Food Resources Study Notes

Food Resources

Overview of Food Security

  • Food security is defined as the ability of people to access sufficient, safe, and nutritious food.

  • Roughly one-third of all food produced globally is wasted each year, despite nearly 800 million people going hungry, enough to feed every undernourished person twice over.

Learning Objectives

  • Outcome: Students will be able to describe global patterns of food security and explain the factors that affect it.

Keywords

  • Undernourished: Occurs when an individual is not receiving enough calories or essential nutrients to grow and function well.

  • GDP per capita: Total value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year, divided by the population.

  • Food security: The ability of individuals to access sufficient and nutritious food.

Lesson Outline

  • Food resources

  • Global patterns of food security

  • Factors that affect food security

  • Consequences of variation in food security

Global Patterns of Food Security

  • About 800 million people are hungry while one-third of food produced is wasted.

    • This food waste could potentially feed the undernourished population.

Food Consumption Data

  • Countries with higher GDP per capita generally have higher food consumption rates.

  • The provided data often represents calories supplied, not necessarily consumed, indicating potential food waste.

Factors Affecting Food Security

  • Poverty: Limits access to nutritious food; leads to insufficient nutrient intake or famine.

  • Conflict: Disrupts farming and distribution, causes market shutdowns, and leads to increased prices.

  • Natural Hazards: Events such as droughts and floods can devastate crops.

  • Soil Quality: Poor or degraded soil leads to lower agricultural yields, with desertification causing significant drops in production.

Consequences of Variation in Food Security

  • Health Issues: Undernourishment can lead to weakened immunity, fatigue, and serious health issues like anemia and rickets – the latter caused by deficiencies in vitamin D, calcium, or phosphate.

  • Economic Impact: Undernourishment can affect people's ability to work, leading to lower household incomes and declining quality of life, particularly for children whose development can be stunted by malnutrition.

  • Famine: Defined as severe and widespread food scarcity that may lead to deaths; not only caused by drought, but also by floods and conflict.

Ethical & Philosophical Implications

  • Ending hunger is listed as the second of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, established in 2015, but progress is lacking.

  • Food waste in over-purchasing countries contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, reinforcing the need for sustainable practices.

Practice Tasks and Feedback

  • Tasks engage students in understanding the topic by answering questions about calorie supply by continent and country.

  • Feedback highlights key learning points, reiterating the definition of food security and exploring its variation due to multiple factors.

Summary of Learning Points

  • Global food waste is significant and must be addressed alongside hunger.

  • GDP per capita correlates with food consumption levels in different countries.

  • Variances in food security are largely influenced by poverty, conflict, natural disasters, and soil conditions.

  • Undernourishment remains a critical issue leading to various health problems and economic disruptions.