Introduction
Introduction to the resources and tips for how to use them.
‘Food security is a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life’HLPE, 2020
The global food system is under increasing pressures to feed a growing population in a way that is environmentally sustainable. Globally, food systems account for 30% of greenhouse gas emissions and despite enough food being produced to feed our global population more than 820 million people are affected by food insecurity. As we face more intense and unpredictable weather events, pandemics and shifts in trade, Australia’s current and future food security is threatened. The 2019/2020 bushfires and global pandemic COVID-19 have shown the fragility of long food supply chains and demonstrated the need to build resilience in our global and national food system.
Solutions to improving food security typically focus on increasing productivity and technology efficiencies. While, many farmers worldwide are shifting their focus to regenerative and sustainable growing practices, there is an increasing call for local, urban food production, that not only reduces the need for long distance transport and complex supply chains, but also strengthens the connection between farmers and communities, improving the diversity and types of foods available and reducing our reliance on monoculture croplands. Looking back to First Nations land management practices and indigenous crops are also being shown to strengthen local and regional food security, making communities more adaptable and resilient to climatic and landscape changes.
This kit and teaching guide will allow students to practice geographical and historical skills as well as touch on cross curricula ideas from economics, civics, science, and visual arts. Using historical artefacts and events to build a foundation, students are encouraged to brainstorm and analyse how healthy and sustainable food systems can support our food security now and into the future.
References:
- HLPE (2020) Food Security and Nutrition: Building a Global Narrative Towards 2030
- Food Security and Food Production Systems — IPCC
- Victorian Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report 2019 (climatechange.vic.gov.au)
- VicHealth (2020) Life & Health Reimagined: Good Food For All
- Foodbank (2020) Hunger Report
- Foodbank (2019) Hunger Report
How do I use this resource?
We suggest that you allow a week for preparation activities prior to the arrival or use of the kit, and 2-3 weeks for investigation of the learning kit. The activities in each section are designed to be sequential but are flexible enough to allow teachers to skip ideas and content where required.
As you progress through each section, the activities increase in complexity and push students to engage in more critical thinking or cross curricula skills. The artefacts in the learning kit are great launching pads for discussion, investigation, and research.
Curriculum links: Year 7 and 8
| Strand | Curriculum | Resource |
|---|---|---|
| Geographical Concepts and Skills | ||
| Place, space and interconnection | Explain processes that influence the characteristics of places (VCGGC099) | Before the Kit Arrives; Investigating the Past; Observing the Present; Preparing for the Future |
| Identify, analyse and explain spatial distributions and patterns and identify and explain their implications (VCGGC100) | Overlay map | |
| Identify, analyse and explain interconnections within places and between places and identify and explain changes resulting from these interconnections (VCGGC101) | Investigating the Past; Observing the Present; Preparing for the Future | |
| Data and information | Collect and record relevant geographical data and information from useful primary and secondary sources, using ethical protocols (VCGGC102) | Before the Kit Arrives; Investigating the Past; Observing the Present; Preparing for the Future |
| Select and represent data and information in different forms, including by constructing appropriate maps at different scales that conform to cartographic conventions, using digital and spatial technologies as appropriate (VCGGC103) | Before the Kit Arrives; Investigating the Past; Observing the Present | |
| Analyse maps and other geographical data and information using digital and spatial technologies as appropriate, to develop identifications, descriptions, explanations and conclusions that use geographical terminology (VCGGC104) | Overlay map | |
| Geographical Knowledge | ||
| Water in the world | Ways that flows of water connect places as they move through the environment and the ways this affects places (VCGGK106) | Before the Kit Arrives |
| The quantity and variability of Australia’s water resources compared with those in other continents and how water balance can be used to explain these differences (VCGGK107) | Before the Kit Arrives | |
| Nature of water scarcity and the role of humans in creating and overcoming it, including studies drawn from Australia and West Asia and/or North Africa (VCGGK108) | Before the Kit Arrives; Investigating the Past; Observing the Present; Preparing for the Future | |
| The spiritual, economic, cultural and aesthetic value of water for people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and peoples of the Asia region, that influence the significance of places (VCGGK109) | Investigating the Past | |
| Causes of an atmospheric or hydrological hazard and its impacts on places, and human responses to it to minimise harmful effects on places in the future (VCGGK110) | Preparing for the Future | |
| Place and liveability | Factors that influence the decisions people make about where to live and their perceptions of the liveability of places (VCGGK111) | Investigating the Past; Observing the Present; Preparing for the Future |
| Influence of accessibility to services and facilities; and environmental quality, on the liveability of places (VCGGK112) | Before the Kit Arrives; Investigating the Past; Observing the Present | |
| Environmental, economic and social measures used to evaluate places for their liveability, comparing two different places (VCGGK113) | Before the Kit Arrives | |
| Influence of social connectedness and community identity on the liveability of places (VCGGK114) | Investigating the Past; Observing the Present; Preparing for the Future | |
| Landforms and landscapes | Different types of landscapes and their distinctive landform features (VCGGK116) | Before the Kit Arrives; Investigating the Past; Observing the Present |
| Human causes of landscape degradation, the effects on landscape quality and the implications for places (VCGGK119) | Before the Kit Arrives; Investigating the Past; Observing the Present; Preparing for the Future | |
| The challenges of managing and planning Australia’s urban future (VCGGK126) | Before the Kit Arrives; Observing the Present | |
| Spiritual, cultural and aesthetic value of landscapes and landforms for people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, that influence the significance of places, and ways of protecting significant landscapes (VCGGK120) | Investigating the Past | |