Hello, Mrs. Lomas here.

I'm a primary school teacher.

And I was about to say, I bet you can't guess what my favourite subject is.

But seeing as I'm about to join you for your geography lesson, I think it might be a little bit obvious that yes, geography is my favourite subject.

So let's get started shall we, and find out what exciting geography we're going to do today.

So today's lesson, we are looking at tackling food waste as part of our sustainable world: does it matter how we live unit.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain which foods have the highest carbon footprint and suggest choices that can lower this.

We have some key words in today's lesson.

They are emissions, carbon footprint, food miles, and greenhouse gases.

Let's do my turn, your turn, ready? Emissions, carbon footprint, food miles, greenhouse gas.

Well done, let's have a look at what they mean, shall we? An emission is something that is released into the world.

An example is the release of carbon dioxide when we breathe it out.

A carbon footprint is a measure of the total amount of greenhouse gases that are released as a result of our actions.

Food miles measure the distance between where a food is grown or made to where it is eaten.

And greenhouse gases are gases in Earth's atmosphere that trap heat.

So keep a lookout for these keywords in today's lesson.

Today's lesson is split into two parts.

In the first part, we will be investigating how our food affects our carbon footprint.

And after that, we will look at how we can reduce the carbon footprint of our food.

This lesson will help us to understand that it does matter how we live if we want a sustainable world.

So let's get going with how does food affect your carbon footprint? Did you know that food production is responsible for about one quarter or 26% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions? Most of this is because of livestock.

Animals raised for meat, dairy, eggs, and seafood production.

They contribute to emissions in several ways.

Ruminant livestock, mainly cattle, for example, produce methane through their digestive processes.

Most of it is released as burps, though some certainly escapes out of the rear end too.

The rest of the emissions are created by crops grown forests to eat, deforestation to make wafer, agricultural land, food processing, packaging, and transport.

As you can see, food is a big contributor to the issue of greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore to climate change.

Today, we are going to concentrate on carbon emissions from food production.

Carbon dioxide is widely reported as the most important greenhouse gas because it currently accounts for the greatest portion of global warming associated with human activities.

In this lesson, we will look at three ways that carbon is released during food production.

The first is through food miles, the second is the type of food produced, and the third is by wasting food.

Let's start with food miles.

Some of our food is produced locally and only has to travel a short distance to the shops and supermarkets where we buy it like potatoes, apples, or broccoli.

However, if you buy these items outside of the UK growing season, then these foods may have been grown somewhere else and then transported here.

So out of season apples might well come from as far away as New Zealand where the food miles are astronomical.

If the labels say British or UK, then you know it has been grown in this country.

But some of our food is grown or reared thousands of miles from us and needs to be transported across oceans and continents to reach us.

Let's have a look at some examples.

Beef from South America has come approximately 8,792 kilometres as the crow flies.

Pineapples from Indonesia would've travelled around 11,718 kilometres before reaching our supermarkets.

And bananas from the Dominican Republic, these have come 6,836 kilometres.

That's a very long journey for one small banana.

We already know that transport uses energy which often involves burning fossil fuels like petrol.

This can add more carbon to the atmosphere because burning fossil fuels releases more CO2 into the atmosphere.

Which forms of transport do you think are used to transport food around the world? Pause the video, have a class discussion and come back when you're ready.

How did you get on? Did you think of cargo or container ships, lorries and trucks, or even aeroplanes ? Let's have a quick check, shall we? Which foods do you think usually have the highest food miles? a, bananas; b, potatoes; or c, apples? Pause the video, have a go and come back when you're ready.

If you said a bananas, you'd be correct.

Do you know why bananas have to come from countries in the Caribbean like the Dominican Republic? It's because bananas thrive in tropical regions where the average temperature is 27 degrees Celsius and the yearly rainfall is between 200 and 250 centimetres.

Most bananas exported are grown within 30 degrees either side of the equator, unlike potatoes or apples which can be grown in the UK climate.

And those grown in your own garden or school allotment have the lowest food miles of all.

The second reason that carbon is released due to food production is the type of food being produced.

The amount of carbon emitted depends on the type of food.

The highest carbon footprint per kilogramme of food product comes from meat.

And here we can see, can't we? The amount of carbon that comes from different types of meat as well.

These produce much more carbon because land use change is usually associated with livestock farming.

For example, grazing animals require a lot of land, often created through deforestation.

