fh.2 Food systems and spread of diseases

Unit Contents

• fh.2.1 The merits of a systems approach
• fh.2.2 Variations in food consumption
• fh.2.3 The importance of diffusion in the spread of innovation and disease
• fh.2.4 Vector-borne and water-borne diseases

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Geographic inquiry: How physical and human processes lead to changes in food production and consumption, and incidence and spread of disease

• The merits of a systems approach (inputs, stores, transfers, outputs) to compare energy efficiency and water footprints in food production, and relative sustainability in different places
• The physical and human processes that can lead to variations in food consumption
• The importance of diffusion (including adoption/acquisition, expansion, relocation) in the spread of agricultural innovations, and also in the spread of diseases, and the role of geographic factors (including physical, economic and political barriers) in the rate of diffusion
• Geographic factors contributing to the incidence, diffusion and impacts (demographic and socio-economic) of vector-borne and water-borne diseases
  • One detailed example of a vector-borne disease and one detailed example of a water-borne disease

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