2nd Class EVS Food For Us Food We Eat

Food We Eat

All living beings need food. Food gives energy to do various works.

We take different food items in our meal. For example, vegetables, fruits, meat, pulses, egg, milk, cereals, etc.

Apple                                       Mango                         Chapati

Potato                                      tomato                         Cucumber

Green beans                            Carrot                          Onion

Milk                              Salad                           Egg

Sources of Food

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

(i) Plants

(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 Items From Animals

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

• We get milk from cow, buffalo and goat, etc.
• 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 bee 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 most of the animals. We obtain variety of food items from different plants, which are listed as follows:

• Cereals, pulses, vegetables and fruits are obtained from food producing plants.
• Groundnut, mustard, soyabean and coconut are obtained from oil producing plants.
• Clove, black pepper, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon are obtained from spices and condiments producing plants.
• Sugarcane is obtained from sugar producing plants.

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 and speaking, etc.

(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

• Food items which provide energy - sugar, glucose, sweets, rice, wheat, potatoes, etc.
• Food items that store energy in our body- oils, eggs, meat, milk, ghee, etc.
• Food items that help us to grow- pulses like, grams and peas, meat, etc.
• Food items that help us to remain healthy- green leafy vegetables like spinach, cabbage, etc.

Some important points

• 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, store energy in our body, help us to 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 at their place. It is best to eat locally available food because they are fresh.
• All kinds of food cannot be eaten raw, some of them have to be cooked. Cooking makes the food tasty, digestible, 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 specific 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.

Good food habits

Some of the food habits that we should take care of are as follows:

(i) We should wash our hands with soap before and after eating food.

(ii) We should take only that amount of food which we can eat.

(iii) We should cook the food properly.

(iv) We should not talk while eating food.

(v) After eating, we should rinse our mouth.

(vi) We should eat clean and fresh food.

(vii) Avoid eating uncovered or stale food.