Trees are cut down to make way for pasture land for the cattle to graze on.

The removal of trees reduces the carbon store and carbon is released into the atmosphere.

Some livestock are not grass fed.

This doubles the problem.

First, crops such as sawyer are produced and transported to feed the livestock.

Second, the livestock are reared, processed and transported for human consumption.

And livestock also produce large quantities of methane.

Another harmful greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.

Meanwhile, foods like tofu, beans, peas, and nuts usually have a very low overall carbon footprint, making them environmentally-friendly choices.

However, a sustainably produced plant product might sometimes still run up a great many food miles.

So let's do a quick check, shall we? Which type of food will usually have the smallest carbon footprint? a, nuts; b, beef; or c, dairy? Pause the video, have a go and come back when you're ready.

How did you get on? If you said a, nuts, you would be correct, well done.

They give the smallest carbon footprint of all these food types.

And in fact, beef and dairy have some of the highest.

The final cause of carbon emissions from food production that we will be looking at today is because of wasting food.

About one third of the food we produce around the world by weight is never eaten.

And as Sophia rightly says, this is like throwing away one bag of food for every three grown, reared and bought.

So why is food wasted? Some food is wasted during transportation or production.

However, 60% of food waste comes from our UK homes.

This is because the food we buy doesn't always get eaten: sometimes people buy too much food and can't use it all up; sometimes the food goes out of date before it can be used; and sometimes it is thrown away because people didn't like it.

When we waste food, we also waste all the energy and water it takes to grow, harvest, transport, and package it.

Cooking our food also has an impact; fueling our fridges and freezers, ovens and microwaves.

And if food goes to the landfill and rots, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas even more powerful than carbon dioxide.

So let's do a quick check, shall we? What are some of the reasons why people waste food? See if you can think of three.

Pause the video, have a go and come back when you're ready to check your answers.

How did you get on? If you said people buy too much food and can't use it all up, food goes out of date before it can be used, and it's thrown away because people didn't like it, you would be correct, well done.

Okay, so it's time for task A.

I want you to match the correct subheading to the explanations.

Your subheadings are type of food produced, food miles, and wasting food.

And your explanations are: the further food has to travel to our plates the more CO2 will be produced by vehicles burning fossil fuels; buying too much food, letting food go out of date before it is used or throwing food away because customers, shopkeepers, or family members don't like it wastes the energy used to produce and transport it; foods like beef, lamb and dairy contribute greatly to increasing CO2 emissions due to land use change in deforestation.

This reduces the amount of carbon that is stored and releases it into the atmosphere.

So one more time, I want you to match the subheadings to the explanations.

The subheadings are type of food produced, food miles and wasting food.

And your explanations are: the further food has to travel to our plates the more CO2 will be produced by vehicles burning fossil fuels; buying too much food, letting food go out of date before it is used or throwing food away because customers, shopkeepers or family members don't like it wastes the energy used to produce and transport it; foods like beef, lamb and dairy contribute greatly to increasing CO2 emissions due to land use change in deforestation.

This reduces the amount of carbon that is stored and releases it into the atmosphere.

Pause the video, have a go and come back when you're ready to check your answers.

How did you get on? If you said that food miles is the further food has to travel to our plates the more CO2 will be produced by vehicles burning fossil fuels, you'd be correct, well done.

Wasting food is buying too much food, food going out of date before it can be used or food being thrown away because customers, shopkeepers, or family didn't like it waste the energy used to produce and transport it.

So if you've got that one right, well done.

And finally, type of food produced.

Foods like beef, lamb, and dairy contribute greatly to increasing CO2 emissions due to land use change in deforestation.

This reduces the amount of carbon that distorted and releases it into the atmosphere.

So if you got that one right as well, well done.

If you didn't get them all correct, now is your chance to pause the video, make any corrections you need to make.

Okay, so we've had a look at how does food affect our carbon footprint.

Now we're gonna have a look at how can we reduce the carbon footprint of food.

By tackling issues around food, we can reduce our carbon footprint.

So here are some ways to reduce our carbon footprints.

One, eat locally to reduce carbon emissions produced by food miles; and two, eat less red meat and dairy products; three, reduce food waste.

So eat locally to reduce carbon emissions produced by food miles.

By checking the labels on food, we can identify where it has been grown or produced.

Locally grown food has not travelled far and therefore, has not produced as much CO2 from transportation.

