5.2c Food Sustainability

Question 1

What are some benefits of having livestock in farming systems?

Answer 1

• Source of protein - essential for human diet
• Convert vegetation to food
• Produce diverse products (milk, meat, blood, wool)
• Can be used as working animals

Question 2

What factors influence the sustainability of terrestrial food production systems?

Answer 2

• Scale
• Industrialisation
• Use of fossil fuels
• Water use
• Fertiliser use
• Climate
• Soil characteristics
• Government policy/ legislation

Question 3

How can we increase food sustainability?

Answer 3

• Reduce meat consumption
• Increase consumption of organically grown foods
• Increase consumption of locally produced goods
• Improve food labelling –> Improved food choices
• Education and awareness –> Better choices

Question 4

What is the problem with food distribution?

Answer 4

• The UN tells us that the world currently produces enough food for everybody
  –> HOWEVER, Many people do not have access to it

–> HIGH inequality

Question 5

What are some environmental impacts of food production?

Answer 5

• Eutrophication
• Air pollution
• Soil degradation
• Loss of habitats/ deforestation
• Water degradation
• Greenhouse gas release (methane from cows)

Question 6

How does food production impact “soil”?

Answer 6

Erosion

Loss of fertility

Salinization

Waterlogging

Desertification

Question 7

How does food production impact “air pollution”?

Answer 7

Greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel
Other air pollutants from fossil fuels

Question 8

How does food production impact “water”?

Answer 8

Aquifer depletion

Increased runoff and flooding from land cleared to grow crops

Sediment pollution from erosion

Question 9

How does food production impact “health”?

Answer 9

Nitrates in drinking water

Pesticide residues in drinking water

Contamination of drinking and swimming water with disease organisms

Question 10

What are some food waste differences between LEDCs and MEDCs?

Answer 10

LEDCs:
- Most food is lost during production / transport
- Poor infrastructure for transport
- Poor storage facilities

MEDCs:
- Issue is with consumer stage (retail and consumer behaviour) – food wastage.
- Strict sell by dates on supermarket food.
- Wealth leads to over buying and over consumption.

Question 11

What is the problem with food supply in the future?

Answer 11

Feeding the world’s population in the future is a challenge. By 2050 another 2 billion people must be fed.

Question 12

What are some ways in which we can supply more food in the future?

Answer 12

• Irrigate and cultivate more
• Use of organic fertilisers
• Plant buffer zones around agricultural land to absorb nutrient runoff
• Reduce over conumption
• Improve agricultural technology (to maximize the yield)