Food security

• food security is when people have access to enough nutritious food to stay healthy and active

  • countries that produce a lot of food or are rich enough to import food have food security
• food insecurity is when people aren’t able to get enough food to stay healthy or lead an active life
• physical factors impacting food security

  1. climate
  2. water stress
  3. pests and diseases
• human factors impacting food security

  1. poverty
  2. technology
  3. conflict
  4. over-farming
  5. food prices
• climate

  countries with extreme climates can’t grow much food
• water stress

  crops and livestock cannot survive with low rainfall or bad irrigation systems
• pests+disease

  priests reduce yields by consuming crops, and diseases can affect both crops and livestock
• poverty

  people can’t afford food and don’t have their own land to grow food

  • also can’t farm effectively as they cant afford pesticides
  • can’t buy food from other countries
• technology

  the mechanisation of farm equipment makes growing food and keeping livestock more efficient

  new technologies like genetic engineering can protect plants from disease and increase yields
• conflict

  damages agricultural land

  access to food becomes difficult for those who flee their homes

  trade routes and disrupted and food may not be evenly distributed
• over-farming

  too much livestock can decrease vegetation and cause soil erosion

  intensive arable farming uses up too many soil nutrients and makes land infertile

  takes a lot of time to recover
• food prices

  people can’t afford something if prices rise too high due to high demand
• there are 2 measures to show how access to food varies around the world

  1. daily calorie intake
  2. global hunger index
• the global hunger index shows how many people are suffering from hunger or illness caused by lack of food.

  • 0 = no hunger
  • 100 = extreme hunger

  it isn’t calculate for advanced countries as hunger has been largely overcome here
• global access to food

  • more developed areas like Europe and North America eat a lot
  • less developed areas like Africa, Central America and parts of Asia suffer from hunger and hunger-related illness
  • EDCs are eating more and hunger is decreasing
• there were two different people who both came up with theories on how population growth and food availability are related: Malthus and Boserup
• Malthus’s Theory

  He believed that population would increase faster than food supply, and there would be too many people for the available food.

  • people would get killed by catastrophes such as famine, illness and war
  • Population returns to a level that can be supported by the food available
• Boserup’s Theory

  her theory was that however big the worlds population grew, people would always produce sufficient food to meet their needs.

  • if food supplies became limited, people would come up with new ways to increase production
  • eg technological advantages
• So far, neither of Malthus nor Boserups theory has been proven completely right or wrong, but on a global scale food production has so far kept up with population growth
• There are ways of sustainably increasing food security

  • organic farming
  • Intensive farming
  • Genetic engineering
  • Hydroponics
• organic farming

  uses natural processes to return nutrients to the soil, so soil stays fertile and food can continue to be produced

  • limits artificial chemicals: protects ecosystems, preserves biodiversity
  • however it’s more expensive, so its not that socially sustainable
• intensive farming

  this aims to produce as much food as possible in as small a space as possible

  • fertilisers and pesticides used to maximise yields
  • antibiotics and growth hormones for animals

  how sustainable is it?

  > artificial chemicals leach into water —> reduces environmental sustainability

  > chemicals are expensive and need to be reapplied —> increases production cost —> less economically sustainable
• Genetic modification

  GM crops allow more food growth in smaller areas with fewer resources

  • designed to have higher yields, pest/drought resistance, higher nutritional value

  Socially sustainable as there are more yields, and less fertilisers need to be bought by farmers, which makes it economically sustainable.

  • however reduce biodiversity as fewer varieties of crops are planted —> environmental concern
  • Not sure if they have an affect on humans —> social concerns
  • GM plants may interbreed with wild plants and pass on their genes/disrupt ecosystems —> environmental concern
• hydroponics

  a method of growing plants without soil, as they’re grown in a nutrient solution, and monitored to make sure they’re getting the right amount of nutrients to maximise crop yields

  • less water required
  • reduced risk of disease and pests —> no pesticides
  • environmentally sustainable

  however its very expensive so its only done for high-value crops, and not everyone can afford them

  • not as socially sustainable
• Ethical consumerism means choosing to buy goods that have been produced with minimal harm to people and the environment, and how we use those goods
• ethical consumerism can increase food security and sustainability by:

  • reducing damage to agricultural land —> fertile
  • makes food production profitable, so farmers can afford to carry on producing it
  • paying more money to countries for goods —> decreases poverty
  • reduced GGs emitted by transport and waste disposal
• how to make food consumption more ethical

  1. buying FairTrade products
  2. reduce waste
  3. buy local and seasonal food
• FairTrade products

  products where farmers have been paid a fair price, helping improve their quality of life

  food produced under fair trade cheese is ethical and sustainable because:

  • buyers pay extra to help develop the area where goods came from (social)
  • producers treat employees well, and they work in a safe working environment, improving quality of life
  • farmers must use environmentally friendly methods to grow food
• Reduce waste

  Globally, 1/3rd of food that is produced is wasted, reducing this will increase food availability.

  Schemes such as “think. Eat. Save” encourage people, businesses, and governments to be less wasteful

  • eg share recipe ideas for using up leftovers

  Food waste goes to landfill which produced methane

  Also consumers can choose food with less packaging, reducing plastic that goes to landfill
• buy local and seasonal food

  local and seasonal consumption reduces the amount of food that is imported, which reduced greenhouse gas emissions from transport

  • environmentally sustainable
• Small-scale food production is an alternative to large-scale agriculture

  • relies of individual and communities
  • Bottom-up approach
• small scale food production can increase food security:

  • grown in gardens or balconies, so overall production increases
  • people grow what they want, reducing waste
  • methods are organic, keeping land fertile
  • less reliant on imported food
  • less damaging to environment
• 3 small scale approaches to make food supplies more sustainable

  1. permaculture
  2. urban culture
  3. allotments
• permaculture

  When people grow their own food and change their eating habits, eating less meat and more fruit/vegetables, and buying local and organically when possible

  • food grown so that it creates natural ecosystems
  • protects wildlife —> environmentally sustainable
  • keeps soil healthy by growing different types of food
• Urban gardens

  Uses spaces such as roof tops and balconies in cities to grow food, often as community projects where people work together

  • food locally available, reducing need to transport food
  • Food is fresher and more nutritious and cheaper
  • improves food security of poorer residents
  • adds greenery to cities —> more attractI’ve
• allotments

  areas of land in villages, towns, or cities that are divided into plots and rented to people to grow plants (eg fruit and vegetables)

  • for people who have a little/no garden
  • environmentally and socially sustainable as people an grow cheap and healthy food close to home