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Keystage 2 - Food - Food miles
The food we eat comes from all over the world. The distance our food travels is called FOOD MILES. This is the distance from where it is grown, to where it is bought and eaten. In this activity, you will find out where your food comes from?
Some foods, like coconuts, need warm climates to grow, so have to be transported long distances. But there are problems associated with food miles. These include pollution which can affect the environment and our health. The goodness in food will reduce over time, so its nutrition can be affected. Waste can also be a problem because food travels great distances lots of packaging is needed to protect it from damage and temperature changes.
Some foods, like coconuts, need warm climates to grow, so have to be transported long distances. But there are problems associated with food miles. These include pollution which can affect the environment and our health. The goodness in food will reduce over time, so its nutrition can be affected. Waste can also be a problem because food travels great distances lots of packaging is needed to protect it from damage and temperature changes.
Hands on activity
Collect food packaging and labels from home to find out which countries your food has come from. Take them in to school.1. Use your labels to make a list of food. Which countries have they come from? Compare them with your friends. Do you have the same foods but from different countries?
2. Look at a globe or map. Can you roughly measure the distance from the country where it was grown to the UK?
3. Put the countries in order of the closest to the furthest.
4. How do you think they were transported?
5. What is the climate like in these countries?
6. Which greenhouse would you put the plants in?
| Tropical | Arctic | Mediterranean | Desert |
7. Are any foods grown locally?
8. Could you grow these plants in the UK?
9. Make a display to show your findings.
