Food Production

(GCSE biology)

(Lukas Bidmaier)

Food security is when the whole human population has access to safe and nutritious food to stay healthy. There are a number of  factors which affect the food security;

• Increasing global populations
• New pathogens and pests
• Conflict and war
• Extreme weather events

In modern food production, scientists can use biotechnology to increase food security worldwide. Scientists can modify crops to be in higher yields and/or to be more nutritious. For example, golden rice is often modified to contain more vitamin A which can help to solve global problems with vitamin A deficiency. (If you don't know how genetic modification is done then check out my blog on GM)

 (Walter Otto)

We can also use selective breeding in animals to obtain food security by breeding animals that produce high yields of milk, eggs and other products. (Again, I suggest you check out my blog on Selective Breeding). 

Scientists can also use microorganisms in food production. The most well-known and used microorganism is the fungus 'Fusarium' which is used in the production of Mycoprotein. The fungus is placed into a fermenter in optimum conditions to allow growth of the fungus. Glucose syrup and oxygen are supplied in to allow the aerobic respiration of the fusarium and stirring paddles are used to stir the mixture and allow the most aerobic respiration to take place. After the fusarium is fully grown, it is harvested and purified and more is placed for growth. It is important to sterilise the fermenters and tubes connected so that no harmful pathogens or microorganisms are grown for health reasons and also because they will compete and take the nutrients meant for the fusarium.

Mycoprotein is a good source of food because it is high in protein and fats whilst also being suitable for vegetarians. It can be produced in large masses with less carbon and methane emissions than other agricultural activities like beef production. 

 (Crystal Kwok)

To ensure food security, activities like fishing must also be regulated and controlled to make sure that in the future, populations of marine life are sustained. If too many fish are caught, fish populations can drastically reduce. To maintain population sizes, many countries have introduced fishing quotas which are laws that control the amount of fish that can be caught annually. The problem with this is that some companies will over-fish and throw some fish back but by this time they are dead so no differences are made. Countries can also control the net sizes of companies so that smaller and younger fish are not caught to ensure they live on to reproduce to sustain populations.