speech on food chain

The food chain describes who eats whom in the wild.

Biology, Ecology

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The food chain describes who eats whom in the wild. Every living thing—from one-celled algae to giant blue whales ( Balaenoptera musculus )—needs food to survive . Each food chain is a possible pathway that energy and nutrients can follow through the ecosystem . For example, grass produces its own food from sunlight. A rabbit eats the grass. A fox eats the rabbit. When the fox dies, bacteria break down its body, returning it to the soil where it provides nutrients for plants like grass. Of course, many different animals eat grass, and rabbits can eat other plants besides grass. Foxes, in turn, can eat many types of animals and plants. Each of these living things can be a part of multiple food chains. All of the interconnected and overlapping food chains in an ecosystem make up a food web . Trophic Levels Organisms in food chains are grouped into categories called trophic levels. Roughly speaking, these levels are divided into producers (first trophic level), consumers (second, third, and fourth trophic levels), and decomposers . Producers, also known as autotrophs , make their own food. They make up the first level of every food chain. Autotrophs are usually plants or one-celled organisms. Nearly all autotrophs use a process called photosynthesis to create “food” (a nutrient called glucose ) from sunlight, carbon dioxide , and water. Plants are the most familiar type of autotroph, but there are many other kinds. Algae, whose larger forms are known as seaweed , are autotrophic. Phytoplankton , tiny organisms that live in the ocean, are also autotrophs. Some types of bacteria are autotrophs. For example, bacteria living in active volcanoes use sulfur compounds to produce their own food. This process is called chemosynthesis . The second trophic level consists of organisms that eat the producers. These are called primary consumers , or herbivores . Deer, turtles, and many types of birds are herbivores. Secondary consumers eat the herbivores. Tertiary consumers eat the secondary consumers. There may be more levels of consumers before a chain finally reaches its top predator . Top predators, also called apex predators , eat other consumers. Higher-level consumers (i.e., secondary, tertiary, and above) can be carnivores (animals that eat other animals) or omnivores (animals that eat both plants and animals). Omnivores, like people, consume many types of foods. People eat plants, such as vegetables and fruits. We also eat animals and animal products, such as meat, milk, and eggs. We eat fungi , such as mushrooms. We also eat algae, in edible seaweeds like nori (used to wrap sushi rolls) and sea lettuce (used in salads). Detritivores and decomposers are the final part of food chains. Detritivores are organisms that eat nonliving plant and animal remains. For example, scavengers such as vultures eat dead animals. Dung beetles eat animal feces . Decomposers like fungi and bacteria complete the food chain. They turn organic wastes, such as decaying plants, into inorganic materials, such as nutrient-rich soil. Decomposers complete the cycle of life, returning nutrients to the soil or oceans for use by autotrophs. This starts a whole new food chain.

Food Chains Different habitats and ecosystems provide many possible food chains that make up a food web.

In one marine food chain , single-celled organisms called phytoplankton provide food for tiny shrimp called krill . Krill provide the main food source for the blue whale , an animal on the third trophic level . In a grassland ecosystem , a grasshopper might eat grass, a producer . The grasshopper might get eaten by a rat, which in turn is consumed by a snake. Finally, a hawk—an apex predator —swoops down and snatches up the snake. In a pond, the autotroph might be algae . A mosquito larva eats the algae , and then perhaps a dragonfly larva eats the young mosquito. The dragonfly larva becomes food for a fish, which provides a tasty meal for a raccoon.

Carnivorous ... Plants? Most plants on Earth take energy from the sun and nutrients from the soil. A few plants, however, get their nutrients from animals. These carnivorous plants include pitcher plants, Venus flytraps ( Dionaea muscipula ), and bladderworts. These plants attract and trap prey, usually insects, and then break them down with digestive enzymes.

Links in the Chain Organisms consume nutrients from a variety of different sources in the food chain.

• Xylophages eat wood. Termites and bark beetles are xylophages.
• Coprophages eat animal feces. Dung beetles and flies are coprophages.
• Geophages eat earth, such as clay or soil. Parrots and cockatoos are geophages.
• Palynivores eat pollen. Honeybees and some butterflies are palynivores.
• Lepidophages are fish that eat the scales (but not the body) of other fish. Some piranha and some catfish are lepidophages.
• Mucophages eat mucus. Usually, these tiny organisms live in the gills of fish.

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How to build sustainable, healthier, more equitable food systems

Transforming food systems Image:  REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo

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• World Economic Forum Founder and Chairman Klaus Schwab made the following speech as part of the World Food Day Ceremony at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 15 October
• He outlined four ways to transform food systems in a way that is healthier, more sustainable, more equitable and fairer for all.

Dear Deputy-General Semedo,

Honourable Guests, Colleagues, Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you so much for your kind introduction. I am honoured to have the opportunity to give the World Food Day Lecture as part of the FAO Global World Food Day ceremony. I commend the FAO and the Rome-based agencies for their leadership in food systems, and their role in facilitating the UN Food Systems Summit and the follow-up coordination.

At the World Economic Forum, our mission is to improve the state of the world through public-private cooperation. We believe in the transformative power of innovation and entrepreneurship. And we believe that only systems change can solve some of the most wicked challenges we are facing today. Those include the climate crisis, the social and economic crises many societies are facing, and of course, the COVID crisis and its fallout.

The last year has been a pivotal one in many areas. But one area that concerns all of us gathered here today, is that food re-emerged at the centre of the global agenda.

Have you read?

How better use of 'blue foods' help us meet climate change and food security goals.

That comeback was marked first of all by positive signs. For example, the World Food Programme was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. And the UN Food Systems Summit took place this past September, with over 90 heads of state speaking on food systems at the UN General Assembly.

But there were also more worrying reasons for food to return to the global agenda. In many part of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic could still go from a health crisis, to an economic crisis, to a food crisis. In some of the most vulnerable regions, this threat is exacerbated by existing and emerging conflict, and the impacts of climate change.

Sadly, after many years of progress, the number of people suffering food insecurity in the past few years has begun to rise again rapidly. Notably, in 2020 up to 811 million people were severely undernourished – that is as many as 161 million more than the previous year. And, nearly one third of the global population cannot afford a healthy diet. There is even a real risk of growing food insecurity in many so-called “advanced” countries.

So, as we get back on our feet after the COVID crisis, we need to rebuild in a way that is healthier, more sustainable, more equitable and fairer for all.

As we begin to undertake a transformation of the food system, we need to remind ourselves that such transitions are fundamentally about people. The principle must be to prioritize social solidarity and rural economic growth over simply improving supply chain efficiency. And we must build greater trust that food systems work for people – not the other way around.

We have a tremendous opportunity to engage the nearly 1 billion producers and more than 7 billion consumers around the world as change agents in this transformation. To do so, demand-driven and inclusive principles need to be embedded in global, regional and country approaches.

The Food Systems Summit Dialogues that underpinned the recent UN Food System Summit demonstrated this need for both global and national action. More than 140 countries undertook a series of national dialogues in the lead-up to the summit. And more than 1600 independent dialogues were announced, resulting in National Pathways for Change in over 100 countries.

Whilst we know that people are central to food systems transformation, we must also acknowledge an inconvenient truth about our own role.

• As a species, we are using half of the habitable land on Earth to produce the food we consume every day.
• Up to one third of that land is degraded, threatening the long-term sustainability of our food system.
• Moreover, up to two thirds of biodiversity loss worldwide is attributed to food and land use activity.
• And more than two thirds of fresh water used in agriculture and food production and one third of greenhouse gases can be attributed to food and land use.

So there is no doubt that “agri-food” systems are a major part of the problem – but also, potentially, a huge part of the solution.

In many ways, the blueprint for how to do this already exists. It can be found in the Paris Accord and Sustainable Development Goals.

However, achieving these targets will require a “step change” in innovation, and an unprecedented degree of cooperation. Pursuing only narrowly defined projects, or specific thematic silos will not suffice.

At the World Economic Forum we seek to help public, private and civil society champions working across the full breadth of the food systems agenda:

• We aim to catalyse and build integrated global platforms for action .
• We aim to make economic and food systems fairer for all people , and more sustainable for the planet .
• And, we aim to address the real sense of urgency and scale that is so badly needed.

In all of these goals, we are grateful to work closely with the FAO and other UN agencies, as well as fellow international organizations, to unlock the drivers and levers for the changes needed.

In the next 20 minutes or so, I hope to inform, provoke and stimulate discussion among you through four distinct observations on the challenge of Food System Transformation.

The importance of a multistakholder response

The first observation is that there are structural risks that need to be addressed systemically, and an integrated multistakeholder response is required to transform food systems for the better.

Let me first highlight the global risks context for food security and food systems with data from the World Economic Forum’s 2021 Global Risks Report.

The Global Risks Report 2021

Each year, we ask a network of about 1,000 senior risk experts to assess 30 key “global risks”. They are grouped within 5 areas: economic, societal, environmental, technological and geopolitical. They are ranked by their perceived impact and likelihood of occurrence over the next 10 years.

The report shows something very interesting.

Despite what some may think, it seems that professional analysts in the finance, investment and business community already recognize the growing importance to our economies of societal and environmental risks like food security, extreme weather events, failure to adapt to climate change, water crises, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse.

Experts also realize how these risks will likely connect with one another and drive more immediate geopolitical flash point issues, like involuntary mass migration and interstate conflict.

So, we are facing a growing web of complex, challenging, underlying structural risks.

The interconnected nature of these risks, however, is proving particularly hard to address through traditional policy levers alone. This is made worse by the siloed nature of addressing individual risks, rather than systemic risk.

People are aware that our health and the well-being of the planet depend on the availability of, and access to, nutritious and more sustainable foods. But many are unfamiliar with the concept of “agri-food systems”.

As individuals, we participate in these systems daily. And our choices and actions impact them in an interconnected way.

It is important, therefore, that we examine food systems as a whole, rather than as separate pieces of the puzzle. We need to break silo thinking. We need to value overall outcomes rather than issue-specific processes. Importantly, we need to better understand how we can work together, collaboratively, to address these complex, multifaceted challenges.

In that sense, I would like to applaud the UN for the vision of calling out systems thinking and of having successfully hosted the Food Systems Summit

Solutions must be scalable

My second observation is that adopting an integrated response to food system transformation will require building multistakeholder platforms that can be scaled both at the national and regional level, and along global value chains.

