Food Where Does It Come From Class 6th Science NCERT Notes

CLASS 6TH SCIENCE NOTES

We know that we need food for survival. Similarly, all organisms need food to survive. We eat different food items during the day. Two persons belonging to two different parts of the world may eat different food items at the same time. For example, a person from Kashmir may eat roti with namkeen tea at breakfast whereas a person from Tamil may have rice with sambar.

Why is food necessary?

Food is required for the survival of all organisms. Food provides energy and helps to perform different functions. It helps an organism to grow and repairs the injured parts of the body.

Food Ingredients

Some foods comprise more than one food material. For example, chicken curry may comprise of chicken, water, vegetable oil, spices etc. These materials required to prepare a food item are called its Ingredients.

Let us see some foods and their ingredients.

Food Item	Ingredient
Cooked Rice	Rice and Water
Dal	Lentils, water, vegetable oil, spices, salt
Roti	Wheat flour, water
Tea	Tea leaves, Water, Milk, Sugar

Food Materials and Their Sources

In the above table, we find that some ingredients of food are derived from plants whereas others may be obtained from animals. For example, milk is an animal product and tea leaves are obtained from tea plants. Water and salt are exceptions. Similarly, we eat different animal products during the day such as eggs, milk, butter, fish, meat, etc. Likewise, we eat many foods obtained from plants such as vegetables, grains, fruits, vegetable oil, etc.

Milch Animals and Poultry

Animals, such as cows, buffaloes, and goats which give us milk and meat are called Milch Animals.

Animals that provide us eggs and meat are called Poultry. For example, Chicken, Ducks, etc.

Milk and eggs are rich sources of proteins. The yellow portion (yolk) of the eggs contains fats while the white of the egg (Albumin) contains proteins.

Sprouted Grains

Sprouted foods like moong are very healthy. A sprout is a tiny structure growing out of the seed when they are soaked and coverd by a cloth.

You may try sprouted moong dal in the next breakfast.

Food Habits

Different animals eat different food items. Some animals eat only plants while others eat plants.

Tigers, wolves, lines etc eat only the meat of other animals. They are known as carnivores. Can you name some other carnivores?

Sheep, goats, cows, camel eat only the parts of plants such as leaves and grass. These are referred to as Herbivores.

There are some animals that eat both animals and plants. They are called Omnivores. Human Beings and monkeys are omnivores because they eat both animal and plant products.

Plant Parts Eaten As Food

We eat different parts of different as food. The roots of some plants are used as foods while the roots of others are useless. Let us discuss this in more detail.

Fruits

Fruits of many plants are eaten. For example, we eat apples, pears, oranges, etc. These all are fruits.

Roots

We also eat roots of many plants as food. For example carrots, radish etc. These are the roots of those plants.

Stems

Stems of plants are also eaten. Do you know that the potatoes are the stems of plants even these are beneath the soil.

Seeds

Seeds of plants are also eaten. Seeds of mustard are eaten as vegetable oil and the seeds of beans as dal.