Food Flashcards
Food security/insecurity/deficit/surplus, strategies to increase global food supply and strategies to increase food supply for a sustainable resource future
Fill in the gaps: “food contributes at least ______% of the total UK carbon dioxide emissions, but only _____% of this is actually related to transport.
17%
11%
What are the alternatives to importing food? (4)
-Limiting imported foods to those we cannot grow in the UK, and limiting those that are transported by air.
-Eating locally produced food.
-Eating seasonal produce grown in the UK.
-Growing food at home or in an allotment.
Define ‘agribusiness’.
‘Agribusiness’ refers to treating food production from farms like a large industrial business, making it a large scale, capital intensive, commercial activity.
Define ‘food security’.
‘Food security’ refers to when people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.
What factors affect food insecurity? (3)
- Famine and undernutrition
- Conflict and social unrest
- Rising prices
How does technology affect food insecurity in LICs? (2)
- Many LICs lack the money to invest in agricultural infrastructure such as:
-roads to transport their produce
-warehouses for safe storage
-irrigation systems - This can reduce yields and therefore food supplies
Fill in the gaps: “__________________ are a key cause of food insecurity, resulting in average yield losses of over _____ for many key crops including wheat, rice and maize.”
Crop pests and diseases
20%
Explain how conflict causes hunger. (6)
- Conflicts and wars can disrupt farming and food production.
- Fighting forces millions of people to flee their homes, leading to hunger as they find themselves without the means to feed themselves.
- In times of war, food can become a weapon. Food supplication can be seized by soldiers or destroyed.
- Farming areas may be mined to prevent the local people harvesting crops or growing food in the future.
- Workers are often prevented from reaching the people in need, as travelling through areas of conflict can be dangerous.
- International aid can often not reach the most vulnerable people due to a high level of corruption and political instability in many LICs.
Explain how prices can be affected by food insecurity. (3) (Hint: use an example)
- A shortage of food can lead to an increase in prices.
- Rises in food prices locally can often be caused by global events, such as the poor grain harvests in Russia, Australia and Pakistan in 2010.
- This led to a ban on exports of grain from Russia, so causing a reduction in the supply of grain and a rise in global prices.
Define ‘irrigation’.
Irrigation is used to supply extra water to farming areas to increase or maintain production when the water supply is unreliable or low.
Which countries tend to use irrigation?
Countries with arid or semi-arid climates, including parts of Europe and North America.
Why is irrigation not used widely in sub-Saharan Africa?
The cost of investment along with very unreliable rainfall can be prohibitive.
What percentage of sub-Saharan Africa is irrigated?
3.5%
What percentage of Asian farmland is irrigated?
33%
Describe dams and reservoirs.
- Dams and reservoirs: a large-scale scheme; an example would be the Aswan Dam in Egypt.
Describe drip irrigation.
Water is delivered to the plants’ roots through pipes that are full of tiny holes and which are spread across fields. It can be computerised (high-tech) or manual (low-tech).
Describe flood irrigation.
Where fields are flooded in a controlled way. Water is pumped by hand, animal or machine along canals controlled by small dams from a river or well. This is commonly used in rice paddies in Asia.
Describe where sprinklers are found and how they are used.
Either permanent or moveable, sprinklers are found on farms in HICs, such as maize fields in France. Water is delivered to a central point in the field and then to the plants by sprinklers.
Name different types of irrigation. (4)
- Drip irrigation
- Flood irrigation
- Dams/reservoirs
- Sprinklers
Name disadvantages of irrigation. (4)
- Large-scale schemes can push people off land to be used for reservoirs.
- Increased waterlogging of soil due to lack of damage.
- Salinisation, or the build-up of salts and minerals in soil.
- Competition for water from irrigation schemes leads to water scarcity for local subsistence farmers.
Define ‘aeroponics’.
Aeroponics is the process of using air rather than soil to grow plants.
Name the advantages of aeroponics. (3)
- The plants can easily be moved around.
- The plants are easily maintained.
- Less nutrients and water are needed as they are directly absorbed by the roots and not dispersed into the soil.
Name the disadvantages of aeroponics. (3)
- It’s very expensive
- It relies upon the nutrient misting system. If this breaks down, it can lead to the loss of all the plants.
- Specialist knowledge of the exact nutrient mix for the plants, as well as the technology behind the plants, is needed.
Define hydroponics. (2)
Plants grown by hydroponics are grown in water. The roots of the plants are in a nutrient water bath throughout their lifespan.
