Sustainable Food Fortnight Quiz! Trivia

Explanation
Food and drink waste (worth £5.6 billion) was thrown away in the UK in 2012 because it had either gone off or passed the date on the packaging. This included large amounts of bread, milk, and fresh potatoes. Find out more at Love Food Hate Waste.

We rely on farmers from all over the world to produce our food. 75% of the world population is fed with food provided locally by small-scale farmers, fishers or herders. But many of these are themselves undernourished. Minimizing food waste will help to ensure that there is enough for everyone in the world. The Zeer pot is a simple technology that helps people in hot climates keep food fresh for longer.

Explanation
In Sri Lanka, increased sea levels have caused sea water intrusion into coastal lagoons and estuary systems, causing the destruction and slow change of existing habitats. Using organic farming practices and planting traditional rice varieties proved successful at growing rice in areas affected by salinity. Find out more.

Explanation
Undernutrition is one of the world’s most serious challenges. Nearly one-third of children in developing countries are underweight or stunted and undernutrition contributes to one-third of all child deaths.Practical Action has been working with small scale farmers on raising fish in rice paddies. Fish thrive among the dense rice plants and fertilise them with their droppings, eat insect pests and help to circulate oxygen around the rice field. This can increase rice yields by up to 10% – plus they have the additional supplies of fish. Fish is an excellent source of protein and so improves people’s health and extra rice yields enable farmers to sell some of their surplus crop.

Explanation
The soya bean is classified by the FAO as an oilseed. Parts of far western Nepal suffer from chronic food insecurity. Many farmers are unable to produce enough food from their average land to support their family for the whole year. Practical Action has been working with these communities to improve their access to technical knowledge to improve their productivity and to provide better markets for their produce. Pulses are a highly sustainable food crop and will be an essential part of an improved diet.

Explanation
Beef has the largest water footprint of any meat because of the amount required to grow feed for beef cattle. Chicken has the lowest. Meat production puts more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than transport – so eating less meat is not only good for our health but good for the planet. Livestock farming provides vital income generation for people living in the Andes in Peru, where the land is unsuitable for arable farming. Alpacas are reared primarily for their wool, which is highly prized but the meat is also eaten as an occasional treat.

Explanation
Many acres of the Amazon rain forest has been cleared for coffee plantations. Practical Action has been working with coffee farmers to promote an agroforestry system where coffee bushes are grown sustainably under the existing rainforest canopy.

Explanation
Fruit and vegetables form the major part of the diet of rural families in Zimbabwe. Ensuring sufficient produce both to feed the family and to sell in the market is challenging in a country where drought is frequent. A micro-hydro scheme has given farmers in the Himalaya region the ability to irrigate their crops. They are now able to cultivate more land and grow larger quantities of vegetables and fruit. Find out more.

Explanation
Practical Action are working with flood prone communities to grow crops on the sandbars created as the floodwaters recede. The sand left behind is infertile but soil can be made productive by using the technique of pit cultivation for pumpkins and other crops.