Food Resources Gateway 1

Question 1

Reasons for the variation of food consumption patterns between DCs and LDCs

Answer 1

Economic

• disposable income
• pricing

Social-cultural

• food preferences
• population growth

Political

• stability of food supply
• food safety

Question 2

Disposable income

Answer 2

1. Disposable income is the amount of income left for a person to save or spend after taxes have been paid
2. People living in DCs have higher disposable income than people living in LDCs
3. Disposable income has been increasing in both DCs and LDCs, resulting in higher consumption of certain food groups across the world
4. Increase in disposable income has different effects on the food consumption patterns between DCs and LDCs
5. In DCs such as USA and France, only 20% of every US$1 increase in income is spent on food while in LDCs such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, up to 60% of every US$1 increase in income is spent on food
6. With higher disposable income, people have more purchasing power and financial ability to consume larger amounts and variety of food
7. This means people consume more meat and less cereals as mest consumption is often associated with wealth and status
8. When disposable income increases in DCs, quality of diets tend to increase as people can afford more expensive food such as olive oil and organic food which are believed to contain certain health benefits
9. South Korea was experiencing rapid economic growth during the 1970s and 1980s
10. According to statistics published by the Bank of Korea, rice consumption per capita declined by 6%, while meat consumption tripled while marine food products consumption increased by 2.5 times

Question 3

Pricing

Answer 3

1. People in LDCs are more affected by pricing than people in DCs as people in LDCs have lesser disposable income than most people in DCs
2. Therefore, increase in food prices affect LDCs more than DCs
3. Food prices increase drastically from 2006 to 2008 and led to a global food crisis
4. Many people in LDCs suffered as they could not afford more expensive food, affecting their diets
5. Due to the sharp rise in food prices, many also quickly found themselves unable to afford staple food
6. According to the FAO, the crisis pushed 100 million more people into chronic hunger and poverty worldwide
7. In many LDCs, the staple food prices increased more than the prices of non staple food, people have to spend larger part of their income on food
8. Less disposable income is also spent on non staple food such as dairy products and fruits
9. Food prices increase sparked food riots and street protests to prompt government to implement measures to control food prices
10. In DCs, effects were not as dramatic but food prices still rose significantly
11. Food prices did not spark riots as people choose to buy less expensive food
12. During the global food crisis, prices of a dozen of eggs and wheat increased by 38% and 12% respectively in USA
13. People chose to buy less expensive food

Question 4

Food preferences

Answer 4

1. People’s concerns relating to health, moral principles, income, environmental and religious reasons influence the food choices they consume
2. There are 2 types of food people can choose to consume in their daily lives, fast food and organic food
3. Fast food is prepared easily and quickly, allowing people to enjoy a quick meal or packaged for takeaway
4. The standardised procedures and handling processes ensures the consistently of quality of food being served
5. Due to convenience and affordability, fast food is popular as people choose to dine in at these outlets with confortable dining atmosphere
6. Globalisation made it possible for fast food chains to be set up in many LDCs such as India
7. Since 1991, India has opened its economy to foreign investors, resulting in many transnational corporations entering the Indian market and setting up their restaurants in Inda
8. These include fast food chains from USA such as McDonalds and Pizza Hut
9. People may choose to patronize these outlets rather than their local food stalls
10. Although fast food is popular in DCs, its popularity declined as more people are moving away from eating too much fast food
11. People become increasing aware of the harmful effects of fast food on human health
12. People are more concerned on how fast food is prepared and processed with the use of large amounts of oil, processed meat and chemicals
13. Organic food is grown without the use of artificial inputs such as chemical fertiliser and growth hormones
14. More people choose to eat organic food due to the perceived health benefits
15. Some of their health considerations include avoidance of potentially harmful pesticides used during food production
16. In DCs, people are more concerned on the conventional ways of growing food such as the risk of cancer from pesticides
17. As a result, people in DCs are shifting towards eating organically grown fruits and vegetables
18. A 2011 survey in USA revealed that 58% of population would refer to eat organic food
19. In Asia, a 2009 report shows that the demand for organic food increased 20% every year since 1997

