food supply
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GC: n

S: WFP – http://www.wfp.org/how-to-help/individuals/food-force/ (last access: 16 July 2012); DFCSCA – http://foodsuppb.nic.in/ (last access: 8 December 2013).

N: 1. – food (n): Middle English foode, fode, from Old English foda “food, nourishment; fuel,” also figurative, from Proto-Germanic *fodon, from Germanic *fod- “food,” from PIE *pat-, extended form of root *pa- “to tend, keep, pasture, to protect, to guard, to feed” (cognates: Greek pateisthai “to feed;” Latin pabulum “food, fodder,” panis “bread,” pasci “to feed,” pascare “to graze, pasture, feed,” pastor “shepherd,” literally “feeder;” Avestan pitu- “food;” Old Church Slavonic pasti “feed cattle, pasture;” Russian pishcha “food”).
Food-chain is from 1917. Food-poisoning attested by 1864; food-processor in the kitchen appliance sense from 1973; food-stamp (n.) is from 1962.
– supply (n): early 15c., “assistance, relief, act of supplying,” from supply (v.). Meaning “that which is provided, quantity or amount of something provided” is attested from c. 1600. Meaning “person who temporarily takes the place of another” (especially a minister or preacher) is from 1580s. In the political economy sense (corollary of demand (n.)) it dates from 1776; supply-side (adj.) in reference to economic policy is attested from 1976; as a noun by 1922. Supplies “necessary provisions held for distribution and use” is from c. 1650.
2. A food supply chain or food system refers to the processes that describe how food from a farm ends
up on our tables. The processes include production, processing, distribution, consumption and
disposal.

  • The food we eat reaches us via food supply chains through which food moves systematically in domino-like motion from producers to consumers while the money consumers pay for food goes to people who work at various stages along the food supply chain in the reverse direction.
  • Every step of the supply chain requires human and/or natural resources.
  • Because a food supply chain is domino-like, when one part of the food supply chain is affected, the whole food supply chain is affected, which is often manifested through changes in price.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=food; http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=supply (last access: 12 January 2016). 2. http://www.chgeharvard.org/sites/default/files/lesson-plan-files/lesson_4.pdf (last access: 3 October 2015).

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CR: famine, water supply.