The story of food

Geography

Grade 4

Food production in south africa

Module 20

The story of food

The story of food

Food is an important part of our everyday lives. We need food to grow, stay healthy and to stay alive. But there are people whose lives are only focused on food – they live to eat!

Before we look at how food is produced in the 21 ^st century, it is important to find out how our predecessors managed to put food on their plates from day to day.

Activity 1

To study illustrations and fill in missing words in a paragraph to complete a story about food [lo 2.3]

1

2

3

4

5

(possible answers: trade; hunter; herdsmen; wild plants; plough; meat; farmers)

Many years ago, the food that people ate was very different from the food we eat. At first, people lived as .........................................- gatherers who moved from place to place looking for animals to hunt for food. They lived in temporary shelters and when game became less plentiful, they moved to another place. They ate .......................................................... that they picked, with their meat. Their drinking water was gathered by catching rain or dew, or by fetching it from rivers or dams.

The hunters began gathering sheep and goats and herds of cattle, and so became .............................. who travelled around with their own flocks in search of good grazing. They had milk and ...................................... and did not need to hunt.

The herdsmen became ...........................................… They lived in one place where they could grow their own grain from the seeds of wild grasses. They lived in small groups near fresh water. They invented the ................................... to help them work the land. They found new ways to transport water to their lands (irrigation). Some of the communities expanded and experimented with different food crops, like maize, sorghum, pumpkins, squashes, wild watermelons, etc.

Portions of the harvests were put away to ensure that they would have food for the whole year and some crops were taken to nearby villages to ........................... it for other food or products.

Farming methods changed with the development of technology. The wooden ploughs of the past were replaced with iron ploughs. Instead of being pushed by people, up to twenty ploughs can nowadays be pulled by one air-cooled tractor.

Assessment

Learning outcome 2: geographical knowledge and understanding

The learner will be able to demonstrate geographical and environmental knowledge and understanding.

Assessment standard

We know this when the learner:

• describes how basic human needs were met in the past and at present.

Memorandum

The story of food

• Hunter
• Fruit and seeds
• Wild plants
• Herdsmen
• Meat
• Farmers
• Plough
• Trade