Given the complexity of the challenge as food and land use issues cut across those of health, environment and the economy, this is not surprising. Of course, there are already a large number of individual partnerships and alliances that address specific geographic or thematic issues within food systems transformation.

But the piecemeal progress to date must rapidly become a joined up global effort that encompasses the entire food system to meet the scale and urgency of the challenge.

The pandemic has shown us the power of unprecedented global action and coordination towards achieving a common goal.

Traditional partnerships, are often very effective in addressing specific issues. But, they do not have the capacity to deliver either the scale of change or to manage the degree of complexity that food systems transformation requires.

To build future food systems that are fit for purpose, we need to adopt a “platform for action” approach. Such an approach should enable stakeholders from various sectors and geographies to develop public-private collaborations that meet local needs, while collectively aligning and coming together to address global ones.

This approach fundamentally has three traits:

• First, its focus is on platforms , not on institutions, projects or pilots.
• Second, its energy goes towards bolstering and aligning efforts , rather than duplicating them or approaching them piecemeal or in silos.
• And third, it requires a scaled, collaborative, cross-sector, solution-orientated mindset from the outset.

At the World Economic Forum, a good example is the Mission Possible Platform.

This cross-sector alliance of climate leaders is focused on getting entire sectors to net zero by 2030. It consists of a community of CEOs from carbon-intensive industries. They, together with their financiers, customers, suppliers, and, regulators agree and act on the decisions required for decarbonizing their respective industries within this decade.

In the food arena, the Food Action Alliance is another good example.

This alliance is led by more than 35 partners from the public and private sector, civil society, farmer and consumer organizations and academia. It aligns various country and region-led initiatives on a global level. That approach allows each existing partnership or initiative to maintain their uniqueness, while harnessing the collective capacity of the platform as a whole.

Specifically, the Food Action Alliance gathers initiatives led by IFAD, World Food Programme and the FAO’s Hand in Hand Initiative. And it also includes initiatives the World Economic Forum helped to catalyse, such as Grow Asia, which itself is working with nearly 600 partner organizations, reaching over 2 million farmers. Together, the Food Action Alliance has already engaged over 20 flagships globally that are adopting a comprehensive food system approach at scale.

Developing agricultural ecosystems by strengthening integrated value chains, from production to consumption, is often a good starting point for food systems transformation and wider economic growth. A crucial role lies with flagship initiatives, particularly in areas such as rice in West Africa. The ingredients to success are that (1) farmer best practices are adopted widely; (2) the use of best available technologies and science is made available affordably; and (3) access to finance and digital services to improve market access is enhanced. Moreover, such flagships support ambitious nutrition, climate smart and inclusion outcomes. Though complex to develop at scale, such flagship initiatives are critical for offering a blueprint for achieving more sustainable and equitable growth in regions such as Africa, a region that is key to the global food system.

Working in this way, we can make sure that hundreds of millions of people can benefit from better functioning, equitable food systems initiatives.

This is not a hypothetical number. At the World Economic Forum, we are actually working on a “One Hundred Million Farmers” initiative. It catalyses action to transition towards net-zero, nature-positive food systems by 2030. It sets out a shared global ambition, but also supports local solutions that incentivise farmers and empower consumers to place climate, nature and resilience at the core of the food economy.

Working at this scale truly drives global and system change. Once farmers change their production methods, companies can drive that as an operating principle through their supply chains. In their turn, several billion consumers are incentivized to choose healthier, nutritious, zero-waste and environmentally conscious food through a variety of inspiring, transparent and trusted approaches.

Think of such platforms as large-scale partnership accelerators. In this respect, the FAO is a very complimentary partner.

The "true value of food"

This leads to my third observation – that we need to better understand the role of the “true value of food”, of stakeholder capitalism, and of environmental, social and governance issues as levers of change.

Let us break this down in its three constituent parts.

First, as we engage in these systemic approaches, the true value of food comes into focus.

If we are to make better, more informed decisions on ensuring more equitable, resilient food systems, nourishing for all, then we need to better understand the true cost of food.

We need to understand how hidden factors, absent from the retail price, need to be assessed properly. Such costs include human health complications, biodiversity loss, environmental impact and the effects of the economy.

Second, we live in a world where the actions of any one stakeholder affect the lives and realities of many others.

Farmers, producers, fast-moving consumer good multinationals, retailers and consumers: all of them have a stake in our shared food system, but all of them also face externalities.

If we want to create and maintain a more sustainable food system, all of these actors need to embrace their stakeholder responsibility. That means looking beyond their short-term financial interests, and taking into account the longer term consequences of their actions. Producers and retailers too, are more than profit-generation units. They are part of society, and must contribute to it.

Already, investors see inaction on climate change as a key material risk and are increasingly challenging companies to take more action. And consumers and employees are already voting with their wallets and their feet. To survive and thrive in the future, it is important to stay ahead of this trend, because investors could be afraid of externalized liability risks.

Third and last, until recently, these was no comparable, transparent data to measure corporate resilience and progress on environmental, social and governance issues, or ESG. But that has recently changed.

Last year, the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council, together with the big four accounting firms, launched the Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics. These identify 21 core ESG metrics for companies to report in their annual reports. The aim is to cut through the fragmented landscape of sustainability reporting and build momentum on the development of global sustainability standards.

Though climate change is critical, it is not the only environmental impact we need to measure. Sustainable value creation also depends on protecting fresh water, fertile land and ecosystems. A business cannot succeed in a society that fails. Likewise, of the three ESG elements, “social” now ranks high in importance for investors, as issues such as human rights dominate public concerns.

For the Forum, the need to be able to properly measure the true value of food also aligns with the broader work we have been doing on ESG.

Innovation is a critical lever of change

My fourth observation is that innovation is a critical lever of change if we are to successfully transform food systems.

The pandemic has underscored the need to retool the entire food system. Actions taken to protect and restore food systems will also have to be smarter. This will require a significant focus on innovation that benefits everyone.

In defining innovation, it is critical to adopt a wider more holistic view – one that is inclusive of local and traditional knowledge. One that recognizes the importance of policy and institutional innovation, of multistakeholder partnership innovation, and of social innovation and social entrepreneurship.

At the same time, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, characterized by the fusion of technologies in the physical, digital and biological spheres, is driving disruptive technologies across many sectors.

That is an opportunity as well as a threat: it is an opportunity, as innovations may help us solve the wicked problems we are faced with in the food system. But it is also a threat, as innovations do not inherently bring about positive change. They may also worsen outcomes.

It is up to us to shape the outcomes of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the food space. We can shape them, and ensure they benefit all, rather than harm us.

But so far, agriculture and food systems have been slow to benefit from these developments. Our research prior to the pandemic revealed that, compared with the food sector, healthcare attracted 10 times the investment in innovation and created 10 times as many start-ups during the same period.

We identified that simply by focusing on 12 technologies, significant global benefits could be delivered in reduced water usage, greenhouse gas emissions and food waste. Whether that be in blockchain-enabled traceability, big data to support farmer electronic wallets, alternative proteins, or off-grid renewable energy.

The same report also highlighted that the individual technology is not on its own a silver bullet solution. In order to maximize potential impact, and to mitigate unintended consequences, vibrant innovation ecosystems need to be built, particularly at the country level.

• Such ecosystems should allow governments, companies, innovators, financiers and smallholder farmers to collaborate;
• They need to prioritize which technologies can and should most urgently be scaled;
• And they should define how policy and business model innovation can best be supported in a way that builds trust and bridges across silos.

As part of the Food Systems Summit, a number of countries and regions have actively supported the need for strengthening national innovation ecosystems through the establishment of Food Innovation Hubs.

• Viet Nam, for example, set out its strategy to become a leading green growth food innovation hub in Asia.
• The UAE has announced becoming a world leading hub in innovation-driven food security.
• Colombia and India have announced similar food hubs and are working with the World Economic Forum’s Network of Fourth Industrial Revolution Centres to accelerate this work.
• And last year, the Dutch Prime Minister announced support for creating a Global Coordinating Secretariat for Food Innovation Hubs.

These countries lead the way, as they understand that unlocking innovation in general, and particularly in digital food systems, offers countries significant scope to build back stronger, more resilient, more informed, and more equitable systems for the future.

Data-driven food systems – empowered by digital connectivity – is of course not a new concept. However, the need to accelerate work in this field and bring significant resources to bear has never been more pressing.

Data from satellite and geospatial operators, ICT and telecommunications providers, e-commerce and logistics companies and finance providers could all be brought together, along with data from government, international organizations and civil society. This would accelerate food systems transformation while ensuring that the farmer and the consumer are at the centre of any solution design.

An example of this in practice emerged during the pandemic in Kenya. The government established a cross-ministry, cross-sector, data-driven, food security war room under the management of the Agricultural Transformation Office of Kenya.

This allowed digital tools to be deployed in real-time to collect data from multiple sources, including individual farmers. And, in turn, this informed the response to and recovery from COVID-19 and its impact on food supply, as well as to a series of simultaneous threats, including a disastrous plague of locusts and extreme weather-induced flooding.

This approach was built out further through the Innovation Lever for the Food Systems Summit, leading to the emergence of a significant digital food systems coalition. It highlighted the idea of “One Map” – that aims to unlock the power of food systems transformation through a global digital map.

Another initiative that emerged included the Digital Marketplace Playbook. This inclusive and sustainable framework enables all actors, from farmers to consumers, to build more efficient, climate-smart markets for healthy and nutritious food.

The digital marketplace builds on strong examples, such as Mercy Corps AgriFin, which now is reaching 8 million smallholder farmers across Kenya, Ethiopia and Nigeria. It does this by aligning a range of initiatives that use data to better understand the needs of farmers and strengthen market offerings through trusted digital channels at scale.

Similar initiatives include Forum-supported programmes such as the Edison Alliance and 2030 Vision. Both of these aim to mobilize the ICT and other critical sectors to create a global movement that prioritizes digital inclusion and the use of digital technologies as fundamental to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

They can also be aligned to programmes such as the FAO Digital Villages Initiative to fast track the scope for increased prosperity in thousands of villages worldwide by smart access and use of technology.

