2nd Class EVS Food, Shelter and Cloths Sources and Importance of Food

      Sources of Food

All these food items you have seen above comes from two major sources:

(i) Plants and

(ii) Animals

Both plants and animals are useful to us as they provide many of our food items. A table given below shows some food items obtained from plants and animals.

Food item obtain from plants                      Food item obtain from animals

Vegetables                                                         Milk

Fruits                                                                    meat

Cereals                                                                 Egg

Pulses                                                                   Honey

Oils

Spices

       Food Items From Animals

You already know that animals provide us different food items such as milk, egg, meat, honey etc. Some animals such as insects, silk worms, etc., provide us other useful products. We can, therefore, categories animals on the basis of the food items they provide us.

Milk generally comes from cow, buffalo and goat.

Pig, hen, goat, fish, sheep, prawn, crabs, etc. and many others are eaten as meat in different parts of world.

Hen, duck provide us eggs.

 Honey bees is the source of honey 

Ghee and fats are obtained from the milk of cows and buffaloes.

         Food Items from Plants

 Plants are the main sources of food for all animals. We obtain variety of food items from different plants, which are listed as follows:

Cereal, pulses, vegetables and fruits are obtained from food producing plants.

Groundnut, mustard, soybean and coconut are obtained from oil producing plants.

Clove, black pepper, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon are obtained from spices and condiments producing plants.

Sugarcane and beetroot are obtained from sugar producing plants.

Do you know that some plants like Neem, Tulsi, Cinchona, etc. are used as medicines?

       Importance of Food

Food is needed by all living organisms for four main purposes.

(i) It helps human beings, animals as well as plants to grow.

(ii) It provides energy. We need energy for our all body movements such as running, walking, speaking or raising our arm.

(iii) It is required by living organisms for replacement and repair of damaged parts.

(iv) It protects us from diseases and infections.

         Classification of Food Items According to Their Use

Different food items can also be classified as follows:

Food items which provide energy - sugar, glucose, sweets, rice, wheat, potatoes, etc.

Food items that help us to grow - pulses like, grams, peas, meat, etc.

Food items that help us to remain healthy- green (eaves, spinach, cabbage, milk, eggs, fish, etc.

       Some Important Points about Food

We eat different parts of different plants.

Lot of people near the rivers or seas depend heavily on fish, crabs and other sea animals for food.

The quality of food that we eat does not depend on its source-plants or animals-but on its composition. Our food should have things that can provide energy, in our body, help us grow and keep us healthy.

Water is also a very important part of our food.

People at different places do not get all kinds of food. They eat whatever is available in their place. It is best to eat locally available food because they will be fresh.

All kinds of food cannot be eaten raw, some of them have to be cooked. Cooking makes the food tasty, digestible, and easy to eat and kills the disease causing germs present in it.

Different spices, oils and methods of cooking in different places (and families) make the food taste different. The taste for a kind of food is not the same for all of us.

Food must be eaten fresh. It should neither be very warm nor cold. It should also consist of all the types of nutrients required by us.