Food safety
For the teacher: Ask the students to spend a few minutes writing down all the foods they can think of that they eat during the week. For example, “slice of bread with yellow cheese”, “pizza”, “avocado toast”, “hummus”, “potato chips”. Make a mind map on the board with the words “Norwegian food habits” in the middle, and ask all the students to read out one thing each that they have written down. Fill in the food the student mentions in the mind map, so that you ultimately have a somewhat representative impression on the board of what the students in the class eat. Choose some of the foods that are mentioned and ask the students if they think this is grown or produced in Norway.
Read/show the text to the students:
The UN's 2nd Sustainable Development Goal is about eradicating hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture. The concept of food security is about having access to enough nutritious food – even in times of crisis. In Norway, about 50% of the food we eat is imported from abroad. In the digital short story, we saw an example of how food products we take for granted that we find on store shelves today, such as chocolate, could disappear in a future crisis scenario. If a crisis were to occur that means that we no longer have access to these goods, such as an import ban or a natural disaster, what would happen to us? Will we be able to produce enough food in Norway to survive on our own products? How is Norway's food security really doing?
Sources:
Article about food safety from the government : https://www.regjeringen.no/no/tema/mat-fiske-og-landbruk/mat/innsikt/matsikkerhet/id2357158/
Explanation of the self-sufficiency rate concept : https://www.landbruk.no/biookonomi/hva-er-egentlig-selvforsyningsgrad/
NIBIO about self-sufficiency : https://www.nibio.no/nyheter/ferske-tal-om-norsk-sjolvforsyning
Article about Nordic eating habits : https://forskning.no/mat/nordiske-matvaner-de-fleste-av-oss-spiser-fortsatt-middag-hjemme/1342859
Article about Norway's dependence on imported food : https://www.landbruk.no/internasjonalt/i-dag-er-norge-helt-enhagening-av-importert-mat/
Interactive visualization of imports and exports: https://www.ssb.no/utenriksokonomi/artikler-og-publikasjoner/norges-varehandel-med-utlandet
Sub-topics:
Changes in Norwegians' eating habits over time
Conflicts around the use of good topsoil for purposes other than agriculture – do you have any local issues being discussed?
Food safety: why is it important?
How does climate change affect Norwegian food production?