The One Hundred Million Farmers platform is also promoting innovative solutions. It offers the scope to apply satellite and digital technologies to potentially engage tens of millions of farmers in co-creating a new reward and payment mechanism for those who adopt net-zero, nature-positive practices. This could lead to the creation of a whole new asset class in soil and regenerative farming.

As with all innovative solutions, however, it is vital to ensure that we put people at the centre of the design equation. It is also vital that this people-centric approach to innovation is supported by the building of robust innovation ecosystems. And that these are developed through smart policy, investment and capacity building agendas, and strengthened by creative platform building that enable collective action at scale.

In conclusion, when questions abound on the current world order and the risks facing national governments and international institutions, such as the World Economic Forum, it is our deep belief that the world needs examples of a new mobilization of global stewardship for our planet and the food system that we all rely on so heavily for our collective and shared prosperity.

We are facing unprecedented risks in the future, many of which are already causing disruptions today. In response, we need global public-private cooperation. We need to embrace and master the innovations of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. And we need to adopt a stakeholder approach to all of our activities.

On behalf of the World Economic Forum, I want to leave this talk with an open offer of support and collaboration towards the work of building inclusive growth and levers of change in support of food systems transformation.

With our friends and partners across business, civil society and the international community, we are privileged to be building the mobilization of an action agenda on food systems.

We will use our respective platforms for action as launchpads for collective engagement. We will also be honoured to stand alongside our colleagues and friends from the FAO as we look towards unlocking the outcomes that have emerged out of the Food Systems Summit, and as we work jointly to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

Once again, thank you for inviting me to contribute to this important dialogue.

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• Biology Article
• Overview of Food Chain

An Overview of Food Chain

Table of Contents

• What is a food chain
• Types of food chain
• Frequently Asked Questions

Food Chain: Introduction

A food chain explains which organism eats another organism in the environment. The food chain is a linear sequence of organisms where nutrients and energy is transferred from one organism to the other. This occurs when one organism consumes another organism. It begins with the producer organism, follows the chain and ends with the decomposer organism. After understanding the food chain, we realise how one organism is dependent upon another organism for survival.

Now, let’s look at the other aspects of a food chain, to get a better understanding.

What is a Food Chain?

A food chain refers to the order of events in an ecosystem, where one living organism eats another organism, and later that organism is consumed by another larger organism. The flow of nutrients and energy from one organism to another at different trophic levels forms a food chain.

The food chain also explains the feeding pattern or relationship between living organisms. Trophic level refers to the sequential stages in a food chain, starting with producers at the bottom, followed by primary, secondary and tertiary consumers. Every level in a food chain is known as a trophic level.

The food chain consists of four major parts, namely:

• The Sun: The sun is the initial source of energy, which provides energy for everything on the planet.
• Producers: The producers in a food chain include all autotrophs such as phytoplankton, cyanobacteria, algae, and green plants. This is the first stage in a food chain. The producers make up the first level of a food chain. The producers utilise the energy from the sun to make food. Producers are also known as autotrophs as they make their own food. Producers are any plant or other organisms that produce their own nutrients through photosynthesis.
• Consumers: Consumers are all organisms that are dependent on plants or other organisms for food. This is the largest part of a food web, as it contains almost all living organisms. It includes herbivores which are animals that eat plants, carnivores which are animals that eat other animals, parasites that live on other organisms by harming them and lastly the scavengers, which are animals that eat dead animals’ carcasses.

Here, herbivores are known as primary consumers and carnivores are secondary consumers. The second trophic level includes organisms that eat producers. Therefore, primary consumers or herbivores are organisms in the second trophic level.

• Decomposers: Decomposers are organisms that get energy from dead or waste organic material. This is the last stage in a food chain. Decomposers are an integral part of a food chain, as they convert organic waste materials into inorganic materials, which enriches the soil or land with nutrients.

Decomposers complete a life cycle. They help in recycling the nutrients as they provide nutrients to soil or oceans, that can be utilised by autotrophs or producers. Thus, starting a whole new food chain.

Several interconnected food chains form a food web. A food web is similar to a food chain but the food web is comparatively larger than a food chain. Occasionally, a single organism is consumed by many predators or it consumes several other organisms. Due to this, many trophic levels get interconnected. The food chain fails to showcase the flow of energy in the right way. But, the food web is able to show the proper representation of energy flow, as it displays the interactions between different organisms.

When there are more cross-interactions between different food chains, the food web gets more complex. This complexity in a food web leads to a more sustainable ecosystem.

Types of Food Chain

There are two types of food chains, namely the detritus food chain and the grazing food chain. Let’s look at them more closely:

• Detritus food chain: The detritus food chain includes different species of organisms and plants like algae, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, mites, insects, worms and so on. The detritus food chain begins with dead organic material. The food energy passes into decomposers and detritivores, which are further eaten by smaller organisms like carnivores. Carnivores, like maggots, become a meal for bigger carnivores like frogs, snakes and so on. Primary consumers like fungi, bacteria, protozoans, and so on are detritivores which feed on detritus.
• Grazing food chain: The grazing food chain is a type of food chain that starts with green plants, passes through herbivores and then to carnivores. In a grazing food chain, energy in the lowest trophic level is acquired from photosynthesis.

In this type of food chain, the first energy transfer is from plants to herbivores. This type of food chain depends on the flow of energy from autotrophs to herbivores. As autotrophs are the base for all ecosystems on Earth, the majority of ecosystems in the environment follow this kind of food chain.

Understanding food chains is vital, as they explain the intimate relationships in an ecosystem. A food chain shows us how every living organism is dependent on other organisms for survival. The food chain explains the path of energy flow inside an ecosystem.

Frequently Asked Questions on Food Chain

What are the first organisms in a food chain, what is the difference between the food chain and the food web.

A food chain follows a single path, where animals discover food. But a food web shows different paths, where plants and animals are connected. A food web comprises several food chains.

In a food chain, an organism eats a single item, whereas in a food web an organism consumes multiple items. In a food chain, there is a singular path for energy flow and in a food web, there are different paths for energy flow.

What role do humans play in a food chain?

What are animals called in a food chain, what do food chains end with.

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SPEECH: Champions Network address to UN Food Systems Summit 2021

On 23 September 2021, Ruth Richardson, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, delivered a speech during The People’s Plenary to UN delegates and Summit participants on behalf of the Multi Actor Food Systems Champions Network.

——

Your Excellencies, Summit participants, fellow food systems actors, 

We, the Champions Network of the United Nations Food Systems Summit, stand in our differences and we stand in our commonalities. We stand in humility with the millions of true food champions who work tirelessly to bring food to our homes every day, even when faced with Covid-19. We stand as food systems Champions recognizing that global, anthropogenic problems are so severe, threatening the future sustainability of the planet and humanity, that major and rapid systems transformations are needed.

And, we stand on a set of principles – reflected in the five Action Tracks of the UN Food Systems Summit- that define that transformation:

First is the principle of equity – The future of food must be squarely situated on intergenerational, gender, racial, and socio-economic equity and must uphold peoples’ right to food and secure livelihoods

Second is the principle of health – We must act into a future that delivers health for all – human health, animal health, environmental health, and community health

Third is the principle of diversity – We must act into a future that values agricultural, ecological, economic, and cultural diversity upholding agrobiodiversity as well as diversity in diets, markets, and local knowledge

Fourth, is the principle of integrity – Food systems of the future need to restore the integrity of social and planetary boundaries and protect the Earth’s ecosystems, climate system, societies, and inhabitants from the harmful impacts of food systems 

Fifth is the principle of resilience – We must act into a future of ecological and social resilience so that our food systems can both mitigate and adapt in the face of a changing world and ensure resilience to future crises especially for future generations 

These five principles must be underpinned by the principle of agency so that all can fully participate in, and prosper from, food systems, especially those historically marginalized including women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, smallholders and fishers, refugees, and food system workers. We must leave no one behind, especially the poorest and most vulnerable. And we must do no harm by ensuring that transformation pathways lead to stable and sustainable systems for people and the planet. 

We recognize that the path forward is complex and controversial. As Champions, we came up against what we agree on, and we came up against what we don’t agree on, highlighting the need for deep dialogue and continued ambition toward radical transformation.

Principles lead the way. The principles outlined here all reflect, in some form, negotiated and approved principles of the United Nations underpinning the Rio Conventions, Sustainable Development Goals, and others. Now is the time to acknowledge the severity of the historical moment we are in as we face the upheaval of climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty, hunger, political unrest, and covid, and to allow these principles to be our guide in navigating these troubled waters. 

We, the Champions Network of the United Nations Food Systems Summit, stand in our commitment to dialogue and debate, to food champions around the globe, and to the work ahead. We stand ready – inspired by an ideal of human solidarity – to come together in common cause to realize a healthy, equitable, resilient, and diverse future of food with integrity. If we can practice these principles, strengthen these principles, hold ourselves to account to these principles, we might just have a chance of bending the arc of history in a positive direction. 

Ruth Richardson Chair, Multi-Actor Food Systems Champions Network (“Champions Network”)

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Writing a Position Speech: Which Food Chain Would Be Best?

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• Food Chain and Food Web

Food chain is a linear sequence of organisms which starts from producer organisms and ends with decomposer species . Food web is a connection of multiple food chains. Food chain follows a single path whereas food web follows multiple paths. From the food chain, we get to know how organisms are connected with each other. Food chain and food web form an integral part of this ecosystem. Let us take a look at the food chain and a food web and the difference between them.

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In scientific terms, a food chain is a chronological pathway or an order that shows the flow of energy from one organism to the other. In a community which has producers, consumers , and decomposers, the energy flows in a specific pathway. Energy is not created or destroyed. But it flows from one level to the other, through different organisms.

A food chain shows a single pathway from the producers to the consumers and how the energy flows in this pathway. In the animal kingdom , food travels around different levels. To understand a food chain better, let us take a look at the terrestrial ecosystem.

Food chain in a Terrestrial Ecosystem

The sun is the source of energy, which is the initial energy source. This is used by the producers or plants to create their own food, through photosynthesis and grow. Next in this chain is another organism, which is the consumer that eats this food, taking up that energy.

The primary consumers are the organisms that consume the primary producers.  In a terrestrial ecosystem, it could be a herbivore like a cow or a goat or it could even be a man.  When a goat is consumed by man, he becomes the secondary consumer.

