Where Food Comes From Notes & Questions | Class 5 Environmental Studies (EVS) | Drishti OS

Where Food Comes From

What you'll learn

Food comes from two main sources: plants and animals.
Which common foods come from each part of a plant, and which come from animals.
Some foods (like honey) come from insects, and some come from both processed sources.
NCERT Looking Around 5 — tracing our food back to its source.

Key concepts

Level 1 — Plant sources of food

Verbal: Different parts of a plant can be eaten — root, stem, leaf, flower, fruit, and seed.

Plant part	Example food
Root	Carrot, radish
Stem	Sugarcane, potato (underground stem)
Leaf	Spinach, cabbage
Flower	Cauliflower, broccoli
Fruit	Mango, apple, tomato
Seed	Rice, wheat, lentils (dal)

NCERT link: Identifying which plant part gives us common foods.

Level 2 — Animal sources of food

Verbal: Some common foods come directly from animals.

Real-life: Milk from cows/buffaloes, eggs from hens, honey from bees, and meat/fish from various animals.

Animal source	Example food
Cow/buffalo	Milk
Hen	Eggs
Bee	Honey
Fish	Fish meat
Goat/sheep/chicken	Meat

Worked example

Classify: carrot, egg, sugarcane, honey — plant or animal source?

Step 1 — Carrot: root of a plant → plant source.
Step 2 — Egg: from a hen → animal source.
Step 3 — Sugarcane: stem of a plant → plant source.
Step 4 — Honey: made by bees → animal source.

Which plant part gives us potato, and which gives us spinach?

Step 1 — Potato grows underground as a swollen stem.
Step 2 — Spinach is the leaf of the plant we eat.
Answer: Potato — stem; Spinach — leaf.

Common mistakes

Mistake	Why it happens	Fix
All vegetables come from roots	Overgeneralising	Vegetables come from roots, stems, leaves, or flowers depending on the plant
Potato is a root	Common confusion	Potato is actually a stem (underground stem)
Honey comes from flowers directly	Skipping the bee's role	Bees collect nectar from flowers and make honey
Only animals give us food	Ignoring plant foods	Both plants and animals are major food sources

Quick check

Name two foods each from plant roots, stems, and leaves.
Name two foods that come from animals.
Which plant part gives us potato?
Stretch: Why is honey considered a food from an animal (bee), even though it starts with flower nectar?

Revision tip: Sort five common foods from your last meal into "plant source" and "animal source" columns.

Open the Practice tab for graded questions on Where Food Comes From.

Where Food Comes From