Question 5

Population growth

Answer 5

1. Population growth is one of the main key drivers in the growing demand for food worldwide
2. Population growth rates is higher in LDCs than in DCs due to higher birth rates as a result of lack of planning and a need for farm labour
3. The increasing demand for food is greater in LDCs than in DCs over the years
4. According to the FAO, the world’s population is likely to increase from 7 billion in 2010 to 10 billion in 2050
5. Hence, the demand for food will increase greatly

Question 6

Impacts of inadequate food consumption

Answer 6

Health

• malnutrition
• starvation

Economic

• lower productivity
• diversion of financial resources to healthcare
• long term debt due to food and financial aid

Political
- social unrest

Social
- scavenging

Question 7

Malnutrition

Answer 7

1. Malnutrition is the condition where the body does not receive enough or balanced nutrients to maintain healthy tissues and organ functions
2. Malnutrition can lead to deaths or long term development problems
3. According to the WHO, malnutrition is the underlying cause of child deaths associated with diarrhoea, pneumonia, measles and malaria in 2009
4. 52.5% of all child deaths under the age of 5 die from malnutrition
5. Of the 148 million underweight children in the world, 78 million comes from South Asia while 36 million comes from Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central America
6. Each year, 5 million children under the age of 5 in LDCs die from malnutrition
7. Malnutrition affects DCs but to a lesser extent
8. According to the research by Louisiana State University in 2006, thousands of elderly were found to be eating too little due to their difficulty of digesting or chewing food, and they die as a result
9. People with eating disorder such as Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia may develop malnutrition as a result of ingesting too little
10. Malnutrition affects LDCs more heavily, especially Sub-Saharan Africa
11. An estimated of 16% of people in LDCs suffer from malnutrition
12. According to the FAO, 75% of the population in the Democratic Republic of the Congo suffer from malnutrition
13. Malnutrition causes a wide range of negative effects on human health
14. Inadequate foetal nutrition causes an infant to be malnourished
15. Malnourished children may suffer from impaired developments and fall sick easily
16. Inadequate food consumption may impair developments in adolescents and leads to loss of school days and educational opportunities
17. Malnourished person may be less productive at work
18. Malnutrition also causes a low weight gain during pregnancy and a reduced capacity to care for children

Question 8

Starvation

Answer 8

1. Starvation is the extreme state of hunger due to severe lack of food which is the extreme form of malnutrition
2. When going through starvation, body becomes skeletally thin and organs become permanently damaged
3. If starvation is not addressed, person will eventually die
4. Starvation is more common in LDCs as there are more people living in poverty and the lack or absence of resources to overcome threats of natural disasters and unstable political situations
5. In Mali in 2012, 5 million people suffered from starvation due to a poor harvest and a civil rebellion
6. As of 2010, FAO estimated that 98% of starving people comes from LDCs
7. More than 60% of these starving people comes from LDCs in Asia alone while the rest are found in Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central America
8. According to FAO in 2011, Asia Pacific Region had the most starving people followed by Sub-Saharan Africa where more than 1 in 3 people are malnuorished

Question 9

Lower productivity

Answer 9

1. Productivity refers to the rate at which goods or services are produced
2. When workers consume imbalanced amounts of nutrients, they may fall sick more often, lowering their productivity
3. Lower productivity means lower income due to the inability to work as productively as before
4. Children suffering from inadequate consumption of food also fall sick more often, leading to loss of school days and subsequently loss of educational opportunities
5. According to a 2011 report from International Food Policy Research Institute, studies in various LDCs has found significant link between nutrition and health
6. In LDCs such as India, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia, lower levels of nutrition intake over medium to long term is associated with lower levels of productivity
7. Due to poor health caused by malnutrition, farmers may be less innovative, less experimental and unable to implement improvements