Learn more about Biogeochemical Cycle here in detail.

As the energy goes one level up, the food chain also moves up. Each level in the food chain is called a trophic level. The different trophic levels are Primary producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers and quaternary consumers.

Example of food chain

Grass (Producer) —–Goat (Primary Consumer) —– Man (Secondary consumer)

When dead organic matter becomes the starting of a food chain, then it is called the detritus food chain (DFC). The decomposers, which are the fungi and bacteria , feed on the organic matter to meet the energy requirements. The digestive enzymes secreted by the decomposers help in the breakdown of the organic matter into inorganic materials.

Download Ecosystem Cheat Sheet PDF

Browse more topics under ecosystem.

• Components of Ecosystem
• Ecological Pyramid and Ecological Succession
• Biogeochemical Cycle

Many interconnected food chains make up a food web. When you look at the larger picture, a food web shows a realistic representation of the energy flow through different organisms in an ecosystem.

Learn more about Components of Ecosystem here in detail.

Sometimes, a single organism gets eaten by many predators or it eats many other organisms. This is when a food chain doesn’t represent the energy flow in a proper manner because there are many trophic levels that interconnect. This is where a food web comes into place. It shows the interactions between different organisms in an ecosystem.

The following diagram shows the energy flow between various organisms through a food web.

Solved Questions For You

Q: Name the common detritivores in an ecosystem. Do they play a significant role? Support your answer.

Ans:   Earthworms, dung beetles, and sea cucumbers are some of the common detritivores in an ecosystem. They play a crucial role in the ecosystem, by decomposing the dead organic matter.

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Environment: The food chain

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This lesson plan provides an ideal introduction to the concept of food chains. Students complete a food chain diagram then listen to a clear explanation of each link in the chain from producers to third-level consumers. The listening also includes a clear explanation of why food chains are important. A gap-fill consolidates key vocabulary such as: ‘carnivores’, ‘herbivores’, ‘consume’, ‘destroy’ and ‘produce’. A fun group speaking activity asks students to describe a food chain word to their friends without using that word.

Environment - the food chain

Environment - the food chain - listening exercise.

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Kofi Annan Foundation

News & media, food security is a global challenge.

I am honoured to have been invited to mark the opening of the Centre on Food Security and the Environment.

The challenges you are focussing on could hardly be more important. Nor could your timing better underline their urgency.

Only last week the UN marked the world’s population reaching seven billion. And it was just 13 years earlier, in Sarajevo, where the world celebrated the birth of the six billionth child.

This growth has been driven by great advances in healthcare, higher levels of prosperity, and longer life expectancy.

But these achievements are marred by the knowledge that our successes go hand in hand with a shameful failure.

For almost one in seven people on our planet will today not have enough to eat.

Addressing this failure, urgent as it is, will be made much harder by climate change.

For rising temperatures and more frequent severe weather will have a disastrous impact on the availability and productivity of agricultural land.  Indeed they already are.

It is these two inter-linked global challenges- food security in an era of climate change, and their impact on our ambitions for a fairer and more secure world that I want to talk about today.

I will focus in particular on the challenges and opportunities that currently exist in Africa.

Ladies and gentlemen, we live at a time of great contrasts.

New technologies and the benefits of globalisation have created greater prosperity and more opportunity than ever before.

But this progress has not been shared evenly.

Hundreds of millions of our fellow citizens continue to live in poverty, and without dignity.

At the heart of this global inequality lies food and nutrition insecurity.

The lack of food security for almost one billion people is an unconscionable moral failing.

But it is also a major brake on overall socio-economic development.

It affects everything from the health of an unborn child to economic growth.

But despite the increase in our knowledge and capabilities, instead of seeing a reduction in the number of people going hungry, we are seeing an increase.

According to the World Bank, rapidly rising food prices during 2010 and 2011 pushed an additional 70 million people into extreme poverty.

We also know that we will have to find food to feed many more mouths in the coming decades.

Recent projections warn that the number of people may not stabilize at nine billion, as was forecast only two years ago, but could surpass 10 billion by the end of the century.

At the same time, greater prosperity in developing countries will see three billion people moving up the food chain with a growing appetite for meat and dairy products.

So grain, once used to feed people, is increasingly being switched to feed animals.

And rising oil prices have brought greater competition from heavily subsidized agro or bio fuels.

These factors alone could lead to demand for food increasing by 70 per cent by 2050.

This would be a tough enough challenge. But it is only half of a dangerous equation.

For we are facing new constraints on food production of which the most severe is climate change.

Climate change is an all-encompassing threat to our health, security, and stability.

It will have a major impact on fresh water resources and the productivity of the land.

Some experts warn that we may still be badly under-estimating the damaging long-term impact of climate change on food supply.

What is certain is that rising temperatures and changes to rainfall patterns are already affecting crop yields negatively.

This is a terrible legacy to leave our children. Yet so far, our generation of leaders – including those here in the United States – have failed to find the vision or courage to tackle it.

This is despite the last 12 months seeing record-setting floods and snowstorms, prolonged drought, and devastating wildfires here in the United States.

Worldwide, 20 countries in 2010 experienced new record-high temperatures; a heat wave in Russia proved the deadliest in human history; and the current flooding in Thailand highlights that the threat of extreme weather events driven by man-made climate change is growing.

Yet those arguing, here and elsewhere, for urgent action and a focus on opportunities to green our economies, still find themselves drowned out by those with short-term and vested interests.

This lack of long-term collective vision and leadership is inexcusable. It has global repercussions, and it will be those least responsible for climate change- the poorest and most vulnerable, that will pay the highest price.

Populations in developing regions which are heavily reliant on rain water for crops will immediately feel the impact of rising temperatures and water shortages.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, crop yields from rain-fed farmlands are forecast to fall as much as 50% by the end of this century, while 8% of fertile land is expected to be transformed into dustbowls, useless for cultivation or grazing.

These damaging changes are taking place in a continent where agriculture has already suffered badly from sustained lack of investments.

A lack of investment in research, human resource development and infrastructure means that cereal yields are a quarter of the world’s average, and have barely increased in 30 years.

As a result, Africa – the continent where the biggest future growth in population is projected – is already failing to produce enough food to feed its own peoples.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the deeply worrying backdrop against which the work of this Centre will begin.

It is why no challenge is in greater need of the innovation and intellectual rigour for which this university is internationally renowned.

But there are also signs of hope and opportunities to be seized.

First – and almost counter-intuitively – the rise in food prices may help us find solutions, provided we can find mechanisms to protect the vulnerable and prevent price volatility.

It is not so much the rise in food prices as the speed of the increases which has caused so much hardship.

The price of food has, in fact, fallen in real terms for much of the last three decades.

While this has been good for every consumer, particularly those in the developed world, it has damaged many rural communities and the long-term global supply of food.

If prices are artificially low, farmers are denied a fair return as well as the incentive and means to increase food production.

In contrast, more stable higher prices can encourage investment, stimulate production, and hold down prices in the future.

We urgently need to find ways of dampening extreme volatility in food prices, particularly the excessive speculation in agricultural commodities which causes it.

Maintaining and managing adequate food stocks is, I believe, crucial to managing price fluctuations.

Second, by applying known tools, techniques and support, Africa and its smallholder farmers can make a major contribution to global food security.

It may now be the only continent which can not feed its own people.

But it also contains some 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land.

Even without bringing more land into cultivation, boosting cereal yields to just half the world’s average would turn Africa into a major food surplus region.

So our ability to achieve global food security will rely in no small part on our success in supporting a uniquely African Green Revolution.

What are the elements which will make up this transformation in productivity?

It must be a revolution which draws from the lessons, positive and negative, of what has happened elsewhere including in Asia.

It must also be ‘climate smart’ so the productivity of land, and intensity of farming can be increased, while the negative environmental impacts are diminished.

I hope this is an area where the Centre on Food Security and the Environment can make a major contribution to finding solutions.

They must be solutions which draw from the knowledge of local communities and can be put into practice by small-holder farmers.

Four out of five Africans, many of them women and almost all working on farms of two hectares or less, depend on agriculture to provide for their families.

Even now, small holder farmers continue to produce the majority of Africa’s food.

They must be at the heart of the agricultural revolution we need to see.

This is the approach that informs the work of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa or AGRA – the organisation which I have the honour of chairing.

It is early days yet. But our focus on smallholder farmers, staple crops and key breadbasket areas is helping fight hunger.

It is also supporting farmers to adapt to the challenges of climate change.

In Tanzania, for example, the farmers in the southern highlands now plant early-maturing maize to escape the damage caused by an increasingly short and unreliable rainy season.

In West Africa, over 300,000 farmers are using micro-dosing techniques to boost sorghum yields with only one-third of the recommended fertilizer.

Our programmes are contributing to climate change resilience. But none of us must kid ourselves. Without action at the global level to address climate change we will see farmers across Africa – and in many other parts of the world including here in America – forced to leave their land.

The result will be mass migration, growing food shortages, loss of social cohesion, and even political instability.

So we must hope that the Climate talks in Durban next month move us towards a universal and fair framework to tackle climate change.

We need concerted action to reduce global emissions and protect citizens and countries against the impact of climate change.

Key to such an agreement, of course, will be recapturing the sense of common purpose based on shared values – something we seem to have lost in recent years. This is also necessary to drive the increased co-operation needed to deliver food and nutrition security.

We have to find the courage to redress the unacceptable inequality in the governance of agricultural policies and unfair trade rules.

We have to find the commitment required to reverse, even in these tough financial times, the short-sighted cuts in development assistance.

This has fallen, according to Oxfam, by 70 per cent in real terms over the last two decades.

The amount given now is equivalent to around one dollar for every 80 richer countries spent on supporting their own farmers – often at the expense of those in the developing world.

It is re-assuring that both national governments and international organisations understand this trend has to be reversed.

The US ‘Feed the Future’ initiative is a welcome example of the sort of initiative needed.

It demonstrates an understanding that feeding those most in need is not simply a moral imperative, but a necessary means to global growth, prosperity and international stability.

We need to make sure that all these promises of extra support from richer countries are kept and involve additional funds rather than the repackaging of existing financial commitments.

There is a pressing need for these funds to be invested in research and development – something that is at the heart of this Centre’s work.

