HOW TO USE THIS RESOURCE
This resource is intended as a source of information, case studies and task suggestions for teaching and learning about issues surrounding food security across several curriculum areas and units. The points raised will be explored further in the Food Security resources found on our website.
Please refer to the ‘Notes’ section of this presentation for additional information and source references.
It is our hope that you will take part/all of these slides and use them in a way that best suits your purposes. As such, the slides are editable so that the content, case studies and tools included in this resource are flexible for teachers and students to use in classroom instruction, independent student research or presentations. If you do edit this presentation, please ensure content and photos from this resources remain with the appropriate credit to Caritas Australia and the photographers.
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CURRICULUM LINKS
HUMANITIES – Geography
Year 3
ACHASSK068 - The main climate types of the world and the similarities and differences between the climates of different places
Year 4
ACHASSK088 - The importance of environments, including natural vegetation, to animals and people
ACHASSK090 - The use and management of natural resources and waste, and the different views on how to do this sustainably
Year 5
ACHASSK113 -The environmental and human influences on the location and characteristics of a place and the management of spaces within them
ACHASSK114 - The impact of bushfires or floods on environments and communities, and how people can respond
Year 6
ACHASSK139 - Differences in the economic, demographic and social characteristics of countries across the world
HUMANITIES – Civics and Citizenship
Year 3
ACHASSK072 - Why people participate within communities and how students can actively participate and contribute
Year 5
ACHASSK118 - How people with shared beliefs and values work together to achieve a civic goal
Year 6
ACHASSK148 - The obligations citizens may consider they have beyond their own national borders as active and informed global citizens
HUMANITIES – Economics and Business
Year 5
ACHASSK119 - The difference between needs and wants and why choices need to be made about how limited resources are used
ACHASSK120 - Types of resources (natural, human, capital) and the ways societies use them to satisfy the needs and wants of present and future generations
ACHASSK121 - Influences on consumer choices and methods that can be used to help make informed personal consumer and financial choices
Year 6
ACHASSK150 - The effect that consumer and financial decisions can have on the individual, the broader community and the environment
THE GIFT OF FOOD
Food is important to survive, but sadly, not everyone has access to food, and millions of people go hungry every day.
There is enough food to feed everyone in the world, but people still go hungry.
It is important that we ask two important questions:
Why do some people in our world not have access to the food they need?
How can we end world hunger?
Food security is when all people have enough safe and nutritious food to live a healthy and active life.
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
Current estimates show that nearly 690 million people, 8.9 percent of the world population, are hungry.
Source: United Nations
FOOD IN OUR WORLD TODAY
2 billion people in our world do not have enough regular nutritious and food.
20% of almost all sub-regions of Africa experience hunger.
45% of deaths in children under five in poorer countries are caused by mothers and their children not having enough healthy food to eat.
CAUSES OF FOOD INSECURITY
What causes food insecurity and hunger?
RISING SEA LEVELS
Rising sea levels can cause flooding. Flooding can cause damage to land, destroy crops and even kill animals.
NATURAL DISASTERS
Natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods can pollute water, and fires can permanently ruin crops and kill animals raised as food.
RISING TEMPERATURES
Climate change has meant that our world is slowly getting warmer. This makes it harder for crops and animals that are raised as food to survive.
It can also destroy crops and take away nutrients.
Source: ‘Towards New Horizons’ – Caritas State of the Environment for Oceania 2020 Report Source: Effect of environmental changes on vegetable and legume yields and nutritional quality
CAUSES OF FOOD INSECURITY
LACK OF ACCESS TO FARMING LAND
Land is needed to grow crops and raise animals. But many people cannot afford or are not given the opportunity to own land.
FOOD WASTAGE
Did you know that when we throw food scraps into the bin instead of compost, it goes to land fill and rots? This rotten or decomposed food then contributes to greenhouse gasses.
Australians are throwing out four million tonnes of food a year. Many supermarkets throw away a lot of food because people don’t like buying it if it looks a little funny. Lots of food is also lost in some countries because people don’t have the resources to keep it fresh and safe to eat once it has grown.
