Food and Nutrition Unit 3 - Relationships and Influences

Unit 3: Relationships and Influences 3.1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs ● Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a pyramid that represents humans' needs from the most basic ones like food and water at the bottom, to more complex ones like fulfillment and esteem at the top. ● There are five needs in Maslow’s pyramid: ○ Physiological needs ○ Safety needs ○ Belongingness and love needs ○ Esteem needs ○ Self fulfillment needs ● The image below breaks down what each layer includes: 3.2 Food Security and Insecurity ● Food security: with a reliable source of nutrient rich, affordable meals ● Food insecurity: without a reliable source of nutrient rich, affordable meals ● Food insecurity is a larger issue than many people think. It does not mean one is necessarily homeless or without a job. Someone who does not know whether they will be able to afford their next meal even if they have a job, would still be considered someone with food insecurity in their household. ● In 2014, close to 20 million households in the U.S reported being food insecure at one or many times during the year. ● There are programs in place in cities, schools, and community centres to fight this issue, such as: ○ Nutrition programs: some schools are provided with the funding to give students breakfast in the morning before schools, so students who can’t afford breakfast don’t start the day on an empty stomach. ○ Food banks/food drives: The food collected for food banks is available to anybody who needs it. Food banks also receive millions of dollars in donations yearly. 3.3 Environmental Impact of Food Production and Consumption Food Production and Consumption ● Food production makes up more than 20% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. ● Producing food takes massive amounts of energy. Before it comes to your plate, fresh produce, dairy products, grains, meats, etc. go through the farming, washing, cutting, packaging, transportation, and so many more smaller steps. ● Because food is produced in such large amounts, large machinery is often used. For example, when grain is being harvested, large combine harvesters are used for the field. These machines use so much fuel and put that right back into the environment. ● Farming and agriculture also gets rid of large plot of land that used to be home to thousands of species, ruining biodiversity and forever disrupting the ecosystems that once existed there. ● Food production also used a lot of water. Almost 60 million gallons of water are required per second to make enough food to sustain the current population. Food Waste ● Food waste is also another factor that contributes to the environmental impact. ● 1.4 billion tons of food are wasted every year. To put it into perspective, that is not just food waste, that is also throwing away all the resources that went into producing that food in the first place. The fuel used to power the harvesting machines, all the machinery used in the production/manufacturing process, and the materials used to package that item of food. All this is thrown out and it is a complete waste of resources. ● Waste goes straight to landfills, where a greenhouse gas called methane is released. If we stopped throwing away so much food, we could collectively cut back on more than 10% of greenhouse gas emissions that are produced by food consumption and waste. ● Many foods that are thrown out, especially by grocery stores, have not actually gone bad, they just have a dent or a spot that doesn't actually affect the quality of the food at all.