Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

Does it matter what we eat and how we get our food?

Knowledge – children will know:

Food is something nutritious that we eat. We need food to live, it gives us energy and helps us grow and keep our bodies healthy and strong.

It is important to eat a range of foods to keep us healthy, this is called a varied or balanced diet.

The main food groups that we need to eat are protein, carbohydrates, and fats. We also need to plenty of fruit and vegetables to give us vitamins and minerals.

Humans are omnivores which means they are designed to eat food from either plants or animals.

When plants and animals are grown or reared on a large scale for people to eat, it is called farming.

There are three main types of farming in the UK:

• Arable, producing crops such as wheat or vegetables
• Pastoral, raise animals for meat, wool or dairy products.
• Mixed, farmer grows crops as well as keeping animals.

Today in the UK approximately 80% of the countryside is farmland.

It is possible to grow you own fruit and vegetables. Allotments are small pieces of land rented out to people so they can grow their own fruit and vegetables. There are about 300,000 allotment plots in the UK.

Almost half of the food in the world ends up being  thrown away as waste.

 We can reduce food waste by:

• using up leftovers
• storing food properly
• freezing food that is about to go off
• planning what we are going to eat before buying our food.

Nearly 30% of fruit and vegetables don’t get sold in the supermarkets because they don’t look nice enough or are the wrong shape.

In the UK most fruit and vegetables are seasonal - we are encouraged only to eat fruit and vegetables in season. Eating fruit out of season means it has been stored  or perhaps travelled a long way from where it was grown.

The food we buy from supermarkets has come from all around the world, for example, bananas can travel over 5000 miles before they reach our supermarkets.

There are strict rules in the UK linked to farming – these include rules around animal welfare and what chemicals the farmer can use to grow their crops. This is not the same in all parts of the world.

The world’s population  is growing, this is increasing demand for cheap food and food which can be produced quickly.

Farming can have a significant impact on our world, both positive and negative.

In some regions of the world, habitats (for example, rainforests) are being destroyed for farming, majority of land turned over for grazing of cattle (cows).

In some regions of the world farmers are using chemicals (pesticides) which are harmful to plants and animals.

Contextualised teaching and learning. Children will apply their knowledge to a context (contexts are based on learning through stories).

Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest for the creation of new farms. Impact on plants, animals and local communities. Destruction of habitats.