Class 6 Science Chapter 1- Food Where Does it Come from

Food Where Does it Come from – Notes

Food is a substance, eaten by living beings to get energy. It is one of the basic necessities of life.

Nutrition

Nutrition is the process by which our body takes in food and uses it for growth and development.

Food has nutrients which are required by our body for maintaining good health.

Why is food necessary?

Food is essential for living organisms for the following reasons

Provides the energy to do work carry out various life functions.
Helps in the growth and repair of cells.
Protects the body from various diseases and infections.
Keeps the body healthy and fit.

We need to find ways by which more food can be produced in the country and to ensure that this food is made easily available to each one of us.

What is Edible food

The substance that one can eat is called edible food .

Food Variety

Different kinds of food at different times and locations constitute food variety.
There is a great variety of food items available for different people living in different places.
Different people eat various types of food and this difference occurs due to their habits, lifestyle, taste and availability.

Food Ingredients

These variations lead to food variety.
Preparation of food involves some ingredients. Ingredients are the materials needed to prepare a dish or food, e.g. rice and water are ingredients of boiled rice.

Food Materials and Sources

Food materials used in cooking come from different sources.
Some of the substances which can be eaten are called edible parts.
The food which we eat comes from mainly two sources. These sources are plants and animals.
Plants are considered as the major source of food for humans and animals. Cereals, pulses, vegetables, fruits, spices, tea, oil and sugar all come from plants.
Different parts of the plant may provide different food items.
For example wheat and rice are the seeds of wheat plants and rice plants. These are grown in fields. Mango, papaya and litchi are fruits, which are obtained from mango, papaya and litchi trees.
Animals provide us with milk, meat products and eggs. Cows, goats and buffaloes are some common animals which give us milk. Milk and milk products like butter, cream, cheese and curd are used all over the world.

Also Check – Class 6 Science Chapter 1 Question Answer- MCQ

Producers and Consumers

Producers can prepare their own food. e.g., green plants.
Consumers are the animals which depend on green plants for their requirement of food.

Plant Parts as a Food

All plants are producers. They make their own food hence, are called autotrophs but humans and animals depend on plants for their food.
The different parts of a plant like (root, shoot, flower and seeds) if edible (eatable), constitute the source of our food.
The plants store their food in stem, root, seed and in some special modification of these organs. We use this stored food as our source of food.

Following is the list of some of the common food items obtained from different plant parts.

Root

Carrot, radish, beetroot, turnip and sweet potato

Stem

Sugarcane, potato, Colocasia (arbi), ginger and onion

Also Check – Class 6 – Science – Chapter 2 – Notes

Leaf

Spinach, cabbage (bud), lettuce, fenugreek (methi)

Flower

Cauliflower, broccoli, moringa (sainjan), banana

Fruit

Banana, mango, guava, papaya, brinjal, tomato, lady’s finger, cucumber

Seed

Pulses, peanuts, almonds, walnuts, coconut, fenugreek.

Usually the main parts of a plant are almost edible but there may be some plants which are not. These plants may bear fruits, roots, stems but these parts can be poisonous, thus inducing harm when consumed.

Animal Products as Food

The most important animal product used as a food is milk which can be used to drink and also converted into many other products like curd, butter, ghee and cheese.
The other products are egg and meat which are good sources of protein.
Honey is another animal product. Honeybees collect nectar (sweet juices) from flowers, convert it into honey and store it in their beehive.
Flowers and nectar may be available only for a part of the year. So, bees store this nectar for their use all through the year. When we find such things as beehives, we collect the food stored by the bees as honey. It is a rich source of sugars, minerals and enzymes.
Chicken, mutton (goat), pork, prawns, beef and fish are used to prepare non-vegetarian dishes.

The science of learning beekeeping is called Apiculture.

Birds or fowl kept or bred for ensuring continuous production of meat and eggs are called Poultry.

Food For Animals

Like humans, animals also cannot make their own food. They depend either on plants or other animals for food.

Animals and Food They Eat

Following are the Examples of Animals and the food they eat

Elephant- Grass and green plants
Frog- Insects and worms
Butterfly- Nectar from flowers
Tiger- Flesh of animals
Rat – Grains, papers and cloths
Crow- Grains and insects

Food Chain

The sequence of eating and being eaten is called the food chain. e.g., Grass-→→Cow →→ Tiger.
A network of interconnection of food chains is called a food web.

Categorisation of Animals

On the basis of food habit, All the animals can be divided into the following types:

Herbivores

Those animals which eat only plant or plant products are called Herbivores, e.g. cow, goat, elephant, etc.

Carnivores

Those animals which eat only other animals as food are called Carnivores, e.g. tiger, lion,

eagle, etc.

Omnivores

Those animals which eat both plants and animals are called Omnivores, e.g. human, cockroach, cat, dog, crow, etc.

Decomposers

The organisms that decompose the organic components in the remains of dead plants and animals are known as decomposers. e.g., bacteria and fungi.

Scavengers

Animals that consume dead bodies of other animals and plants are known as scavengers . e.g., Hyena, jackal, vulture etc.

Parasites

The organisms that live on or inside the body of other living organisms and obtain food from them are called parasites. e.g., fleas, leeches etc.
The organisms that provide food and shelter to a parasite are called hosts.