Introduction

Geographers like to think about how to tackle global issues. Technically there is enough food on this planet to feed every person with 2.5 kg of food every day, yet thousands of people die of starvation. This challenge will introduce you to issues around  the uneven distribution of food. Using a cake to represent the world’s food supply, this activity will help you understand some of the different situations around the world which can affect security. You will represent a continent and will be allocated a portion of a cake which symbolises its food resources. You will be faced with chance cards which will affect your food security. For example, you might suffer a natural disaster, have political problems, or have a food surplus. In each case you will be left with a different amount of food to feed your population. The food security of your population will depend on global forces. Will you be able to feed your people? If not, why not?   How could you prevent the changes to your food security?

Challenge

The challenge can also be used as a classroom activity, using the teacher resource pack (downloadable here ). 

Further Reading

This activity should have made you think about the inequalities of global food distribution as well as how different situations can affect food security (war, food aid, surpluses in developed countries).

By studying geography you can generate a greater awareness of different situations in today’s world, as well as potentially trying to generate solutions for them in the future. If you’re interested in learning more about food and resource inequality, there are number of websites with good information:

• Food and Agriculture Organizations  of the United Nations
• United Nations World Food Programme
• 11 myths about global hunger 
• Global Hunger Index