成人快手

What do you know?

Is it possible to grow your own food in the UK?

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Key points

  • Sustainable fishing involves allowing fish stocks to repopulate our seas. Sustainable meat production involves rearing animals on grass, without the use of hormones.
  • Sustainable food production involves the land whilst also protecting it for future generations.
  • Other ways to sustainably increase food supplies include organic farming, urban and peri-urban horticulture, reducing food waste, and eating food that is in season.

Game - Food sustainability

Play a Planet Planners mission and tackle the challenges of food miles as well as promoting sustainable practices.

You can also play the full game

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What is sustainable fish and meat production?

food production involves farming the land whilst also protecting it for future generations.

Fish

Sustainable fishing involves allowing fish stocks to our seas. This means fewer fish are caught at any one time, ensuring there will be enough fish for the future.

Catching fewer fish can be achieved through a better design of fishing nets that have holes that allow smaller fish to escape. Smaller fish can then grow and repopulate the oceans.

"Sustainable fishing with nets with holes, small fish are swimming out of the holes. Larger fish are seen trapped in the net as they are too large to get through the holes. "
Figure caption,
A sustainable fishing net has holes that allow smaller fish to escape

Question

Why don鈥檛 we want to catch smaller fish?

Meat

Some farmers feed to animals, as opposed to grass, as it increases their weight and heavier animals can be sold on for more money. This results in further in order to create the farms to grow the grain. Likewise, some cattle are given to make them grow more quickly. Sustainable meat production involves rearing animals on grass rather than grain, without using hormones.

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How else can food supplies be increased sustainably?

As well as meat and fish, various other types of food can be produced in a sustainable way.

Game - Producing food

Play a Planet Planners mission and handle agricultural issues while solving distribution problems.

You can also play the full game

Organic farming

relies on natural products and processes. These include:

  • natural , such as , rather than chemicals.
  • using natural predators, such as ladybirds, to control like .
  • , which allows soils to recover

Watch this short video to learn more about organic farming

Question

What is organic farming?

Urban and peri-urban horticulture (UPH)

involves growing food in and around cities. Small plots produce more food than the equivalent area of farmland. Urban plots also reduce .

An allotment in a city centre
Image caption,
An allotment in a city centre

Reducing food waste

It is estimated that up to a third of all food in the UK is wasted. Food that has been thrown away cannot be eaten. Less food would need to be produced if we bought less food and avoided wasting food as much as possible.

Eating seasonal foods

Importing food allows us to eat a wider variety of produce throughout the year. For example, strawberries grow in the UK during the summer months. Strawberries are imported to the UK during the winter so they can be bought in supermarkets throughout the year.

However, imported food has high food miles. In addition to this, growing food out of season in heated greenhouses or storing food generates . Eating locally grown food that is in season, therefore, helps to reduce carbon emissions.

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Test yourself

Activity: Explore sustainable food production

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Play the Planet Planners game! game

Make decisions for the planet in this KS3 geography game.

Play the Planet Planners game!
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