Question 10

Diversion of financial resources to healthcare

Answer 10

1. Public health expenditures increase when demand for healthcare services increase as more people fall sick
2. This in turn increases the overall cost of providing healthcare
3. When LDCs spend more on healthcare, limited financial resources are diverted from other areas such as housing, education, transportation and even agriculture
4. There may be insufficient funds for other developments
5. This may slow country’s economic growth and developments

Question 11

Long term debt due to food and financial aid

Answer 11

1. Food aid and financial aid can be given to help people and countries cope with the insufficient supply of food
2. However, financial aid may lead to long term debt problems for the receiving country
3. USA contributes to about half of all global aid
4. However, Most of the food must be bought from their suppliers and transported on their ships
5. The Human Development report in 2005, 2006 and 2009 shows that food supplied as aid can be up to 34% more expensive than if purchased locally
6. The LDCs incurred losses amounting to between US$5 to US$7 Billion
7. Rather than helping the country, this aid often called tied aid serves to increase the national debt of a country

Question 12

Social unrest

Answer 12

1. Social unrest is a political situation where people protests and behave violently to communicate their unhappiness about a political system
2. When a country suffers from inadequate food supply, people may become malnourished, starve and even die due to insufficient food consumption
3. They may then resort to carrying out street protests leading to wars and social unrest
4. When russia suffered a drought in 2010, which decreased its wheat production, food prices in Mozambique increased as much as 30% due to higher prices of wheat sold to Mozambique
5. This results in a violent protests, leaving 400 people injured and at least 10 people died

Question 13

Scavenging

Answer 13

1. Scavenging means searching through things that others threw away
2. When there is inadequate food supply, food is so hard to come by that scavengers eat whatever they can find to prevent starvation or to stave off starvation
3. Scavengers carry health risks because scavenged food may contain high levels of bacteria or chemicals such as heavy metals of mercury or lead
4. In addition, scavenging can also place people in dangerous and illegal situations such as trespassing private property, threatening their safety
5. Scavengers are also perceived as nuisance to the public and are sometimes physically or verbally abused
6. People without to buy food, living in poorest areas of Manila, Philippines, sift through rubbish for meals that others had thrown away
7. In the large landfill, known as Smokey Mountain, many poor families set up their makeshift homes near the dump for easy and quick access to the waste
8. People make living from picking through landfills’ rubbish

Question 14

Impacts of excessive food consumption

Answer 14

Health
- obesity and related illnesses

Economic

• lower productivity
• diversion of financial resources to healthcare

Social

• food wastage
• dieting

Question 16

Diversion of financial resources to healthcare

Answer 16

1. Public health expenditure increases as a result of treating obesity-related illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes
2. When more people suffer from obesity-related illnesses, government will have to channel more funds to healthcare system
3. This reduces the amount of fund available for economic development
4. When other sectors of economy receive less monetary support from government with time, overall progress of country will decline

Question 17

Dieting

Answer 17

1. Dieting is tbe practice of regulating the amount of food consumed in order to maintain an ideal body weight
2. People tend to undergo dieting to lose weight because they consume excessive food and become overweight
3. Apart from individual health benefits, dieting also provide employment and value to an economy
4. In 2012, weight loss industry in USA was valued at US$20 Billion
5. This includes diet book, medication, and medical procedures to lose weight, creating jobs in the health sector
6. Dieting has to be done in a healthy manner such as consuming low fat food
7. Inappropriate dieting may lead to depression and dieting related illnesses such as iron deficiency anaemia

Question 18

Lower productivity

Answer 18

1. More workers are absent from work and taking more days of leave due to obesity-related health issues, leading to lower productivity and subsequently lower income due to inability to work as productively as before
2. On a national level, employees being absent from work due to sickness may cost companies millions in productivity and insurance costs
3. Obese children can also fall sick more often and lead to loss of school days subsequently loss of educational opportunities
4. According to research on the employees of Duke University, USA, employees with Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 40 were twice as likely to fall sick or injured while doing work, resulting in higher compensation claims paid by university to them
5. Compensation claims are wages and medical payments to employees who fall sick or injured while doing work