Despite improvements in the productivity and efficiency of the global food system brought about by agricultural research, nowhere near enough resources are dedicated to the agricultural challenges of the developing world.

New crops and techniques are critical to boosting harvests and ensuring land stays productive despite climate change.

We need a much greater focus from institutions, such as this Centre, on working with your African counterparts.

Indeed, it is partnerships which hold out the greatest hope of finding solutions to the challenges we face and rolling them out to the farmers in the fields.

Through our work with AGRA, I have been able to see for myself just what effective partnerships and networks can achieve.

We are co-operating closely with governments, UN agencies, financial institutions, foundations, and members of the private sector to develop Africa’s breadbaskets and support smallholder farmers.

In collaboration with national and international research systems, for example, we are providing better seeds for farmers.

With the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, we are working to double Africa’s rice production by 2018.

And together with local commercial banks, AGRA and its partners have already mobilized significant amounts in affordable loans through credit guarantees.

But there is much, much more to be done.

Reshaping the global agricultural system in ways that alleviate hunger, end poverty, and promote sustainable development, requires us to work together more effectively.

The survival of one billion people – the weakest and most vulnerable on the planet – depends upon us finding answers to hunger now.

The future of nine billion plus people depends on us putting in place the right policies and systems to deliver food security in an environmentally sustainable manner within a few decades.

And the fate of our global community, our hopes for a just and peaceful world in which we work together to achieve shared goals, depends on us finding the courage to work for the benefit of all.

With the inauguration of this Centre you have placed yourselves at the forefront of these efforts.

With this facility, and the creative thinkers and inquisitive minds for which Stanford is famous, you are well equipped to undertake research which advances our knowledge, and helps to shape our response to the many global challenges we face.

And with the resources at your disposal, you also have the capacity to actively engage to influence policy, implement solutions, and make a tangible and significant contribution to the lives of the most vulnerable people on the planet.

So I wish you courage and vision, and above all, success, in all your future endeavours.

Speeches from Kofi Annan and the Kofi Annan Foundation team.

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Food chain: useful essay on food chain (463 words).

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Food Chain: Useful Essay on Food Chain!

In nature, we generally distinguish two general types of food chains: of razing food chain and detritus food chain. The Grazing food chain starts from the living green plants, goes to grazing herbivores (that feed on living plant materials with their predators), and on to carnivores (animal eaters).

Ecosystems with such type of food chain are directly dependent on an influx of solar radiation. This type of chain thus depends on autotrophic energy capture and the movement of this captured energy to herbivores.

Most of the ecosystems in nature follow this type of food chain. From energy standpoint, these chains are very important. The phytoplankton’s – zooplanktons – fish sequence or the grasses – rabbit- fox sequence are the examples of grazing food chain.

The Detritus Food chain goes from dead organic matter into microorganisms and then to organisms feeding on detritus (detritivores) and their predators. Such ecosystems are thus less dependent on direct solar energy. These depend chiefly on the influx of organic matter produced in another system. A good example of a detritus food chain is based on mangrove leaves.

All the animals are detritus consumers. These detritivores are the key group of small animals, comprising only a few species but very large number of individuals. They ingest large amounts of the vascular plant detritus. These animals are in turn eaten by some minnows and small game fish etc. that is the small carnivores, which in turn serve as the main food for larger game fish and fish eating birds which are the large (top) carnivores.

The mangroves considered generally as of less economic value make a substantial contribution to the food chain that supports the fisheries, an important economy in that region. Similarly detritus from sea grasses, salt marsh grasses and seaweeds support fisheries in many estuarine areas.

Thus the detritus food chain ends up in a manner similar to the grazing food chain (big fish eat little fish), but the way in which the two chains begin is quite different. In detritus chain, the detritus consumers, in contrast to grazing herbivores, are a mixed group in terms of trophic levels.

These include herbivores, omnivores and primary carnivores. As a group, the detritus feeders obtain some of their energy directly from plant material, most of it secondarily from microorganisms, and some territorially through carnivores (for example by eating protozoa or other small invertebrates that have fed or bacteria that have digested plant material).

But under natural situations, system must always be self sufficient. In fact this type of food chain (detritus type) is simply a sub-component of another ecosystem. And, the above said two types of food chain in nature are indeed linked together belonging to the same ecosystem.

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• Food Chains: Useful notes on Food Chains (explained with diagram) | Ecology
• Food Chain: Short Notes on Concept and Types of Food Chain

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7 Steps To Food Chaining For Picky Eaters

Time to read.

If you’re a parent of a picky eater , you might wonder “how do I get from Point A ( what they eat now ) to Point B ( what I want them to eat )?”

For example, I know they love chicken nuggets and french fries, but how do I get them to eat grilled chicken and roasted sweet potatoes? 

This is where a concept called “food chaining” comes in. Food chaining is essentially just creating stepping stones between point A and point B. Instead of just going straight to the goal, we create baby steps all the way there. Slow and steady wins the race!

In the picture below we have a chicken nugget on one side and grilled chicken on the other. They are connected by a chain. In this visual each link would be a food that is a just noticeable step towards our goal. 

We use concepts from our previous posts to both connect and progress. 

Each step (link) should include a change in preferably just one of the following:

• Color or other visual
• Temperature

Each step (link) should ALSO be similar to the previous step in at least one of the following:

7 Steps To Food Chaining

Let’s go through the process of creating a food chain for our example above.

Link 1: Chicken nuggets

• Qualities: round, crunchy and chewy, salty, warm, uniform color (tan)

Link 2: Chicken nuggets cut in half

• Why: changes the shape and exposes small amount of inside (similar to what grilled chicken looks like)
• Similar to previous in: Flavor, Texture, Temperature, Smell

Link 3: Chicken nuggets cut in half and reheated in microwave (instead of oven).

• Why: maintains progress from the previous link and changes the texture to be less crunchy. Grilled chicken does not have a crunchy coating, so we are leaving the flavor but changing the texture to be more similar. 
• Similar to previous link in: flavor, temperature, smell, shape, color

Link 4: Chicken nuggets with breading removed

• Why: we change the visual appearance and texture by removing the outer coating, which creates a presentation more similar to grilled chicken.
• Similar to previous link in: Flavor, Temperature, Shape, Smell

Link 5: Ground chicken formed into similar shape and baked (add seasoning)

• Why: This changes the texture mainly, as well as flavor and visual slightly. 
• Similar to previous link in: temperature, shape, and somewhat in flavor/visual

Link 6: Chicken breast/thighs cut into similar size and baked/ sauteed

• Why: baking or sautéing will hopefully allow for a more uniform golden brown color. It will introduce a new texture bringing us closer to our target food.
• Similar to previous link in: temperature, shape, flavor, smell

Link 7: Grill chicken and cut into similar size pieces

• Why: grilling will slightly change the flavor, as well as visual (if grill marks are present)
• Similar to previous link in: temperature, shape, smell, texture

WE MADE IT!

Here are a few things to consider when going through this food chaining process:

• Each link takes time! It won’t necessarily happen overnight, you might need to stay on one step for a while until they become comfortable interacting and eating that food.
• Sometimes a step is too large, and you get to add an additional step in between. What we think is a baby step may turn out to be a giant leap.
• Be sure to keep these exposures and steps lighthearted and fun! PLAY PLAY PLAY!
• Sometimes it can be helpful to offer the previous step food with the new step food, to emphasize similarities and create comfort with the next step. For example offering a whole chicken nugget with the nuggets cut in half.

Experiment and have fun! Trust yourself to think of new ideas and create your own little stepping stones for your child. It is a marathon, not a race–so we encourage you to have fun and enjoy the journey. As always, when in doubt, play with your food!!

Need more help with your picky eater? Schedule a free consult today!

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0.3  ASHA CEUs

Treatment of picky and problem eaters using food chaining therapy #e161.

Presenters: Cheri Fraker, CCC-SLP, CLC & Laura Walbert, CCC-SLP, CLC

Description

Learn analysis of core diet, flavor mapping and flavor masking, and use of transitional flavors..

– J.B., prior course participant

Read more comments about this course!

This course instructs professionals in the treatment of children with complex feeding aversion. Multidisciplinary, evidence-based information will be presented with emphasis on Food Chaining as a treatment technique for aversive feeding disorders. Participants will learn the Food Chaining rating scales to rate children's reactions to foods and group similar foods by taste, texture and temperature. Learn analysis of core diet, flavor mapping and flavor masking, and use of transitional flavors. Interventions discussed also apply to the adult population.

Course is offered for 0.3 ASHA CEUs – 3 Contact Hours. The Illinois Early Intervention Training Program has approved this course for 3 hours of EI credential credit.

also see course #e313 “Food Chaining Therapy – New Without No”

Course Overview & Run Time

Course Overview – Run Time: 3:17:28

• The Evaluation Process
• Nutritional Considerations
• Food Chaining - The Concepts and Program Development
• Case Studies

– K.W., prior course participant

Content Disclosures

This presentation will focus on the technique of PreChaining and Food Chaining© developed by the course presenters. Other treatment approaches will receive limited coverage during this lecture. Presenter financial and non-financial disclosures may be found in the Presenter & Disclosures area.

Course Format

Video PowerPoint presentation with author narration & downloadable handout. Stop and re-start the course at any point. Learners retain access to course content after completion for ongoing reference and review.

