Food security and farming techniques (biology only)

Spot the threat

Which threat is it?

Pick a situation, then choose the threat to food security it shows.

7 of 7 still to sort.

Every situation here is made up. Your job is to recognise which of the six threats each one shows.

Predict, then check

Now step onto a farm. Commit to an answer before you look.

Farmers can make food production more efficient by restricting the energy transferred from their food animals to the environment. Which pair of changes does that?

What you need to know

• Food security is having enough food to feed a population.
• An increasing birth rate has threatened food security in some countries.
• Changing diets in developed countries mean scarce food resources are transported around the world.
• New pests and pathogens that affect farming threaten food security.
• Environmental changes affect food production: for example, widespread famine can occur in some countries if rains fail.
• The cost of agricultural inputs threatens food security.
• Conflicts in some parts of the world affect the availability of water or food.
• Sustainable methods must be found to feed all people on Earth.
• The efficiency of food production can be improved by restricting energy transfer from food animals to the environment: limit their movement and control the temperature of their surroundings.
• Some animals are fed high-protein foods to increase growth.

The big picture

Food security is having enough food to feed a population. Six factors threaten it: an increasing birth rate; changing diets in developed countries, which mean scarce food resources are transported around the world; new pests and pathogens; environmental changes such as rains failing, which can cause widespread famine in some countries; the cost of agricultural inputs; and conflicts affecting the availability of water or food. Sustainable methods must be found to feed all people on Earth. On farms, limiting animals' movement and controlling the temperature of their surroundings restrict energy transfer to the environment, improving the efficiency of food production. Some animals are fed high-protein foods to increase growth.

⚠ Watch out

Swapping the two farm techniques. Limiting movement and controlling the temperature of the surroundings restrict energy transfer to the environment. High-protein food is for increasing growth, which is a different aim.

Memory hook

Six threats, six roads to one empty plate: Babies, Tastes, Bugs, Rain, Bills, Battles (birth rate, changing diets, pests and pathogens, environmental change, cost of inputs, conflict). On the farm: 'still and steady keeps the energy in; protein makes them grow.'

Check yourself

Cover the page. Say what food security means and list all six threats. Then name the two farm changes that restrict energy transfer, and say what high-protein food is for.