Food Security and Farming

• What is the definition of food security?

  Having enough food to feed a population
• What factors can threaten food security?

  • Increasing population
  • Diets changing
  • Demand for imported food
  • New pests and pathogens
  • High input costs of farming e.g. machinery and livestock
  • Conflicts that affect availability
• Are fish stocks declining or rising?

  Declining
• Where are cod at risk from disappearing due to overfishing?

  North West Atlantic
• How can fish stocks be maintained?

  • Fishing quotas- limits on number and size of fish caught in certain areas
  • Net size- limits on mesh size to reduce unwanted and discarded fish that are accidentally caught
• How to make food production more efficient:

  • Limiting movement of livestock
  • Keeping livestock in a temperature-controlled environment, reducing energy transfer
  • Factory farming- raising animals in small pens
  • Factory farming fish in cages
  • Feeding animals high-protein food to increase growth
• What are the problems with factory farming?

  • Disease spreads easily
  • Ethical objections- unnatural and uncomfortable conditions thought cruel