What is food security, what threatens it, and what does sustainable food mean?
Food security and sustainability: what food security means, the factors that threaten the food supply, food poverty and food banks, sustainable food production and fishing, and global food issues.
A focused answer on food security and sustainability for Eduqas GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition (C560), covering the meaning of food security, the factors that threaten it, food poverty and food banks, sustainable food production and fishing, and global food issues.
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What this dot point is asking
Eduqas wants you to explain food security and the threats to the food supply, what food poverty and food banks are, and what sustainable food production and fishing mean. These are the global, big-picture topics in Area 5.
Food security
Factors that threaten food security include:
- A rising world population needing more food from the same or less land.
- Climate change and extreme weather (droughts, floods) damaging harvests.
- Rising food and fuel prices, making food less affordable (food poverty).
- Loss of farmland to building, and soil degradation and erosion.
- Pests, crop disease and reliance on too few crops (low crop variety is risky).
- War and conflict, and over-reliance on imports that can be cut off.
Food poverty and food banks
Food poverty can lead to a poor diet (cheap, energy-dense, less nutritious food), which links to diet-related health problems, so it is both a social and a health issue.
Sustainable food production
Ways to produce food more sustainably include sustainable fishing (quotas, larger net holes, line-caught methods to avoid overfishing), farming that protects soil and biodiversity (crop rotation, less chemical use), cutting food miles by buying local and seasonal, using water and energy efficiently, and reducing food waste, which is the single biggest lever because it saves all the resources used to grow the food.
Global food issues
Food is unequally shared: some regions have plenty and waste food, while others face shortages and hunger. A rising population, climate change and conflict make this worse. Solutions discussed at GCSE include reducing waste, eating more plant-based diets (which use less land and water), fairer trade, and developing crops that cope with drought and disease.
Try this
Q1. Define food security. [1 mark]
- Cue. Reliable access for all people, at all times, to enough safe, nutritious and affordable food.
Q2. Give two ways food can be produced more sustainably. [2 marks]
- Cue. Any two of: sustainable fishing, protecting soil and biodiversity, cutting food miles, reducing waste, using water and energy efficiently.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC Eduqas exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Eduqas 20196 marksExplain what is meant by food security, and discuss the factors that can threaten the food supply.Show worked answer →
A 6-mark extended-response question.
Food security means that all people, at all times, have reliable access to enough safe, nutritious and affordable food to lead a healthy life. A country or household with food security can be confident of its food supply.
Factors that threaten it: a rising world population needing more food from the same land; climate change and extreme weather (droughts, floods) damaging harvests; rising food and fuel prices making food unaffordable (food poverty); loss of farmland to building and soil degradation; pests, crop disease and reliance on too few crops; and war or conflict and over-reliance on imports that can be cut off.
Top-band answers (5 to 6 marks) define food security and explain several distinct threats clearly.
Eduqas 20214 marksDescribe what is meant by sustainable food production and give two ways food can be produced more sustainably.Show worked answer →
A 4-mark structured question.
Sustainable food production means producing food in a way that meets today's needs without damaging the environment or using up resources, so that future generations can still produce food.
Two ways (any two): use sustainable fishing (quotas, avoiding overfishing) to protect fish stocks; farm to protect soil and biodiversity (crop rotation, less chemical use); cut food miles by producing and buying locally and seasonally; reduce food waste; and use water and energy efficiently.
Markers reward defining sustainability (meeting needs now without harming the future) and two valid methods.
Related dot points
- Food provenance and production: where and how food is grown, reared and caught, intensive and organic farming, free-range and sustainable fishing, seasonality, local and imported food, fair trade and the journey from farm to fork.
A focused answer on food provenance and production for Eduqas GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition (C560), covering where and how food is grown, reared and caught, intensive versus organic farming, free-range and sustainable fishing, seasonality, local and imported food, and fair trade.
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- Food choice, sensory evaluation and labelling: the factors that affect food choice, sensory testing methods, food labelling law and nutrition information, and how marketing and packaging influence what we buy.
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Sources & how we know this
- WJEC Eduqas GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition specification (C560) — WJEC Eduqas (2016)