AICE Enviro Unit 5

Food Security

Exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life

Food Wheel: Components of Food Security

Availability

Access

Utilization

Stability

Availability

Availability: Food availability means that sufficient quantities of appropriate and quality food is available from domestic production, commercial imports, food assistance or food reserves on a consistent base

Accessibility

Accessibility: People have adequate income or other resources to access appropriate food domestically through home production, buying in local markets or as exchange, gifts, borrowing or as food aid

Utilization

Utilization: People utilize food properly through food storing and processing practices while have sufficient knowledge where they apply nutritional, health, sanitation, socio-cultural as well spiritual parameters of food.

Stability

Stability: Stability of food refers to availability of adequate food all the time, thus, certain that access and utilization of appropriate food is not curtailed by any hindrance, shortages or by emergencies or sudden crises.

Food homogeneity

• the lack of diversity in food we eat

• It has a dangerous impact on climate change, food security, and human health

  • Despite having 14,000 edible and nutritious plant species to choose from, 75% of the food we eat comes from just 12 plants and five animal species

Causes of Food Insecurity

• Population growth

• Unsustainable production, increase in homogeneity in global food supply

• Price setting

• Land degradation

• Agricultural disease

• Diverting crops for biofuels

• Climate change

• Water shortages

• Poverty

Impacts of Food insecurity

• regional food scarcity

• nutritional deficiency and malnutrition

• poverty

• forced migration

• conflict

• famine

• death

Price setting

The government sets the price for certain commodities which makes it easier to subsidize them.

ex. corn has a set price. Corn is used for humans, livestock, and biofuel. Farmers cannot charge a higher amount for when they sell it as a fuel.

Subsidy

Money from the government that is intended to keep the price of a commodity low.

Subsidized loans

offers a six-month grace period after graduation, during which the federal government pays the interest. Lower Interest rate.

Unsubsidized Loans

six-month grace period but interest occurs during this time.

Land degradation

• soil erosion and depletion

• affects 24% land area globally

• Affects 40% of land in Europe

  • 80% caused by agriculture

Biofuels

• increases monocultures (one oil type produced)

releases CO₂ but considered carbon neutral b/c the plants absorb it again as they grow

Climate Change

• increasing temp

• weather vulnerability

• shifting agroecosystem boundaries

• invasive crops and pests

• more frequent extreme weather events

• reducing crop yields

• reducing nutritional quality

• lowering livestock productivity

Urban Gardens

Input

• Money: Material (seeds, irrigation, fencing, equipment)

• Labor: maintenance ($), people

• Resource - land, water, soil

Output

• Crop yield - varies seasonally

• dietary diversity

• less imports, higher utilization

Developed countries found to be more effective at producing high value crops, such as vegetable.

How to reduce food waste

• shop smart

• buy “ugly produce”

• know your dates

• save leftovers

• organize the fridge

• compost

• donate

• smaller portions

Food recovery hierarchy

Managing food security

• subsistence agriculture

• increase food production by intensification and extensification

• improved agriculture techniques and efficiency

• reduction in livestock and increase in growing crops

• reduce food waste

• large scale food stock poling

• improve transportation of food

• protect pollinating insects

• World Food Programme and food aid

• rationing

Intensification and extensification

• use more land for agriculture purposes and produce a higher crop yield from the land

  • agricultural intensification ensure sufficient food is grown to meet population demands.

Subsistence Agriculture

• food grown is used for the farmer and their family

• it cuts cost of shipping and ensures local food availability

Improved techniques

hydroponics

• use of selectively breeding and genetically modified crops to develop pest resistant crops with a higher yield

• controlling limiting factors (ex. fertilizer for areas short of nutrients)

• increasing productivity by removing competition and reducing pests through biological control

Renewable energy resources

• Biofuels (wood, biogas, bioethanol)

• geothermal energy

• wind energy

• solar energy

• tidal energy

• wave energy

• hydroelectric dams

Hydroelectric dams

provides place to convert the potential of kinetic energy of water to electrical of kinetic energy of water to electrical energy by using a turbine or generator.

Disadvantages: environmental impacts, high initial costs, and the potential for water scarcity and displacement of communities.

Solar energy

energy from the sun that is converted into thermal electric energy

Disadvantages: dependence on weather, high initial costs, storage challenges, and environmental concerns

Wind energy

the process by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity

• can be used for grain grinding or pumping water

Disadvantages: intermittency (reliance on wind), noise pollution, visual impact, potential harm to wildlife (especially birds and bats), and land use requirements

Wave energy

transport and capture of energy by ocean surface waves

• used for electrical/generation, water desalination, and pumping water.

Disadvantages: high costs for initial installation and ongoing maintenance, potential disruption of marine ecosystems, and the difficulty of efficiently transmitting energy to land

Tidal energy

produced by natural rise and fall of tides caused by gravitational interaction between sun and moo

• converted into electricity

Disadvantages: it costs a lot of money to get all those turbines and cables underwater. and they could have negative effects on the environment – confusing or even injuring sea-life

Non-renewable energy

• Fossil Fuels (oil, natural gas, coal)

• Nuclear energy

Generations of biofuels

• 1st Generation Biofuel

  • It has High Carbon Content

  • Made from Edible Items.

    • Sugar, Corn, Starch, etc.

• 2nd Generation Biofuel

  • Greenhouse Gas content less than 1st Generation Biofuel

  • Made from leftover of Food Crops

    • Rice, Husk, Wood Chips, etc.