FOOD WASTAGE
1/3 of the world’s food is wasted
Food wastage is when food is not eaten or thrown away – this can happen when food is grown, when it is being transported, when it is being sold at the shops or even in our own homes.
Each year, Australians waste around 7.3 million tonnes of food.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
In 2015, the United Nations came up with a set of 17 goals, these goals are known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
These are 17 goals for everyone, everywhere. All 17 goals are connected with one another and the aim is that they are achieved by 2030.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Goal 2 of the Sustainable Development Goals is Zero Hunger.
The United Nation’s World Food Programme, is aiming to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition for all by 2030.
Each day, they deliver food assistance in emergencies and work with communities to improve nutrition and help them during times of crisis. Caritas Australia also works towards achieving this goal by providing food during emergencies and supporting communities to grow their own food.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Currently, the world is not on track to achieve the goal of Zero Hunger by the year 2030. If things continue the way they are, the number of people affected by hunger would surpass 840 million by 2030.
The COVID-19 pandemic could see that figure rise even more over the next few years.
Caritas Philippines set up Kindness Stations in communities in thirty dioceses across the Philippines, providing food bags and hygiene kits to poor families to assist them with the challenges of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Photo credit: Caritas Philippines
Source: https://www.wfp.org/stories/risk-hunger-pandemic-coronavirus-set-almost-double-acute-hunger-end-2020
CARITAS AUSTRALIA’S RESPONSE
Caritas Australia believes that food is a basic human right. We work with communities to help them grow their own food and make an income.
Through its work, Caritas is guided by Catholic Social Teaching including:
- Human dignity
- Solidarity
- The common good
- Care for our common home.
CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING
HUMAN DIGNITY
As we are all made in the image and likeness of God, we have a responsibility to make sure all individuals do not suffer from hunger.
SOLIDARITY
As one global family, we work together with our brothers and sisters in standing up for their rights to equal access to food.
CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME
It is our responsibility to care for our earth, because many people rely on the land and sea as a way of producing food to feed their families, as well as a way of making money.
THE COMMON GOOD
Governments and businesses need to make sure that the needs of everyone involved are thought about when making decisions about how food is grown, sold and shared.
CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING
SUBSIDIARITY/PARTICIPATION
It is important for communities to be involved in decisions about food security and their lives. We should also support communities to use their own strengths and skills as a tool to achieving food security in their lives.
PREFERENTIAL OPTION FOR THE POOR
Poverty and food security are connected with one another. Without access to the tools and equipment they need, many people cannot access food as well as grow their own food in order to make an income. It is important that we work towards ending poverty if we are to solve the issue of food security.
CARITAS AUSTRALIA’S RESPONSE
With our partners, we work to make sure that farmers, families and communities are at the centre of the decision-making process.
Some of the things we do at Caritas include:
- training in farming skills
- improving the way crops are grown
- increasing access to local markets
- improving seed selection for different soil types
- improving irrigation
- promoting organic fertiliser
- helping communities develop rain water collection systems
Case study
PHANY, CAMBODIA
Phany, lives in a village in western Cambodia.
Struggling to earn a living as a rice farmer, she was forced to leave her daughter behind in the village, to take up construction work in the city.
PHANY, CAMBODIA
Over 70 percent of Cambodia's population live in rural communities – and the farming families living in poverty are the most food insecure.
Thirteen percent of Cambodians live below the poverty line, while 35 out of every 1000 babies die due to malnutrition.
PHANY, CAMBODIA
In 2016, Phany joined the Upholding Community Dignity Together program, where she learned new farming techniques, such as a drip irrigation system which enabled her to get a better yield from her vegetable crops and to conserve water for drier periods.
She also learned how to grow vegetables and raise chickens and ducks. Phany’s community also took part in training in health, nutrition, hygiene and disaster preparedness, arming them with better strategies to cope with environmental changes.
“I am proud that I was a farmer who had no skills and now I can earn and improve my living, share my knowledge and also improve solidarity in the family and amongst our neighbours.”
Phany
CARITAS AUSTRALIA EDUCATION RESOURCES
This resource was last updated March 2021.
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