Session 6: Feeding the World Differently

Start thinking: the last meal that you ate relied on…

growing

processing

transporting

retail

Which has the biggest impact on nature, and why?

It’s probably not the one you thought!

Scientists believe that the biggest cause of biodiversity is how we produce our food.

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As the population of the planet grows, this impact will only increase.

How do we feed eight billion people without destroying what’s left?

Today’s Big Question:

How do we feed eight billion people without destroying what’s left?

PATHWAY 1

Use Less Space

• Agriculture’s impact on wildlife
• How beef, soy and palm oil drive global deforestation
• Ecological costs of deforestation

10 mins

PATHWAY 2

Feeding The World Differently

• Alternatives - vertical farming, agroforestry, regenerative farming, diet, cutting waste
• Solutions for a growing population 10 mins

z

Finished? Complete the Sustainability Crossword

Sustainable Plate

Your group is tasked with analysing the environmental

costs of different foods, to eventually design a meal that has a sustainable meal.

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You need to weigh up different factors for your ingredients:

• land use
• water use
• harm to wildlife
• greenhouse gases

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Let’s start with a quickfire quiz:

Sustainable Plate

1. Which of these takes the most land to produce?

1. 100 g beef mince
2. 100 g chicken breast
3. 100 g tofu

100g of beef mince needs 32.6m² = nineteen single beds

100g of chicken breast needs 1.2m² = most of one bed

100g of tofu needs 0.35m² = about a pillow

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Beef needs 27 times the land of chicken and 93 times the land of tofu, for exactly the same weight of food.

Sustainable Plate

2. Which of these takes the most water to produce?

1. 100 g farmed salmon
2. 100 g lamb
3. 100 g chicken

100g of farmed salmon needs 369 litres = 37 buckets

100g of lamb needs 180 litres = 18 buckets

100g of chicken needs 66 litres = 7 buckets

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Salmon is worst of the three for water, but actually the best of the three for land. Lamb is the exact reverse. There is no single best food. It depends which question you are asking.

Sustainable Plate

3. Which of these affects wild animal habitats most?

1. 100g dark chocolate
2. 100g cheddar cheese
3. 100g chicken

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100g dark chocolate needs 6.9m² of farmland = 4 single beds

100g cheddar cheese needs 8.8m² of farmland = 5 single beds

100g chicken needs 1.2m² of farmland = most of 1 single bed

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Cheese needs the most farmland, which affects wild animal habitats most. The two foods without meat are doing the most damage here. Cheese takes 7x the habitat of the chicken, and chocolate 6x.

Sustainable Plate

4. Which of these produces the most greenhouse gas?

1. 100g eggs (two small eggs)
2. 100g potatoes
3. 100g prawns

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100g of eggs produces 0.47kg of CO₂ = same as 4.5 bananas

100g of potatoes produces 0.05kg of CO₂ = same as half a banana

100g of prawns produces 2.69 kg of CO₂ = same as 26 bananas

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The prawns produce by far the most greenhouse gas, but use the least land of the three here. They use half of the land of the eggs but more than five times the greenhouse gas.

Sustainable Plate

Now you are going to design a meal.

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First, you will choose five ingredients that your meal will be based on - a protein, a carbohydrate, two vegetables and a drink.

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You are aiming to create a meal that has tasty ingredients, but with minimal environmental impact. Remember, that includes land, water and greenhouse gas emissions.

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Sustainable Plate

Choose and write down your five ingredients as a group:

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Sustainable Plate

Add up the land use of your five ingredients in m²:

Sustainable Plate

Now add up the water use of your five ingredients in litres:

Sustainable Plate

Last, add up the emissions of your ingredients in kg of CO₂:

Sustainable Plate

What is the total environmental impact of your meal?

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How many square metres of land?

How many litres of water?

How many kilograms of CO₂?

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Discuss:

How can we choose what foods to eat to minimise our environmental impact?

WE HAVE COVERED:

• How food production shapes land use
• Why agriculture takes up so much of the planet’s surface
• How farming harms the natural world
• The link between agriculture and biodiversity loss
• Alternative food systems
• How diet choices and reduced food waste can lower the environmental cost of feeding a growing population

Learner Journal

Part 1: Three Things I Learnt Today

Open your Learner Journal. Write down three things you learnt. These can be facts, ideas, or things that surprised you.

How do we feed eight billion

people without destroying

what’s left?

Learner Journal

Part 2: Reflective Question

Write your response in your Learner Journal, then finish sections 3-5.

"The future of life on Earth depends on what is on our plates. If we take care of nature, nature will take care of us." Sir David Attenborough, naturalist and broadcaster (2020)

Our planet's biggest puzzle is figuring out how to feed nearly 10 billion people without running out of the land, clean water, and wild forests nature needs to survive. Through brilliant science and everyday choices—from high-tech indoor farms to simply wasting less food—your generation has the power to feed humanity while helping the Earth thrive.

Lock-In Quote

Extension Activities

Extension 1

Extension 2

Turning a Threat into a Catch

Future Fine Dining

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