010 - Food Insecurity

Factual Question

How can the change in population cause food insecurity?

How can aid create networks between people and places?

Key Terminology

            • Food Insecurity

            • Famine

            • Food Aid

We will define the key words above throughout the lesson but if you are still unsure of their meaning the 'Useful Links' below will help you.


Useful Links

Activity One - Discuss

In the previous lesson we explored the idea of being malnourished we are now going to investigate what it means to be food insecure.


      1. Define the words in the key terminology box.

      2. Where in the world do people suffer from food insecurity/hunger? Why?

Image One - Taken From - WFP

Activity Two - Watch and Note Taking

We often think that people who are living through a period of time where they are not food secure do not live in High-Income Countries but this is not true. We are lucky to have various support networks to allow us to survive in times of trouble but this is not always the case.


      1. Watch the YouTube clip and write down who is impacted by food insecurity.

      2. How has the video impacted your views concerning people who suffer from food insecurity?

      3. There are four key stages of food insecurity. Go through the article in the 'Useful Resources' box and make notes on the different stages.

Activity Three - Food Aid

We are now going to explore how food aid can lift people out of the clutches of death. It is not a simple decision to give food aid though as some areas can become dependent on it. Answer the following questions using the YouTube clip and the articles in the 'Useful Resources' box.


      1. What is food aid?

      2. Using a pencil and a ruler, copy and complete the table below outlining the advantages and disadvantages of food aid. You will need to watch the YouTube clip and read the second article on 'Food Aid - Global Issues' to do this. (The YouTube clip is 13 minutes and 31 seconds long and outlines how good intentions can lead to disaster - 'friendly fire'.)

Positives and Negatives of Food Aid

Activity Four - Poverty and Hunger - Europe - Food Banks

As we have already discussed poverty is something that happens in all countries and continents of the world. It is clearly difficult to measure on a global scale as the cost of living in each region is different. You spend 14CHF on a lunch in the cafeteria but this could feed and house you for a day and night in Morocco, Myanmar, or even Turkey. Therefore now we have looked at the concept of food insecurity and what food aid is we are going to focus this now on Europe. You are going to discover who is at risk of poverty in the EU and how food banks are trying to assist the most deprived.


  1. Using the Euro Food Bank link in the 'Useful Resources' box and state how many people are at risk of poverty in Europe in 2018.

  2. Describe what the fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived aims to do.

  3. Created a detailed example for the European Food Bank. See below for an outline of what is expected from a detailed example.

Detailed Example

A detailed example is something that you could write a couple of paragraphs about within an essay. For your own knowledge, this means creating about half a page of notes with data to illustrate your points.


  1. Mark off half a page in your notes with a coloured line (remember to use a ruler).

  2. Write a heading 'Food Banks in the EU'.

  3. Create bullet-pointed notes on the following using the information in the 'European Food Bank Implementation Report' in the 'Useful Resources' box below.

                  • When was the European Food Bank (EFB) established?

                  • What does the EFB aim to do?

                  • How can the European Member States use the funding?

                  • How much food is coming into the banks and from where?

                  • How many people are benefiting from the food banks?

                  • What challenges do the food banks face?

                  • How has COVID-19 impacted the running and use of the food banks?

Activity Five - Newspaper (Optional Activity)

Write a newspaper report outlining the issues of hunger from a country of your choice. The newspaper will need to include the following points:


                • the geographic causes of hunger - social, economic, environmental and political factors (SEEP).

                • the stage of food insecurity the country is in.

                • the impact of hunger - SEEP

                • an evaluation of the aid that is given.

                • suggestions of how to solve the issue of hunger

How will I be assessed?

You will be assessed on Criterion A - Knowing and understanding, Criterion C - Communicating, and Criterion D - Thinking Critically strands i and ii.