GCSE Geography: Food Security
In the resource management unit of GCSE Geography, students study one resource in depth at a global scale; in AQA 8035, for example, the choice is food, water or energy. This material is for students whose chosen resource is food. It follows the full chain of ideas, from who has enough to eat and why, to how food supply can be increased and made more sustainable.
You start with food security, the idea that all people, at all times, should have physical and economic access to enough safe and nutritious food, and with the patterns of calorie intake across the world. You then examine why demand is rising: a growing population and economic development, which changes diets towards more meat and dairy. The factors that affect supply come next: climate, technology, pests and disease, water stress, conflict and poverty. A calculation question shows why rising total production can still mean less food per person.
The impacts of food insecurity include famine, undernutrition, soil erosion, rising prices and social unrest. The strategies to increase supply include irrigation, hydroponics and aeroponics, the original and the new green revolution, biotechnology and genetically modified crops, and appropriate technology, together with the advantages and disadvantages of large-scale agricultural developments. The final section looks at a sustainable food future: organic farming, permaculture, urban farming, sustainable fish and meat, seasonal food, and reducing waste and losses, including better storage and roads in lower-income countries.
The material offers a quiz with explanations, flashcards for key terms, a printable written sheet of eight exam-style tasks (including a production-per-person calculation and evaluations of large-scale and local schemes) and an oral exam in which an examiner asks you one question at a time and ends with short feedback. Add details from the large-scale development and the local scheme your class studied to strengthen your written answers.
- Define food security and describe global patterns of calorie intake
- Explain why food consumption is rising and what affects food supply
- Calculate food production per person and interpret the result
- Describe the impacts of food insecurity
- Evaluate irrigation, hydroponics, aeroponics, biotechnology and appropriate technology
- Evaluate sustainable approaches to food supply, including reducing waste
Practice material written by Zestly, based on the DfE GCSE geography subject content (resource management) and board specifications such as AQA GCSE Geography 8035, section 3.2.3 (resource management: food). Food security definition from the 1996 World Food Summit (FAO).
Sample question
Which of the following best defines the term 'food security'?
- A situation where a country produces all the food it consumes domestically.
- When all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food.
- The ability of a population to survive on a diet consisting only of locally sourced seasonal produce.
- A government policy that guarantees a minimum calorie intake for every citizen regardless of cost.
See the answer
When all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food.
This is the widely used definition from the 1996 World Food Summit. A country can be food secure while importing much of its food (as the UK does); what matters is that everyone can reliably obtain and afford enough safe, nutritious food.