• 3rd Generation Biofuel

  • It is Carbon Neutral in (CO2 Emitted = Co2 Sequestrated)

  • Produced using microorganisms

    • Algae

• 4th Generation Biofuel

  • Made from ‘Genetically Engineered Crops’

  • They are Carbon Negative

Biogas

renewable fuel produced by breakdown of organic matter such as food scraps and animal waste.

• used for vehicle fuel, and heating and electricity generation

Geothermal energy

heat from earth’s subsurface

• used for heating and cooling, generate clean electricity

Oil

from ground, drilled and pumped out

• found in underground reservoirs or by strip mining

Natural Gas

composed of methane

• common/conventional located in porous or permeable rock or mixed in oil reservoirs

• unconventional any form of gas too difficult or expensive to regularly drill instead requiring fracking (harmful)

Coal

Carbon heavy rock

• most carbon extensive fossil fuel

Nuclear energy

• nuclear fission, mostly uranium, to generate energy

  • uranium rods can only be used ONCE

Energy security

reliable availability of energy sources at an affordable price with consideration of the environment.

Long-term energy

supply of energy in line with economic development and environmental needs.

Short-term energy

systems that react promptly to sudden changes in the supply demand balance.

Short-term vs Long-term security

Short-Term Energy Security

• Ensuring immediate energy supply despite disruptions (e.g., natural disasters, political conflicts).

• Focuses on reserves, grid stability, and emergency responses.

  • Examples: Strategic petroleum reserves, backup power systems.

Long-Term Energy Security

• Ensuring sustainable, stable, and affordable energy supply for the future.

• Focuses on diversification, renewable energy, infrastructure investment.

  • Examples: Transition to renewables, energy efficiency policies.

Causes of Energy insecurity

• fossil fuel depletion

• inequality in global resources

• population growth

• differing energy needs in countries of different income groups

• climate change

• supply disruption

  • Natural disasters, piracy, terrorism

Impacts of energy insecurity

• disrupted electricity supply to homes and industry

• increasing prices for energy resources

• increasing costs for industry

• job losses, economic recession

• increased levels of poverty and low standards of living

• reliance on imported sources of energy

• civil disruption and conflict

Eutrophication

a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water

Strategies to manage energy security

• increasing energy efficiency

• increasing energy production

• reduce reliance of fossil fuels

• invest in renewable resources and carbon neutral fuels

• development of alternative energy techniques

• investment in local projects

• rationing

Waste Management Methods

• Landfill sites

• Incineration

• Storage

• Disposal at sea

• Recycling

• Exporting waste

Incineration

Advantages

• Drastically reduced the amount of waste sent to landfill, minimizing the environmental impact of disposal.

• Reclaimed valuable land that could have been used for landfills and turned into parks and recreational areas.

• Electricity and heat produced helped meet energy needs of households and businesses

• Better control over oder and noise

• Prevents the production of methane gas

• Eliminates harmful germs and chemicals

• Reduced reliance on transportation

Disadvantages

• High operating costs

• Significant level of pollution(smoke from burning process can include acid gases)

• Health and environment risk

• Environmental racism

• Does not contribute to waste reduction

• Much of the waste can be recovered and recycled

Landfills

Advantages

• relatively cheap method of dealing with waste because environmental costs are not taken into account

• Landfill is a low technology method of waste disposal that countries at any level of development can use

• occurs in specific location that can be chosen and monitored

• waste going to well-designed landfills can be processed to remove recyclable materials before tipping

• properly managed landfills can capture the methane produced by decomposition

Disadvantages

• limit to the number of appropriate available sites in many regions

  • as sites become scarce, the cost of land increases

• increasing public opposition to opening new landfill sites and expanding existing ones because of environmental and health concerns

  • land sites can generate considerable heavy vehicle traffic

Open Dumping

Advantages

• Cost effective, does not require payment unlike other waste disposal methods

• Easily accessible - Low effort and time to dispose waste

Disadvantages

• May cause soil pollution, which could harm crop growth, productivity, and agriculture

• Affects local ecology

• Negative impact on health, exposing surrounding residents to the potential causes for cancer

• Leached waste is likely to infiltrate groundwater causing water (ex.lake Malawi) and soil pollution

• Strong winds can blow waste, causing air pollution

• Increased levels of water pollution which affects species and overall, all marine ecosystems

• Negative impact on tourism due to unpleasant views, especially around shorelines.

Impacts of waste disposal

• contamination of soil leading to leaching and contamination of ground water

• build up and release of methane with a danger of explosions

• visual and noise pollution and unpleasant odor

• risk of spread of disease

• release toxic substances

• bioaccumulation and biomagnification

• plastics and microplastics

Infectious/ Biological waste

• animal pathogens

• biohazardous waste

• bloodborne pathogens

• infectious waste

• sharps

• plant pathogens

Threat: contamination of soil and water, the spread of infectious diseases, and exposure to harmful pathogens. 

Toxin level and Trophic level

toxins can be introduced as early as the producer but can infect each trophic level after in the food chain, only becoming visible when a human is impacted.

Bioaccumulation

Bioaccumulation

• gradual accumulation of substances such as pesticides or other chemicals in an organism

Strategies to reduce impacts of waste

• Three Rs

• Biodegradeable plastics

• food waste for animal feed

• composting + fermentation

• use to generate energy

• education

• financial incentives and legislation

Biomagnification

only concentration of a toxin, such as pesticides, in the tissue of tolerant organisms at successfully higher levels in a food chain.