Lesson 12 - Food Security in Australia

Question 1

what are the main food changes that have happened in the world? (6)

Answer 1

1. Worked out how to use terracing to grow rice on hillsides
2. Invented new machinery and computerised farming systems to have the best possible farms
3. Used irrigation systems let us grow food where there’s no rain
4. Invented pesticides, herbicides and non-chemical pest control to make sure that weeds and bugs don’t destroy our crops
5. Used selective breeding of plants to make sure we keep producing enough food
6. Worked out how to change the DNA of the crops we grow so they grow the way we want them to

Question 2

why can Australia contribute to food security?

Answer 2

1. We have been very clever with our food production so far, given that we are the driest inhabited continent, we have low-quality soils and we suffer from a range of hazards from droughts to floods and tropical cyclones. We have a lot of experience in tackling difficult challenges with food production
2. We’ve produced some excellent food production technologies and we spend a lot of money on agricultural research and development
3. We have spent a lot of money developing climate change models to predict exactly what
   the problems are going to be in the future (and how we can lessen the impact of these
   problems)
4. We spend a lot on health and nutrition research and we have high food standards
5. We have spare money to give very poor countries aid

Question 3

what does australia have to focus on?

Answer 3

We have to focus on:
1. Improving the ways we use water
2. Work on new ways to improve our terrible soil
3. Make sure our production is sustainable
4. Work on new genetically modified foods to feed poorer countries
5. Get better at producing organic foods
6. Growing cities in a sustainable way
7. Increasing aid for food production in other parts of the world