Answers to Food for Thought Questionnaire!

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Question 1: What is the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG)?

•    to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
•    to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than 1 dollar a day
•    to achieve full & productive employment & decent work for all, including women & young people
•    to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
•    none of the above
•    all of the above

→ THE CORRECT ANSWER IS: all of the above

Question 2:  True or false?  The right to adequate food is a human right, inherent in all people, to have regular, permanent and unrestricted access, either directly or by means of financial purchases, to quantitatively and qualitatively adequate and sufficient food corresponding to the cultural traditions of people to which the consumer belongs, and which ensures a physical and mental, individual and collective fulfilling and dignified life free of fear.

→ THE CORRECT ANSWER IS: True.  Visit this link for more information: Right to Food.

Question 3: What type of food do require the most of in our diets?
•    Good Fats
•    Complex Carbohydrates (Vegetables, fruit, and starches)
•    Candy
•    Protein

→ THE CORRECT ANSWER IS: Carbohydrates
Each meal consumed in a day should be 50%-60%carbohydrates (which is the size of one closed hand with the other hand grasping it), 25%-30% proteins (the size of your palm) and 15%-20% healthy fats (approximately the size of a shot glass for nuts or 1/2 shot glass for oils).


Question 4:  Where does the world's food crop diversity come from? (What are the major centres of origin?)

•    our food crop diversity comes from North America
•    our food crop diversity comes from farms, fields and forests in the tropics and sub-tropics
•    our food crop diversity comes from Lobaws and other major grocery stores
•    none of the above
•    all of the above

→ THE CORRECT ANSWER IS: Our food crop diversity comes from farms, fields and forests in the tropics and sub-tropics — where rural communities first domesticated species and where they have been nurtured for millennia.

Question 5: How many countries now require emergency food assistance?

→ THE CORRECT ANSWER IS: 30.  Visit this link for more information: Globe and Mail article
•    30
•    107
•    15
•    48
•    none of the above
Question 5: How many people in the world are unnourished this year?

•    60 thousand
•    1.02 billion
•    2.05 billion
•    300 thousand
•    none of the above

→ THE CORRECT ANSWER IS: 1.02 billion.  Visit this link for more information: Globe and Mail article

Question 6: Which type of chocolate is the healthiest?
•    White Chocolate
•    Milk Chocolate
•    Dark Chocolate
•    None

→ THE CORRECT ANSWER IS: Dark Chocolate
White chocolate doesn't even contain cocoa, it is pure sugar. Milk chocolate is hardly any better. Dark chocolate has more antioxidants than blueberries, so it should be eaten every so often in moderation because it still contains some sugar.


Question 7: After dropping steadily since 1969, the number of undernourished people in the world today has recently started to rise. Is this because of:

•    a decline of investment in agriculture
•    high food prices
•    global financial meltdown
•    all of the above
•    none of the above

→ THE CORRECT ANSWER IS: all of the above. Visit this link for more information: Globe and Mail article

Question 8: Think about the difference between providing FOOD AID and AGRICULTURE AID.

Now - True or false: delivering FOOD to people versus INVESTING in farming and new agricultural technology is a more sustainable act to make a difference in the lives of people who are undernourished.
•    True
•    False
•    The answer is complex

à THE CORRECT ANSWER IS: …that the statement is complex because there are many systems (social, economic, and environmental) at play.

When thinking about emergency food aid versus agriculture aid or development assistance, consider:

1.    Where we are now (-the number of undernourished people is increasing in the world);
2.    Where we need to be going (-halving the number of people hungry in the world by 2015), and;
3.    How we are going to get there.

Emergency food aid does not develop the capabilities of the people that it is providing for.  The food provided may also not be culturally and religiously appropriate.  However, if people are dying from starvation, the first response will be to provide them with food.  If people are not starving, but are severely malnourished, what is the best response?  Perhaps, in those cases, emergency food assistance, coupled with agricultural development assistance.  By investing in agriculture through agricultural development assistance, do we create an opportunity for people to find ways of providing food for themselves on their on terms, their own land, and their own time?

These are the questions to ask when thinking about sustainable action (and making a difference).  Remember: the “answers” depend on the particular context under consideration.

“Give a person a fish; you have fed them for today.  Teach a person to fish; and you have fed them for a lifetime.” -Author unknown

Question 9: Please read the following two statements:

- The Green Revolution increased food production and led to reduction in hunger.
- The Green Revolution developed mono-culture and left people dependent on seed companies.

That said, did the green revolution contribute to the current food crisis?
•    Yes
•    No
•    The answer is complex

→ THE CORRECT ANSWER IS: …that the answer is complex.

From Wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution)

The effects of the Green Revolution on global food security are difficult to understand because of the complexities involved in food systems.

The world population has grown by about four billion since the beginning of the Green Revolution and many believe that, without the Revolution, there would have been greater famine and malnutrition. India saw annual wheat production rise from 10 million tons in the 1960s to 73 million in 2006. The average person in the developing world consumes roughly 25% more calories per day now than before the Green Revolution. Between 1950 and 1984, as the Green Revolution transformed agriculture around the globe, world grain production increased by over 250%.

The production increases fostered by the Green Revolution are widely credited with having helped to avoid widespread famine, and for feeding billions of people.

There are several claims about how the Green Revolution may have decreased food security for some people. One claim involves the shift of subsistence-oriented cropland to cropland oriented towards production of grain for export or animal feed. For example, the Green Revolution replaced much of the land used for beans and legumes that fed people for wheat, which did not make up a large portion of their diet.

Question 10: What is the impact of climate change on food supply?
•    rising sea levels will threaten more than 630 million people who live on coastal lowlands – where two-thirds of the world’s largest cities are located
•    there will be more precipitation at high altitudes which will lead to more plant disease and pest outbreaks.
•    susceptible drylands will experience a rise in surface temperature and crop yields will drop dramatically where dryland agriculture depends completely on rain.
•    higher temperatures will cause severe storms and floods, melt glaciers and ice caps and make sea levels rise.
•    none of the above
•    all of the above

→ THE CORRECT ANSWER IS: all of the above!

Question 11: What is food security?
•    everyone has enough food to eat.
•    everyone can eat when they want, where they want.
•    people have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life at all times.
•    people are able to eat the food that is culturally conscious and considerate.
•    none of the above
•    all of the above

→ THE CORRECT ANSWER IS: all of the above!

Question 12: Who supports the Millennium Development Goals?
•    President Obama
•    Bono
•    Gro Brundtland
•    none of the above
•    all of the above

→ THE CORRECT ANSWER IS: all of the above!