Starter9 out of the 10 Fruits

and Vegetables that we eat come from abroad.

What is the problem with this?

Food miles: Advantageor disadvantage?

What we are learning today:

1. To be able to explain what food miles are.

2. To describe the global advantages and disadvantages of importing food.

Why we are learning this:• To independently decide whether you agree or

disagree with importing food.• Understand that many controversial issues can

be interpreted in different ways.

What I know already.

What I want to know.

What I have learnt.

Stick this table into your books and complete the first two columns that last will be filled in at the end.

What is a food mile?

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIDeXzl4DKE

Copy the sentences into your book filling in the blanks.

Food miles are the measure of the ____________ a food travels from field to plate. This travel adds substantially to the ___________ ___________ emissions that are contributing to ____________ change. ____________ per cent of the fruit and half of the vegetables in the UK are __________. The amount of food being _________ into the UK ____________ in the 1990s and is predicted to rise further each year. Consumers are also directly responsible for increased food miles. We now travel further for our shopping and use the ______ more often to do it.

Missing words:

Ninety-five flown climatedistance imported car carbon dioxide doubled

Food and their origin

Cashew nuts - IndiaChocolate – Ivory CoastMangoes – MalaysiaOranges – SpainBrazil nuts – BrazilKiwi fruit – New ZealandBananas – Costa RicaSugar snap peas – KenyaWine – South AfricaApples – FranceStrawberries – IsraelCoffee - Columbia

You are going to create a balanced argument…

Positives of importing food Negatives of importing food

Importing food- this issue

• Read this article which highlights the fact that the UK is currently dependent on other countries for many of the fruit and vegetables that we eat.

• In pairs come up with answers to the questions:

1.Why does the UK import fruit and vegetables from other countries? 2.

2. What are the benefits and disadvantages of importing food into the UK from across the globe?.

The Icelandic Volcano

• The Icelandic volcano could have one unexpected effect: it may cause us to reassess our relationship with food.

• The disruption to aviation has not only stranded passengers, it has also made it impossible to transport by air much of the fruit and vegetables that we now import. Kenya, which relies on exports of flowers and vegetables for much of its foreign earnings, has been especially hard hit and some perishable produce has been destroyed, a scandal in a country where so many people are poor.

• This should cause us to reflect again about the extent to which we use produce that is so far-flown. To some extent this is both desirable, for the sake of supporting producers in poor countries, and inevitable, in the case of perishable exotic fruits or winter roses. Other things, such as coffee, can be transported over land and sea. But is it really necessary to import onions from Morocco or fly asparagus from Peru or apples from South Africa? Produce that can be grown here should be grown here both on environmental grounds and for the sake of supporting our own farmers.

Why does Kenya have strong links with the UK?

• Make a list of reasons that explain why most former colonies in Africa try to trade with the countries that used to rule them?

The Great British EmpireThe Great British Empire

All the areas shown in pink were colonies controlled by Great Britain – Kenya was a colony.

The colonies in Africa gradually gained their independence. Kenya became an independent country in 1963 – 46 years ago.

African African ColoniesColonies

Food from Kenya

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHVWNlZWj0E

Think about the green bean supply chain, that is to say all the different people involved in the production and consumption of the green beans.

We use the money from producing our crops for both our children to be in primary

school and to build a new home and put in electricity.

By importing food we generate large amounts of CO2 causing

global warming. The countries that will be most effected are those we

import from. Many African countries will have drought and not be able to farm any more.

Producing this food has transformed communities. Now young people want to

stay in farming because there is money and a future in it.

They can have smart phones and good clothes by living

here not in a city.

What do Europeans want – to see us all stay in

poverty, to come to Europe looking for jobs? By

exporting these crops we can earn more and invest in better lives and future

developments.

By travelling by car to supermarkets we are contributing to global warming

so in the future many areas may become flooded while others become

desertified.

The direct social, environmental, and

economic costs of food transport are estimated at over £9 billion each

year.

Our farming contributes little to global warming. We use people to weed

fields not tractors. I wonder whether stopping the export of out produce to Europe would stop the planes flying

and whether that would really reduce the carbon emissions?

Food transported across the world burns up a lot of fossil

fuel and contributes to global warming.

What do you think?

• Give a balanced argument....

Should we import our food from abroad. Give a reason for your answer. Include data, examples and points to support both sides of the argument.

Exam question: 6 marks

• Explain the impact of importing food. Use specific examples in your answer.

Include: • A balanced answer• Specific case study detail• Explanation of points• Key geographical terminology • Keep focused on question- you only have 10

minutes to answer!

Food miles level descriptors

Level 5

• Understand that physical & human processes can change the features of places & explain how these changes affect the lives & activities of people living there

• Communicate your findings using appropriate vocabulary

Level 6:

• Recognise the range of views people hold about environmental/ social and economic interaction & change.

• Recognise how conflicting demands on the environment may arise

Level 7:

• Appreciate that the environment in a place & the lives of the people who live there are affected by actions & events in other places.

• Analyse different approaches to developing places and environments and explain the causes and consequences of environmental change.

Level 8+:

• Present well argued summaries of the issue and reach substantiated conclusions

• Explain complex interactions within & between physical & human processes

• Assess the relative merits of different ways of tackling environmental/social and economic l issues & justify your views about these different approaches.

Should we import our food from abroad?