation in population expansion, industrialization of agriculture and food marketing, and environmental deterioration. The United Nations system has addressed the need for food and nutrition security from a foundation of human rights law and expressed the requirement for all people to be food secure with sustainable food systems and diets. Food biodiversity is a component of the sustainable food systems that are practiced by Indigenous Peoples living in intact ecosystems. This paper describes the evolution of the principles of food and nutrition security within the United Nations, explores current issues, and highlights a program with Indigenous Peoples' food systems that includes health promotion interventions using biodiverse local foods. Highlighted are the roles of ethnobiologists in understanding the principles and concepts underlying food and nutrition security, in promoting food biodiversity and healthy food systems, and in contributing to policies protecting food biodiversity and food and nutrition security.

Traditional foodways are critical not only to food sovereignty in emerging and developing countries, but also to food security, eco-touristic development, small-scale food specialty markets, and local health strategies. We explore traditional knowledge concerning the fermentation of local plants (ethnozymology) for the production of medicinal and folk-functional foods perceived to have general health benefits. Field research was conducted in two Gorani communities in the mountains of NE Albania, located near the Kosovar border. Interviews were conducted with 44 study participants, and the fermentation of 15 plants for health purposes concerning disease prevention and health promotion was recorded. We discuss the role of fermentation in the production of local foods for health and its connections to community vitality and food security generally.

Wild edible plants, and particularly weeds, continue to be an important dietary component of many people around the world. We study the availability and yield of 15 weedy vegetables traditionally consumed in the Mediterranean region to assess their potential sustainable exploitation. Fieldwork was conducted in Central Spain during 2007–2009. Yields ranged between 10–460 g per plant in non-clonal species and between 400–5,000 g m⁻² in clonal species. According to local plant density estimates, a total of 1800 kg ha⁻¹ for Foeniculum vulgare, 700–1000 kg ha⁻¹ for Beta maritima, Rumex pulcher, Papaver rhoeas and Silybum marianum, and 80–400 kg ha⁻¹ for the remaining species could be obtained, except for Scolymus hispanicus that only yielded 30 kg ha⁻¹. Exploitation of those species should consider local yields and preferences to achieve sustainability. We propose: 1) organic cultivation for highly valued species with low production rates in the wild (e.g., Scolymus hispanicus and Silene vulgaris); 2) commercial wild collection for culturally appreciated species with high yields in the wild (e.g., Allium ampeloprasum and Chondrilla juncea); and 3) maintenance of traditional practices and rates of harvest for all species for self-consumption.

Farmers from around the world manage, gather and eat wild food plants from anthropogenic ecosystems. Research conducted in Northeast Thailand among rice farmers documents the pattern of this management related to the distribution of edible species. Interviews with 40 farm households yielded a total of 165 transplanting cases involving 32 species. Flows of transplanting material were unidirectional and bidirectional involving different anthropogenic ecosystems. Evidence of farmers' extensive transplanting of species in their gardens and fields indicates that they are ensuring availability and stability of the wild food plant supply for domestic consumption, which is crucial for local food security. We recorded 2,196 household gathering events for domestic consumption for one week a month over 12 months, showing that most species that are transplanted are actually gathered by local farmers. We conclude that conventional dichotomies of wild versus domesticated underlying conventional thinking and research on human food systems overlook the reality of how ‘wilderness’ and ‘farming’ come together in creative ways, forming foodways and securing the food supply as illustrated in this case of farmer management of wild food species across different ecosystems of the farming landscape.

Low-alcohol beverages made of juniper pseudo-fruits were once common in parts of northern and northeastern Poland. The aim of this article is to investigate the history of juniper beer production, its role in local communities, changes in recipes, and signs of revival of the tradition. Archival ethnographic sources from all over the country were reviewed, and field research was carried out in two juniper beer producing areas in the Northeast region: (1) Kurpie, and (2) Podlasie. Juniper beers were made in central and northeastern Poland, mainly for weddings, holidays, or other special occasions. The tradition gradually declined throughout the twentieth century and has now practically disappeared. Juniper beer, however, recently has been popularized in the Kurpie region as a regional specialty, aimed at visitors to the area since the 1990s. The beverage is gaining increasing media attention, not only in the region but across Poland, and it is now produced in a large proportion of households in Kurpie (either for sale or for domestic use). In Podlasie, juniper beer is still mainly remembered as a drink from the past, with very few individuals still making it. Juniper beer is an example of a tradition revival combining a few emerging trends, among which are the use of wild foods and attention to local recipes and home-fermented dishes. The changing role of juniper berries in the history of the drink should also be noted. Originally, the berries were the richest local source of sugar, and thus they naturally became the main ingredient of fermented beverages. With time, the composition of the drink evolved and sugar and honey were added. The original juniper components now serve mainly as flavoring, giving the drink its characteristic resinous taste and fragrance.

Field peas (Vigna unguiculata L. [Walp]) are recognized as an important agricultural crop throughout Africa and Asia for myriad reasons, ranging from their remarkably high nutrient content to their adaptability to marginal lands. In the early twentieth century, agricultural research stations investigated and advocated V. unguiculata for sustainable farming in the United States of America (U.S.) but such interest has all but disappeared in commercial agronomy. U.S.-focused agronomists perceive field peas as relatively incompatible with contemporary non-integrated agricultural systems, climate, and fast-food culinary habits; however, the species remains integral to the traditional cuisine of the southern U.S. With almost 18 million U.S. households experiencing food insecurity in 2011, a marked increase over the last decade, fresh strategies and time-tested species deserve research attention. This paper explores the role of field peas in hunger mitigation in the recent past in the Ozark Highlands, a marginal landscape unable to support large-scale industrial crop production, which currently endures some of the highest food insecurity rates in the U.S. Ethnographic accounts detail the importance of field peas during difficult times, and findings from an agrobiodiversity conservation project demonstrate the salience of field peas as a staple food and feed crop amongst older, traditional Ozark families. I conclude with a discussion of field peas' role in community food systems strategies for contemporary and future Ozark food security.