Sustainable Food Supply

What is Sustainable Development?

What is the global pattern of food consumption?

·        Which areas of the world have a low calorie intake per person?

·        Which areas of the world have a high calorie intake per person?

·        Why do patterns of high and low calorie consumption exist?

·        What health problems can arise as a result of poor diet? (Obesity, Famine)

What factors promote or hinder food production?

·        Physical Factors (climate and seasonality, soils, relief, natural hazards)

·        Economic Factors (subsistence vs commercial agriculture – prices, subsides, tariffs, trade, consumer demand)

·        Political Factors (Trade Blocs (CAP), civil unrest, conservation, restrictions on products)

·        Technological Factors (mechanisation, irrigation, genetic engineering, agrochemicals, infrastructure- polytunnels)

How can food production be sustainably increased?

·        What methods can be used to increase food production? (Mauritius)

·        What is the Blue Revolution?  Explain its advantages and disadvantages.

·        What are Hydroponics and Aeroponics?  What are the advantages and disadvantages of these methods?

·        Outlines the costs and benefits of Genetic Modification (GM foods, Monsanto)

·        How did the Green Revolution (miracle rice, HYVs, IR8) and the Second Green Revolution impact on food production?  Were these methods successful?

·        Explain the pros and cons of organic farming.

Can food supply be sustainably managed?

·        Can the global population continue to grow and be fed adequately in the future?

·        Can high-tech agricultural methods solve the global imbalance in food production and consumption?

·        Is it more important to produce more food, or to distribute food more equally?

·        Who are the winners and losers in the global food production system?

·        Which factor(s) are more important in the global production and consumption of food?

·        Would demographic strategies (population control, healthier lifestyles) go some way to solving the problem of the imbalance of food production and consumption?