Comments From Prior Course Participants

"Discussing food chaining was beneficial." S.D. (May. 2024)

"The Rating Scale was helpful. The course was easy to follow along with." L.S. (May. 2024)

"I loved this training! It was filled with so much useful information. It’s hard to choose which bit of information was most helpful. If I had to choose, I’d say the examples of how to chain different foods. I loved the examples, the questions asked at the end of each section, and just all of the information presented. It all was so helpful!" J.G. (Apr. 2024)

"Use of the Rating Scale was helpful. A very thorough discussion of the topic." W.D. (Apr. 2024)

"Steps for Food Chaining were beneficial. The course gave in-depth and detailed case studies." J.S. (Apr. 2024)

"Food chaining techniques were helpful. Very informative and practical." S.D. (Mar. 2024)

"The rating scale and case studies were the most helpful. Content I can immediately apply to practice." M.S. (Mar. 2024)

"The information in each section was important to know. I believe that the first section about all the medical issues that could interfere with feeding was really important. I really liked the food chaining part of the presentation because it will help myself and my parents look at feeding in different way. I liked learning about the different products and what they're best used for. I liked learning about the different medical issues that can interfere with feeding." L.M. (Mar. 2024)

"Discussing how to chain a specific food and how you can gather similarities in a child's diet to understand their sensory preferences was helpful. I liked how informative this course was and also how it was self-paced and I could do it on my own time. I am a mom and work full time so this was very helpful for me." L.P. (Mar. 2024)

"The 6 steps of the food chaining program were well explained in this course. The case studies certainly helped with my learning." X.J. (Mar. 2024)

"It was beneficial learning about everything that needs to be assessed and all the different professionals that may need to be involved before considering any dietary changes. Learning how to implement a food chaining program. I liked how the rating scales and strategies were broken down and applied to specific clients." D.K. (Feb. 2024)

"Learning how to use a scale with food chaining was helpful. I enjoyed the detailed information on food chaining and how it is incorporated into the treatment of this pt population." M.D. (Feb. 2024)

"The examples of expanding foods were beneficial. I liked the general information regarding food chaining." H.L. (Feb. 2024)

"Discussing portion size and rating scale was helpful." K.C. (Feb. 2024)

"It was beneficial to discuss that evaluation of a child's reaction to a new food should be rated to determine progress, and that food chaining is not linear. I enjoyed the case study and example of food chaining used with actual clients." N.H. (Feb. 2024)

"Food chaining concept was helpful. I liked that I was able to repeat parts that I couldn’t catch well and able to view the course according to my time." O.K. (Jan. 2024)

"All of the course was beneficial, especially the chaining process. Very knowledgeable speakers." M.G. (Jan. 2024)

"The specific examples, like the case studies, were helpful. Kept to the topic at hand and gave several examples." K.M. (Jan. 2024)

"Discussing general guidelines on how to establish a chain was beneficial. I liked the examples of food chains." L.R. (Jan. 2024)

"Loved the rating scale. I liked the presentation organization of: Introduction of what would be discussed, delivery of new information, summary of new information discussed in each section, and short assessment with explanation. Excellent course." J.B. (Jan. 2024)

"I enjoyed the case studies and the overall layout of the course." C.Y. (Jan. 2024)

"All the clinical implications were beneficial. Many feeding CEUs are hospital-based or focus on infants, while this course pertained more to my caseload of toddlers and school-aged children. I liked the pace of the course and the way in which it was broken up. In addition, I thought the case studies were helpful and a good way to apply learning." M.K. (Jan. 2024)

"The Evaluation and Food Chaining sections were helpful. All of the examples!" B.N. (Jan. 2024)

"I get a lot of kids who are on a liquid diet. Info about reducing liquid consumption to increase hunger sensation was beneficial. Easy course to understand and follow. I like how the presentation was divided into sections." T.J. (Jan. 2024)

"The examples of food-chaining foods were beneficial. I liked how the course was broken into sections. The third section was most beneficial to me." M.C. (Dec. 2023)

"The case studies with videos were very helpful. I liked the photo comparisons and case studies." L.H. (Dec. 2023)

"Helpful information regarding the negative effects that mouth breathing has on all aspects of feeding. Implementing a chewing program and using specific feeding utensils to facilitate chewing. I enjoyed the case studies and the food progression examples." A.R. (Dec. 2023)

"Beneficial topics included breathing considerations; taking preferred foods and making slight modifications (to texture / flavor / presentation); ideas for modifying pasta / rice; and reasons why a child might accept food in one situation and refuse it in the next (e.g., due to pressure). I liked that there were many practical examples of children similar to the ones I treat." K.K. (Dec. 2023)

"I liked the examples and case studies and rating scale. I use a sensory hierarchy scale to get to items in mouth and this will be the next level of data that I can collect. Thank you. I liked examples of how to modify the different groups (bread, cheese, etc)." S.F. (Dec. 2023)

"I liked the breakdown of all aspects of picky eating as well as the examples of the scale. It made course easy to understand. I liked the facts and how everything was on a PowerPoint to follow along and take notes." E.L. (Dec. 2023)

"Helpful case studies to see examples of using the food chaining program. I liked that there was information about the whole process (eval, caregiver training, developing treatment)." C.C. (Nov. 2023)

"All of the topics were overall very helpful and beneficial to my daily practice. I enjoyed learning about food chaining." K.H. (Nov. 2023)

"I loved this course. It kept me engaged and gave me TONS of useful information. I especially loved the case histories where I could see the chaining therapy being implemented." F.J. (Nov. 2023)

"The rating scale and methods of diet expansion techniques were helpful. I enjoyed the presentation of the material." T.C. (Nov. 2023)

"The process of food chaining was beneficial to discuss. I liked the range of examples provided." P.L. (Nov. 2023)

"I liked the details provided for the implementation of a food chaining system. Great examples of how to implement it." K.B. (Nov. 2023)

"Provided specific examples of food chaining and explanation of how physiological deficits impact munching/chewing patterns. I liked the clarity of presenters and how they explained how liquid intake (water and milk) impacts intake of solids." S.Y. (Oct. 2023)

"The examples of real clients were beneficial. This course helped me relate to my current clients. I liked the multiple examples of food chain sequences." T.K. (Oct. 2023)

"I loved all the strategies mentioned to expand food choice. Liked how the rating scale helps to track progress." C.L. (Oct. 2023)

"The case studies regarding medically complex food chaining were helpful." M.P. (Sep. 2023)

"I liked all of the suggestions for which foods to go to next given a child's current preference and the emphasis on looking at the whole child. The discussion on different bottles/considerations for each and the difference between the parent and child rating scale was beneficial." S.M. (Sep. 2023)

"This course was informative and provided examples from real cases. I liked discussing the importance of using rating scale." M.S. (Sep. 2023)

"The information about recommended intake for toddlers and strategies to increase eating at meal time was helpful (e.g., reduce amount of milk, reduce grazing, etc). I liked the product recommendations and the rating system." A.K. (Sep. 2023)

"I loved the real life examples and case studies. It really helps put things together. I liked the flexibility to pause and resume when needed." K.S. (Aug. 2023)

"I found the topic of food chaining and how to implement it to be most helpful. I enjoyed the rating scale examples and case studies." G.D. (Aug. 2023)

"Concrete examples and case studies. I liked the rating scale." S.B. (Aug. 2023)

"I thought the rating scale was helpful to use consistently with a child, and it's easy to use with caregivers. I liked the explanation of how to refer and complex needs vs. children with less needs. The case studies brought the program to life, giving real problems/concerns and solutions that happen over time." M.E. (Jul. 2023)

"Framework to consider/organize food and their experiences were beneficial. I liked the case studies." I.L. (Jul. 2023)

"The case studies were helpful! I loved that there was a variety in the severity. This course was very easy to follow along with!" H.N. (Jul. 2023)

"I found the case studies helpful as well as talking through how to food chain. I liked the real life examples." A.A. (Jul. 2023)

"The whole approach seems like it will be an effective way to help expand upon a child’s limited food repertoire. I liked how course was divided into sections, had lots of helpful information in addition to the slides, and had practical information that can be used immediately." K.S. (Jul. 2023)

"Explanation of the food chaining steps was beneficial. I liked the case studies." K.P. (Jun. 2023)

"I plan to encourage my staff to take this course. The evaluation portion of the presentation was a very complete overview and very concise. Personally, I really liked the specific recommendations for spoons, bottles, and cups. I liked the pace and how thorough course was - the case studies were really great." L.H. (Jun. 2023)

"Food Chaining 101, including the specific 6 steps (food chaining is the last step!)" N.E. (Jun. 2023)

"Presenters provided an abundant amount of examples to help relate to clients. Learning what foods can be chained together based on textures was beneficial." C.S. (Jun. 2023)

"I liked the food chaining rating scale and the case studies at the end." M.C. (Jun. 2023)

"I enjoyed the thorough breakdown, examples, and ideas. I liked the case studies and seeing real life examples." M.M. (Jun. 2023)

"The case studies were particularly helpful." S.I. (Jun. 2023)

"This can be immediately applied to therapy. I liked the depth of knowledge presented. Milk-protein allergy was a beneficial topic." M.M. (Jun. 2023)

"I liked all aspects r/t the Food Chaining to assist with the feeding therapy with my clients." S.P. (Jun. 2023)

"The case studies were the most helpful part of the training! They showed real life examples of food chains that could be models for current clients." G.S. (Jun. 2023)

"Rating scales were beneficial (and the recommendation to make one with the child). I liked the practical examples." C.A. (May 2023)

"Discussing the 5 steps to consider before changing foods was beneficial. This course was concise, informative, and visual." S.W. (May 2023)

"This course is clear and to the point. I liked the recommended eating tools/products, and all the examples of food and how it can be modified or expanded as one progressed through therapy." J.C. (Apr. 2023)

"Discussing methods of food training with parents. Easy to comprehend course, good pace." N.L. (Apr. 2023)

"I appreciated the examples of how to chain the food together. I liked the examples." B.B. (Apr. 2023)

"Medical and nutritional considerations, equipment to trial, and case studies to understand examples of chaining were beneficial. I liked the case studies, and being online allowed me to pause and re-listen to ensure my understanding." A.M. (Apr. 2023)

"The feeding strategies to try in therapy were the most beneficial. I enjoyed hearing the case study information." B.M. (Mar. 2023)

"The integration of the child's sensory preferences when determining what food to chain was beneficial. I liked the case history section." R.M. (Mar. 2023)

"Simple food chaining ideas: pulling apart pop tarts, adding 1 tbsp sauce to another sauce, and using flavored broth for rice. I liked the practical pieces and examples, and the rating scale." D.L. (Mar. 2023)

"Learning importance of food education - how effective it can be in daily practice with families of children with picky eating to understand their children better and moreover make mealtime fun rather than stress." C.M. (Mar. 2023)

"Each topic was well explained. I liked the case studies." E.P. (Feb. 2023)

"All the information presented in this workshop was very beneficial. I loved the way presenters linked the red flags in aspects of health history. These are a key piece to implementing the appropriate technique; not just observed feeding skills. The steps to use the therapeutic approach were beneficial." I.V. (Feb. 2023)

