Food Resources Flashcards
What is food?
Any nutritious substance consumed by the body.
What are DCs and LDCs? Give examples
Developed countries (DCs) and less developed countries (LDCs)
DCs: Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, USA
LDCs: Bangladesh, Brazil, Indonesia, Uganda
How are countries classified as DCs or LDCs? Give examples
By a combination of:
- Economic indicators
e. g. GDP per capita, Employment opportunity - Social indicators
e. g. Adult literacy rate, Life expectancy
What are indicators of food consumption?
- Food consumption per capita
- Total daily calorie intake
- Starchy staples as a percentage of all calories
What is food consumption per capita?
The average amount of food a person consumes per year
What is total daily calorie intake?
This represents the total number of calories obtained from food consumed per person each day
What is staple food?
Food forming the main part of the diet. It supplies a major proportion of a person’s energy and nutrient needs
What is food preference?
The choice of one food type over another
What are three food groups?
- Cereals
- Meat
- Fruits and vegetables
What are factors influencing varying food consumption patterns between DCs and LDCs? Name some examples for each factor
- Economic
e. g. Disposable income, pricing (of food)
-Socio-cultural
e.g. Food preferences (fast food & non-organic food vs organic food), population growth,
(Not in textbook) Religious beliefs, migration, changing diets
- Political
e. g. Stability of food supply (can be affected by civil war or natural disasters), food safety
What is disposable income?
The amount of income left to an individual after taxes have been paid
What is organic food?
Food grown without the use of artificial inputs, such as chemical fertiliser or growth hormones
What are the impacts of insufficient food consumption on individuals and countries?
- Health
-Malnutrition
-Starvation
Thereby, leading to ill-health - Economic
- Lower productivity
- Diversion of financial resources to healthcare
- Long-term debt due to food and financial aid - Political
- Social unrest - Social
- Scavenging
What is malnutrition?
A condition in which the body does not get the sufficient or balanced amount of nutrients it needs to maintain healthy tissues and organ functions
What is starvation?
The state of extreme hunger from a severe lack of food
What is social unrest?
A political situation in which people protest or behave violently, often to communicate their unhappiness about a political system or situation
What is scavenging?
Searching through things which other people throw away
What are the impacts of excess food consumption on individuals and countries?
- Health
-Obesity and related illnesses
(due to higher disposable income -> stronger purchasing power -> higher consumption of sweetened beverages and fried food) - Economic
- Lower productivity
- Diversion of financial resources to healthcare - Social
- Food wastage
- Dieting
What is obesity?
A condition of having excess fat accumulated due to over-consumption of nutrients, to the extent that it may have a negative impact on health
What is food production?
The process of transforming crops or livestock into marketable food products. This involves producers, distributors and consumers.
Producers
- farmers and ranchers responsible for the growing of crops and rearing of livestock. Farmers sell their harvests to industries that process and package crop or animal produce into food products
Distributors
- To transport these food products to retail outlets like supermarkets where there are consumers
Consumers
- To obtain the food products for consumption
Since the 1960s, there has been a ….. of rice and wheat
increased production
What is intensification?
An increase in the productivity of a farm
What is crop yield (in tonnes/hectare)?
The amount of crops produced on a unit area of farmland
What is productivity? (HINT: Output/Input)
The ratio of outputs per unit area of land to inputs per unit area of land
What are the factors influencing the intensity of food production? Name examples
- Physical
- climate
- soils and drainage
- relief - Economic
- purpose of farming (subsistence vs commercial)
- demand and capital
- agribusiness - Political
- government policy (e.g. agricultural policy, food policy)
- ASEAN - Technological advances
-Green Revolution
(characterised by: use of high-yielding varieties, use of fertilisers and pesticides, improved irrigation and mechanisation)
What is subsistence farming?
The production of crops to feed the farmer and his family
What is commercial farming?
The large-scale production of crops to sell for profits
What are cash crops?
Crops intended for sale rather than to meet the consumption needs of the farmer or the farmer’s livestock
What is agribusiness?
Refers to a business or industry involved in food production. It usually refers to large-scale farming and related business activities such as commercial farming, processing, packaging, distributing and retailing
What is food security?
When all people in an area are able to obtain sufficient quantities of safe and nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle
What is stockpiling?
Setting aside and storage of food to ensure food security during emergencies
What is the Green Revolution?
Refers to the rapid increase in the productivity of agriculture through the use of science and technology
What are high-yielding varieties?
Enhanced strains of crops such as rice, wheat and other cereals that have an increased growth rate
What are fertilisers?
Substances added to the soil to provide nutrients for healthy plant growth
What are pesticides?
Chemical substances used to kill insects and small animals that destroy crops
What is irrigation?
The method of supplying water to the land other than by natural means, such as rain, to help crops grow
What is mechanisation?
The use of more advanced machinery to perform tasks which would otherwise have to be done manually
What are the challenges related to the intensification of production of crops from the 1960s?
- Effect of irrigation on water and soil quality (waterlogging, salinisation)
- Effect of chemicals on water and soil quality (eutrophication)
What is salinisation?
A condition that occurs when water added to the soil during irrigation evaporates directly from the moist soil, causing salt to be left behind on the soil after evaporation
What is eutrophication?
The presence of excess nutrients in water, leading to algae bloom
What are the factors leading to food shortage? Name examples.
- Physical
- climate change
- extreme weather events
- pests - Political
- civil strife
- poor governance - Economic
- rising demand for meat and dairy products from emerging economies
- soaring cost of fertilisers and transport
- conversion of farmland to industrial crop production to produce biofuel crops - Social
- lack of accessibility
- inadequate logistics of food distribution and storage
- rapid population growth
What is extreme weather?
Weather events which may cause the loss of lives or damage to property
What is governance?
The exercise of economic and political authority to manage a country’s affairs
What are biofuels?
Fuels that derive energy from biological carbons instead of fossil fuels such as coal
What is food distribution?
The movement of food from farms to retail outlets