Aysha says these onions were grown in Suffolk.

That's close to where I live! You could even have a go at growing your own food, couldn't you? There are differences between food with high food miles like bananas or pineapples.

Food that is transported by air emits 50 times more CO2 than a boat.

So most food travels by boat and not air.

So we should try to eat locally and definitely try to avoid air freighted food.

But which foods are air-freighted? And how do we know which products to avoid? Air-freighted foods are usually ones that need to be eaten soon after they've been harvested.

Transport by boat is too slow, so air travel is the only option.

Some fruits and vegetables tend to fall into this category.

Asparagus, green beans and berries are common air-freighted foods.

It is often hard for consumers to identify foods that have travelled by air because they're rarely labelled as such.

This makes them difficult to avoid.

So number two, where we eat fewer red meat and dairy products.

Red meat includes beef and lamb, and dairy includes all foods made from milk like yoghourts and cheese.

According to the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation, about 14% of all carbon emissions come from meat and dairy production.

Reducing the intake of these two foods can make a big impact on our carbon footprint.

In fact, reducing the intake of these two foods just once a week would achieve the same as having a diet with zero food miles.

And finally, reduce food waste.

If we can make sure only the food we are going to eat reaches our homes and no good food ends up in the bin, we could save the emissions created, producing that food from ever needing to be created in the first place.

There are lots of quick and easy things we can do to reduce food going to waste.

Check what food you already have in your cupboards and fridge before going shopping; freezing food can extend its lifespan and stop it from going to waste; you can eat food after its best before date if you think it's still fresh, but you shouldn't eat food after it's used by date; and only make what you need to reduce waste or have a plan for any leftovers.

Okay, time for a quick check.

Which of these would help to reduce food waste? a, getting a takeaway; b, freezing food; or c, only making what you need? Pause the video, have a go and come back when you're ready.

How did you get on? If you said b, freezing food; and c, only making what you need, you'd be correct, well done.

So in summary, there are three main things we could try to do to reduce our carbon footprint from food production.

One, buy locally when you can and avoid air-freighted foods where possible; two, eat less meat and dairy; three, reduce food waste.

So let's do a quick check, shall we? Which words are missing? Air-freighted foods where you can and buy locally.

Eat, meat and dairy.

And food waste.

Pause the video, have a go and come back when you're ready to check your answers.

How did you get on? If you said avoid air-freighted foods where you can and buy locally; eat less meat and dairy; and reduce food waste, you'd be correct, well done.

For your final task today, I would like you to make a poster to share advice about how to reduce emissions from food production.

I want you to include information on food miles, the types of food you could eat, and how to reduce food waste.

I want you to make sure it is persuasive and includes enough information to make an impactful message.

And you could include a couple of quick slogans like, safe food, save the planet! Love food, hate waste! Remember to make it colourful and easy to read so your message can be seen and understood.

So one more time, you're going to create a poster to share advice about how to reduce emissions from food production.

Include information on food miles, the types of food you could eat, and how to reduce food waste.

Make sure it is persuasive and includes enough information to make an impactful message.

You might want to include a slogan like the children here and make sure it's colourful and easy to read.

Pause the video, have a go and come back when you're ready.

How did you get on? Lucas here made a poster to tell people how to reduce the carbon footprint of our food.

And he said, stop waste, save the planet.

And then he said, to reduce food waste by: checking the fridge before you shop, use meal plans, use your freezer to make food less for longer, and make only what you need.

He also then added in that you can eat less meat and dairy, and you should avoid air-freighted foods and where you can buy locally.

What do you think of Lucas's poster? So let's sum up what we've learned today, shall we? We now know that food production is responsible for about one-quarter of the world's greenhouse gas emissions; and that the highest carbon footprint per kilogramme of food product comes from meat, beef, lamb, and dairy top the list; we know that eating locally is best, but the food that has to be transported is usually taken by boat, not air; and finally, we now know that wasting less food and lowering demand reduces carbon emissions, which is just what your poster has encouraged people to do.

It really does matter how we live.

Even our choices around food can make an impact on a sustainable world.

Well done on some fantastic geography today, guys.

I'm definitely gonna be thinking really hard when I do my weekly shop now and maybe even start doing a bit of a meal plan so that hopefully I waste less food.

What actions are you gonna implement at home so that you can help to tackle the food waste? Hopefully, I will see you again soon for another geography lesson, bye.