"I liked the food chaining technique itself and rating scale." B.M. (Feb. 2023)

"Good overview of expanding food choices. I liked the rating scale." J.H. (Feb. 2023)

"It was a new concept to me so overall course was very helpful. The instructors were clear and concise." M.S. (Feb. 2023)

"The medical and oral motor factors to consider prior to food chaining and the practical examples of food chaining were beneficial." C.M. (Jan. 2023)

"Absolutely everything!! Seriously, the best course I've ever taken! Thank you!" D.E. (Jan. 2023)

"All six steps were helpful. Learning the specific ways to modify foods in the chaining program." H.R. (Jan. 2023)

"The oral motor ideas, such as using tools like the duo spoon, crumbing, and cutting food into rectangles to work on chewing were beneficial. I liked all the examples." J.S. (Jan. 2023)

"I liked the rating scale. Handouts, sectioned material were beneficial." M.R. (Jan. 2023)

"I liked the examples of food chaining specific foods. And the ease of course access." E.O. (Jan. 2023)

"I liked the discussion of food chaining and mapping. And the specific case studies that shared real ideas on how to modify preferred foods." M.D. (Dec. 2022)

"All of this was beneficial. Our dysphagia class in grad school did not offer an in-depth section for treating feeding disorders, especially in the pediatric population. The amount of information given, and the recommendations for treatment were great." A.W. (Dec. 2022)

"I liked the Meal Modification Plan. The topics covered were relevant and everything was explained in a simple way." Z.R. (Dec. 2022)

"The rating scales for food chaining and specific examples of food chains were very informative. Vast amount of information and specific examples given to supplement the information." A.L. (Dec. 2022)

"There were excellent ideas for ways that children can interact with food. Also, the rating scale will be a great way to monitor my kiddos. The presenters were clear and concise. The knowledge checks were great." C.P. (Dec. 2022)

"The structure and information was presented clearly and in an organized way. I liked the ideas presented for chaining different foods." M.R. (Dec. 2022)

"The presentation was simple and easy to follow. The rating scale is helpful. And learning medical reasons a child will not accept foods." M.V. (Dec. 2022)

"I liked the case studies." A.D. (Dec. 2022)

"Course was very specific and explained in detail the concepts." Y.R. (Nov. 2022)

"Understanding how medical problems such as congestion and breathing problems impact feeding. I liked learning how Food Chaining works and the use of the rating system." V.N. (Nov. 2022)

"There are practical suggestions of where to start and how to chain specific foods." S.H. (Nov. 2022)

"Easy to understand course." M.S. (Nov. 2022)

"The case studies were very helpful. Great examples." A.B. (Nov. 2022)

"Food chaining examples, recommendations, tips and tricks, as well as visuals, were very informative. Handouts were easy to follow along with the presentation. Presenters were very knowledgeable and provided fantastic resources, recommendations for actual treatment practice, and case studies/example situations to better achieve learner outcomes." K.W. (Nov. 2022)

"Feeding for craniofacial children under 3 - how to encourage parents in early intervention was good." B.B. (Nov. 2022)

"I found the examples of how to initiate food chaining extremely helpful. I liked that course gave a descriptive overview of food chaining as well as example case studies." K.B. (Nov. 2022)

"The content was easily integrated into clientele examples." D.J. (Nov. 2022)

"I did not know much about food prechaining or chaining. I liked all of the topics. The information was excellent. I liked that I could stop and go and come back where I left off. I liked how I could re-listen as needed." K.H. (Nov. 2022)

"There was a good amount of quality information." A.F. (Nov. 2022)

"A lot of practical usable suggestions! Love the ongoing offering of examples. Just what I need to liven up and change my current sessions." P.B. (Oct. 2022)

"Everything discussed is very important to know when you are working with children that have feeding problems. I liked how the modifications in the foods are helping the kids to expand diet core." R.P. (Oct. 2022)

"Everything was beneficial. Comprehensive and extremely practical course." J.B. (Sept. 2022)

"The presentation was clear." N.U. (Sept. 2022)

"The format was helpful for understanding the material." S.P. (Sept. 2022)

"I liked the clear info that i can use in my cases." J.N. (Sept. 2022)

"The course was very informative." A.B. (Aug. 2022)

"How to practice this feeding chain and step by step, and the videos helped a lot."  M.R. (Aug. 2022)

"I liked all of it. New ideas on chaining methods."  A.L. (June 2022)

"The order of presentation of information and topics addressed were good. I liked the specific examples of food chaining." C.F. (June 2022)

"I found that the evaluation process as well as changing the flavor rather than the texture of foods will be very beneficial." W.B. (June 2022)

"I liked the layout and the video presentation. Learning the food chaining process and food rating." K.M. (June 2022)

"I liked the direction it provided for completing a proper case history and learning the detailed technique for food chaining." H.L. (June 2022)

"I work with a lot of kiddos in Early Intervention with feeding/swallowing issues. I read the book by the presenters in my first year as an SLP and loved it. I think they have some great ideas that work with the kiddos I serve. I think the rating scale will be most beneficial, especially for some of my older 6-8 year old outpatients who come just for feeding. The presenters explained everything so well. I enjoyed the pictures and hearing the case studies." T.N. (May 2022)

"Everything was great. I'm very interested in feeding therapy and have a child with ASD. Their use of examples helped a lot." (May 2022)

"Information was very clinically based with a lot of good takeaways to use right away." S.B. (May 2022)

"Helped me to know when to refer patients for feeding consultation." P.B. (Apr. 2022)

"I liked the discussion of food chaining and how to implement strategies." S.S. (Apr. 2022)

"I believe the deep specifics on the steps of food chaining and the examples of different foods and liquids that could be incorporated was beneficial" J.T. (Mar. 2022)

"The explanation of food chaining and case studies were helpful for my understanding. Course expanded my knowledge and understanding of what food chaining is and what foods to try with my feeding patients." J.V. (Mar. 2022)

"The case studies combined with the in-depth explanation of food chaining (by food groups) was helpful in understanding the general concepts and how to put them into practice. I enjoyed the pace and real-world examples presented in the course." K.O. (Mar. 2022)

"I liked the hands on examples of how to chain."  D.D. (Mar. 2022)

"Rating scales and how to modify foods was beneficial. The case studies helped me piece things together." J.P. (Mar. 2022)

"Course provided good information on how to assess and begin a food chaining program, and also provided examples." J.R. (Feb. 2022)

"EVERYTHING!!! I'm an SLP and I'm new to feeding therapy. New student on my caseload has feeding goals, however, he's 12!" A.A. (Jan. 2022)

"The rating scale will be most helpful in my daily practice when treating children with feeding disorders. The scale will be helpful in creating goals and monitoring progress. I liked how the course was broken up into different segments. It helped me stay focused on the topic and helped me better retain information when I had to pause the course after each section." D.O. (Jan. 2022)

"The presentation was easy to follow, and there were many practical examples of therapy for a variety of infants and children with different feeding needs." J.B. (Jan. 2022)

"I liked the background information about health issues causing picky eating. I'm wondering when EOE came on the radar. My son, now 16, was an extremely picky eater with the associated health issues. We went to so many doctors (pediatricians, allergists, 3 ENTs, immune system doctors). Nobody caught the EOE, despite what I know now to be classic symptoms. We finally figured it out at age 12. We tried more testing, diets, and medications to no avail. At age 14, he went on Neocate and no food for 6 weeks and finally saw remission. At age 14, he was 4'11" and 90 pounds. 18 months later, he was 5'7" and 135 pounds. We still struggle with picky/slow eating. This will be helpful." (Dec. 2021)

" I really enjoyed this course. It really helped me understand how to expand children's diets using their current food preferences. The entire content was wonderful, as well as the case studies and examples. So helpful!"  A.C. (Dec. 2021)

" How to modify existing food preferences with other flavors or textures to improve variety was helpful for my daily practice. The course was very specific and had lots of practical recommendations that will be useful."   T.J. (Nov. 2021)

" I liked the resources and ideas on how to present new foods, and expand. The rating form is very helpful."   L.B. (Oct. 2021)

"I liked that the course was broken down into sections." A.E. (Oct. 2021)

" How to address the evaluation when we have a picky eater. The great strategies, tools and examples about how we can modify a child's diet." J.S. (Oct. 2021)

“I liked that it discussed Food Chaining from infancy through childhood. Many other courses focus on infants and toddlers, and this course incorporated school-age.” R.R. (Oct. 2021)

"The use of rating scales and importance of prechaining process was beneficial for my daily practice." G.L. (Sept. 2021)

" The case studies. It helped to synthesize all the information given and show how the information could be used in the "real world" with "real children". I liked the handouts because I can use them for quick reference." C.D. (Aug. 2021)

“I enjoyed food chaining, the case studies, and examples. I think the instructor was very thorough and detailed with her presentations. I like how I was able to learn at my own pace.” L.H. (Aug. 2021)

" The examples of food chains that were shared will be beneficial to my practice.  I liked how in depth the case studies were." L.S. (Aug. 2021)

“I enjoyed the breakdown of treatment planning of food chaining and an explanation of the rating scale. I also liked that it was broken down in a way that you can use it in your practice immediately.” J.C. (Jul. 2021)

“How to initiate a food chaining program, and using the rating scale to determine which new foods to incorporate or modify was very insightful. I liked how the food chaining method follows a sensory approach to feeding, respecting the child's sensory profile without forcing new foods on them.” Y.D. (Jun. 2021)

" Learning how to modify foods to expand preferences was great!" M.I. (Jun. 2021)

" Learning how to implement Food Chaining and the importance of rating will be beneficial for my daily practice." K.B. (Jun. 2021)

"I loved hearing the thought process for analyzing a new client and then the various ways of altering foods to make them chain off a preferred food. My favorite aspect of this course was learning tidbits like grilled peanut butter and jelly can be easier to tolerate than regular peanut butter and jelly... little nuggets of knowledge that expand my repertoire of chaining knowledge. It was a fabulous course." F.A. (May 2021)

" The specific food groups discussed for food chaining, as well as, how to mask new foods introduced were beneficial. I found the two case studies and monthly updates beneficial to my daily practice with my pediatric feeding patients. Learning about the 6 steps, as well as, specific ways to assist children with oral-motor and sensory needs. I felt that this course covered all of the areas about food chaining (which I wanted to review). However, would have liked to see more videos of food chaining strategies." J.B. (Apr. 2021)

" It was fantastic to have a course on specifics to address the oral stage for swallowing disorders and a plan to help the child expand their palate. I liked the q uality of content. Excellent course!!" L.G. (Mar. 2021)

“I enjoyed the in-depth discussion on treatment procedures including the use of rating scales, food chaining examples, and how to approach expanding from a currently accepted food.”   H.G. (Mar. 2021)

“I found the food chaining examples were helpful and increased my understanding.” K.E. (Feb. 2021)

"I liked that it went through anatomy and then went into food chaining for a very complete look. The food chaining rating scale was most helpful." M.H. (Feb. 2021)

“I liked how they presented a few case studies so I could see how to implement the food chaining program.” T.P. (Jan. 2021)

Course Objectives

• List the six steps of program development prior to implementation of a Food Chaining therapy.
• Describe the treatment techniques of Food Chaining: analysis of core diet, flavor mapping and flavor masking, and use of transitional flavors.
• Utilize the Food Chaining rating scales to rate children's reactions to foods and group similar foods by taste, texture and temperature.

