1. GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition What factors affect food choices?

2. What influences your food choice?
Carry out the activity ‘Food pairs’ to explore the factors that affected your choice of food.

3. Your choices
What were the main factors that affected your choice of food as a class? Did they include…
As I’m a Sikh I wouldn’t buy the tuna as I don’t eat fish
Reducing food miles by choosing locally produced apples was important to me
The cost was a decider for me as some foods were too expensive
I chose the free range eggs as I don’t like the thought of how chickens are kept in cages
I just preferred the look of some of them over others
I had to chose the soya yogurt as I’m lactose intolerant

4. Little choice
There are many factors that influence people’s food choice, but for 840 million people who remain undernourished in the world today there is little or no choice when it comes to food.
The United Nations have developed a number of Global Goals to reduce global poverty. Goal 2 aims to ensure that no one in the world will go hungry by 2030.

5. No hunger by 2030
A number of organisations including Practical Action, are helping to reach Global Goal 2 targets by 2030.
The development organisation works with people to help find ways of growing food even in drought and flood affected areas, such as here in Bangladesh.
Women are growing and preparing pumpkins to feed their families. The pumpkins are grown on the silt land left behind after the flooding has subsided.
For more case studies of Global food stories - visit

6. Food availability in the UK
Here in the UK, increasing numbers of people are getting their food from food banks. The Trussell Trust who run over 400 food banks are the working hard to stop UK hunger.
Does this number of food supplies given out in the UK surprise you?
So not everyone in the world has as much choice as others when it
comes to food…an important factor to remember.

7. Other factors Individuals
To make the factors that affect people’s food choices easier to remember let’s split the issues into five areas.
Individuals
All people have different nutritional needs depending on their age, health, level of physical activity and whether they have any food allergies or intolerances.
Individuals

8. Economic factors Economic Factors 2. Economic factors
Issues such as the cost of food and individual income is likely to influence people’s choice of food.
Economic Factors

9. Social factors Social Factors 3. Social factors
Lifestyle, time, skills and enjoyment in food preparation are big factors in food choice.
Social Factors

10. Moral factors Moral Factors 4. Moral factors
People’s moral/ethical beliefs on issues such as animal welfare and fair wages for farmers in developing countries can influence their food choices.
In addition people often consider environmental issues such as whether food has been grown organically; how far it has travelled (food miles) and whether the food is genetically modified.
Moral Factors

11. Cultural factors Cultural Factors 5. Cultural factors
People’s culture and religion are often a big influence on food choice both on a day to day basis and for special occasions.
Cultural Factors

12. Factors combined Individual Factors Cultural Economic Moral Social
Key things to remember:
Many people in the world do not have much choice about the food they eat.
For people who have choices, a mixture individual needs combined with economic, social, moral and cultural factors influence choice.
Cultural
Economic
Individual Factors
……………………………………………………………..………………….
……………………………………………………………..………………….
Moral
Social
Memory tip for factors : I Eat So Many Crisps

13. Thank you for using Practical Action’s materials
Thank you for using Practical Action’s materials. For further resources for Food Preparation and Nutrition GCSE courses visit our website.