Variations of Food Consumption Patterns in DCs and LDCs

Use information from pages 99 to 105 to answer. Complete all work on foolscap paper.
1.

Economic Factor Disposable Income

a.

Define disposable income.

Disposable income is the amount of income left to an individual after taxes are paid.

b.

Explains what happens to food consumption patterns for a LDC such as the
Democratic Republic of Congo for every 10% increase in their income.
Use an example from Fig. 2.14 to support your answer.
They spend more money on food products. For e.g. For DRC, they spend almost up
to 60% of their total income on food alone.

c.

What happens in DCs when there is a rise in disposable income?

In DCs, only 20% of the total income is spent on food. DCs have higher salaries to
start with, therefore when there is a 10% increase in income, this 10% is greater
compared to the 10% of LDC incomes.

2.

Economic Factor Pricing

a.

What were the consequences of rising food prices in LDCS? Support with relevant
examples.
It will cause food riots and street protests. People in LDCs have low salaries to start
with, thus with higher food prices, they have lower purchasing power and their
quantity/choices of food is reduced.

b.

Why do rising food prices have less impact on DCs?

In DCs, peoples salaries are still high so a rise in food prices means lesser variety
to choose from or cheaper options. In DCs, there are stronger welfare systems to
ensure food is given/donated to poorer people.

c.

How did the Chinese government affect the price of soya bean from 2007 to 2008?
The government did not control the trade in soya bean and allowed financial traders
to push up the prices. In addition, a lot of soya bean was imported into China, making
domestic growers unable to compete with imports.

3.

Socio-cultural factor Religious Beliefs, Food Preferences

a.

How do religious beliefs affect a persons food consumption patterns? Use relevant
examples to explain your answer.
Religious beliefs affect a persons choices of food products and the variety he/she
can choose from E.g. Muslims only consume halal foods and people practicing
Buddhism are usually vegetarian or consume little meat.

b.

How does the presence of fast food affect food consumption patterns in LDCs?
Fast food attracts young adults to consume food in fast food outlets. It is also wellreceived by people due to its convenience and cleanliness.

c.

Explain the current trend of consuming fast food in DCs.

In DCs, people are reducing their consumption of fast food in recent years due to
fears of health problems as fast food uses large amounts of processed meats and
chemicals.

4.

Socio-cultural factor Organic Food

a.

Suggest reasons why there might be a rise in consumption of organic food in DCs.
They consume more organic food due to the perceived health benefits of eating
these foods. Organic foods are grown without chemical fertilisers or pesticides.

b.

With reference to Fig 2.20b), explain why organic food might not be widely grown or
consumed in LDCs.
Growing of organic food is expensive and requires a lot of inputs. Organic fertilisers
used to grow organic food is expensive and farmers in LDCs do not have much
capital to support growing these types of crops.

5.

Socio-cultural factor Migration, Population Growth

a.

Explain how migration helps to change food consumption patterns. Use relevant
examples to support your answer.
Migrants introduce new foods to the places they migrate to and create demands for
new food preferences. Sometimes, migrants may adopt the type of foods eaten in the
countries they migrate to. E.g. the large numbers of Koreans in the Philippines made
Korean food popular there.

b.

Explain how population growth in LDCs may lead to changes in food consumption
patterns.
With a rise in population, more food is demanded and thus amount of food that is
needed will increase.

6.

Socio-cultural factor Changing diets

a.

What are the two driving forces that change diets and types of foods consumed?
Due to globalisation and migration, diets in DCs tend to increase in variety and
include a mixture of foods from other regions and countries.

b.

Describe an example of a country that has changed diets.

e.g. Taiwanese used to eat rice as a main staple but are consuming more wheat
nowadays due to introduction of western-style foods like bread, cakes and pastries.

7.

Political Factor Stability of Food Supply

a.

What does it mean by stable food supply?

A stable food supply means that safe and nutritious food is available to all people at
all times. Threats affect stability of food supplies in countries.

b.

What are the reasons affecting the stability of food supply in less developed
countries?
It can be affected by civil war and natural disasters. E.g. in the civil war in Libya, food
stocks in the country were rapidly depleted and were not being replenished. Areas
with heavy fighting had food and water shortages and as it was dangerous, people
did not go out to find or buy food.

It can also be affected by natural disasters. For e.g. Zimbabwe faced food shortage
in 2008 after a severe drought. Extremely low rainfall destroyed most of the countrys
corn harvests. The rural and neglected regions of the country suffered the most.
8.

Political Factor Food Safety

a.

What is food safety?

It is a system that provides guidelines and ensures proper handling, preparation and
storage of food to prevent food borne diseases. Foods that are close to expiry are
also removed from shelves in stores.

b.

What role does the government play in ensuring food is safe for consumption?
The government sets food safety standards and ensures that standards are met.
They also track down contaminated foods that cause foodborne diseases and
remove the foods from shelves. E.g. the AVA unit in Singapore.

c.

How do food threats affect supply and variety of foods consumed?

Food threats will reduce the supply of food available to the people. For e.g. the
mad cow disease resulted in many cows being killed in the USA and Canada.
The supply of beef went down drastically. People also stopped demanding beef
due to fear. Imports and exports of beef declined.