Impact assessment of the implementation of food defense plan in a Brazilian army military organization

The concepts of food defense have been incorporated into the food production chain after the attacks on the World Trade Center in the U.S. in 2001, when the susceptibility to mass terrorist actions was evident. An attack on a water or food supply network could cause an incalculable physical, psychological, or financial impact. In the Brazilian armed forces, although the concept is already present in food manuals, there is still no doctrinal regulation on the subject. In military operations, especially in foreign territories, the concept assumes greater importance, since the opponent is looking for any vulnerabilities that could cause a decrease in the human force headcount and loss of operability. In this scope, the present study evaluated in an unprecedented way the impacts of the implementation of the concepts of the food defense in a military organization of the Brazilian Army, using the application of the tool Food Defense Plan Builder. Most of the demands (60.7%) of the Action Plan was fully or partially met. The greatest difficulties were observed in the field of personnel control, still being an obstacle in the management of the vulnerabilities. •Although not recent, food defense (FD) is not yet a tool adopted by Brazilian army.•The military facility was assessed in several aspects to identify vulnerabilities.•Using a FD Plan Builder, gap points were raised and mitigation strategies devised.•Demands related to personnel activities were the most difficult to be fulfilled.•FD actions were accepted by members and most corrective steps could be carried out.