Northern Speech Services is an AOTA Approved Provider of professional development. Course approval #25672. This eCourse is offered at 0.3 CEUs, educational level Intermediate, 1. Domain of OT: Areas of Occupation: ADL; Activity Demands: Objects used and their properties, required actions, required body functions and structures; Performance Skills: Sensory perceptural skills, motor and praxis skills 2. OT Process: Evaluation: analysis of occupational performance;  Intervention: Develop intervention plan and approaches, implementation of intervention; Outcomes: Occupational performance. The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.

Presenter & Disclosures

Cheri Fraker, CCC-SLP, CLC, is an ASHA certified pediatric speech pathologist who earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Speech Pathology from Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois, 1986. Cheri's work in feeding is recognized internationally. She has published articles on Food Chaining in international medical periodicals, The Nest and Nutrition and the MD.

Cheri has worked in pediatrics for 28 years. She developed the techniques of Pre-Chaining and Food Chaining. Cheri has lectured on pediatric feeding disorders at ASHA, the UCLA/UMH Nutrition Leadership Conference, The American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine, The North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and the 2004 World Congress of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition in Paris, France.

She is the co-author of the books "Evaluation and Treatment of Pediatric Feeding Disorders: From NICU to Childhood” and "Food Chaining: The Six Step Solution to Stop Picky Eating, Solve Feeding Problems and Expand Your Child's Diet." Cheri specializes in evaluation and treatment of pediatric feeding disorders and is the lead therapist for the pediatric feeding team clinic at The Center for Selective Eating and Pediatric Feeding Disorders and the SIU-Koke Mill Pediatric Swallowing Clinic in Springfield, Illinois.

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial — Cheri Fraker is a presenter of online CE courses offered by Northern Speech Services; receives royalty payments.

Financial — Cheri Fraker is the co-author of "Evaluation and Treatment of Pediatric Feeding Disorders: From NICU to Childhood" and "Food Chaining: The Six Step Solution to Stop Picky Eating, Solve Feeding Problems and Expand Your Child's Diet"; receives royalty payments.

Nonfinancial — Cheri Fraker has no relevant nonfinancial disclosures.

Laura Walbert, CCC-SLP, CLC, is an ASHA certified pediatric speech pathologist who earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Communication Disorders and Sciences from Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois, 1996. Laura’s work in feeding is recognized internationally in medical journal periodicals and conference presentations on pediatric feeding disorders. Laura has also presented on evaluation and treatment of athlete’s with vocal cord dysfunction. She is the co-author of the books “Evaluation and Treatment of Pediatric Feeding Disorders: From NICU to Childhood” and “Food Chaining: The Six Step Solution to Stop Picky Eating, Solve Feeding Problems and Expand Your Child's Diet."

Financial — Laura Walbert is a presenter of online CE courses offered by Northern Speech Services; receives royalty payments.

Financial — Laura Walbert is the co-author of "Evaluation and Treatment of Pediatric Feeding Disorders: From NICU to Childhood" and "Food Chaining: The Six Step Solution to Stop Picky Eating, Solve Feeding Problems and Expand Your Child's Diet"; receives royalty payments.

Nonfinancial — Laura Walbert has no relevant nonfinancial relationship to disclose.

Intended Audience / Accreditation

This program is offered for 0.3 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate Level; Professional Area).

Intended Audience

• Speech-Language Pathologists

ASHA CEUs: NSS online courses are registered with ASHA and are offered for ASHA CEUs. The number of ASHA CEUs is noted above. Note that 0.1 ASHA CEU = 1 contact hour = equals 1 CEE.

ASHA CE Registry: During the enrollment process, if you select to receive ASHA credit for this course and if you provide your ASHA number, NSS will automatically submit your CEU information to the ASHA CE Registry after successful course completion (80% on post test). This submission happens once per month, during the first week of the month. For example, if you complete your course on November 7th, NSS will submit all November online course CEUs to ASHA during the first week of December. When ASHA inputs the information into their database, they will mark the course as completed on the last day of the month in which it was completed, so November 30th using this example. The certificate of completion available for you to print immediately, however, will reflect the actual completion date, November 7th in this example. Due to ASHA processing procedures please allow 2-3 weeks, from the submission date, for the course to appear on your ASHA transcript.

ASHA CEUs: Attendees must meet at least one of the following conditions in order to be eligible to earn ASHA CEUs:

• Current ASHA Member
• ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) Holder
• Licensed by a state or provincial regulatory agency to practice speech-language pathology (SLP) or audiology
• Credentialed by a state regulatory agency to practice SLP or audiology
• Credentialed by a national regulatory agency to practice SLP or audiology
• Engaged in a Clinical Fellowship under the supervision of an individual with their ASHA CCC
• Currently enrolled in a master's or doctoral program in SLP or audiology

If an attendee is not an ASHA member or CCC holder but meets any of the above criteria, they may inform the ASHA CE Registry of their eligibility by visiting this site .

Licensing Boards: Most state licensing boards DO accept CEUs earned online (usually classified as home-study credits). Some state boards do, however, place a limit to the number of credits that can be earned via home study/online courses. For the most current information, we suggest that you contact your licensing board or agency to verify acceptance policies and/or any credit limits related to home-study courses prior to registering for this course.

Additional accrediting agencies by which Northern Speech is an approved CE provider:

• California: NSS is approved as a provider of continuing education by the California Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology Board. Provider #PDP4. Online CEU limits may apply; please contact SLPAHADB for current online CEU acceptance policies.
• Iowa: NSS is approved as a provider of continuing education by the Iowa Board of Speech Pathology and Audiology Examiners. Provider #169.
• Kansas: NSS is approved as a provider of continuing education by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Provider #LTS-S0005.
• Florida: NSS is approved as a provider of continuing education by the Florida Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Board. Provider #SPA-026.
• New Jersey: NSS is approved as a provider of continuing education by the New Jersey Department of Education. Provider #1654.

Frequently Asked Questions

Online course faq — click here, customer support: please phone 888.337.3866 or email [email protected] ..

Course Completion Timeframe:

You have unlimited time to complete our online courses. You may log off and log on as often as you’d like to in order to complete all sections of a course.

However, completion dates are based on Eastern Standard Time. Therefore, if you need your CEUs by a certain date, be sure to complete the course test before 11:59pm EST on that date. For example, if you need CEUs before January 1st, you will need to complete the course test before 11:59pm EST on December 31st.

Content Access:

Access to course materials and content does not expire, even after completing the post test. You may continue to review course material by logging into your NSS account, clicking the My Online Courses tab, and then viewing your desired course.

Certificate of Completion:

On successful completion of the post test (80%), a certificate will be immediately available for download and/or printing. This certificate will include your name, date of completion (based on Eastern Time Zone, USA/Canada), and number of contact hours (CEUs / CEEs). Please note that CEUs are awarded on the date of successful test completion, not the date of course enrollment. Please ensure that you successfully complete the post test prior to any licensure renewal dates.

ASHA CE Registry Submission:

During the enrollment process, if you select to receive ASHA credit for this course and if you provide your ASHA number, NSS will automatically submit your CEU information to the ASHA CE Registry after successful course completion (80% on post test). This submission happens once per month, during the first week of the month. For example, if you complete your course on November 7th, NSS will submit all November online course CEUs to ASHA during the first week of December. When ASHA inputs the information into their database, they will mark the course as completed on the last day of the month in which it was completed, so November 30th using this example. The certificate of completion available for you to print immediately, however, will reflect the actual completion date, November 7th in this example. Due to ASHA processing procedures please allow 2-3 weeks, from the submission date, for the course to appear on your ASHA transcript.

Purchase Orders:

Purchase orders are currently not accepted for online orders, if you wish to submit a purchase order please do so at [email protected]  or fax to 888-696-9655.

What is an Online Course?

Our Online Courses consist of video, audio, and/or text content and are offered for ASHA CEUs. Unlike a webinar, which requires participants to be logged on and at a computer at specific times, our Online Courses are available to you at any time, from any device, via your NorthernSpeech.com online account. You may work at your own pace and start and stop your course as you wish. Your course will conclude with a short post test. On successful completion of the post test (>80%), a printable certificate of completion is presented to you.

Receiving CEUs:

Northern Speech is an ASHA CE Provider and our online courses are registered with ASHA and offered for ASHA CEUs. Please note that successful completion of the online post test is required prior to the awarding of CEUs. Please contact your state licensing board for acceptance policies related to CEUs earned online. Please note that courses offered for university students are not applicable for CEUs.

Registering for an online course:

You may browse all online courses by clicking the Continuing Education tab above, then Online Courses. Once you find a course, click Enroll Now, and you will be asked to either log into your existing Northern Speech account or create a new online account. Once you’ve entered your account information and provided your credit card payment, your course will be immediately available to you.

Accessing your purchased course or returning to a purchased course:

You will be able to access your online course by logging into your Northern Speech account and then clicking the My Online Courses tab on your profile screen. Click the course you would like to start or to resume. From there, proceed through the course sections until you are ready to complete the post test. You do not have to complete your course all at once. You may log on and off as you wish.

Testing requirements:

Each online course concludes with a post test consisting of multiple choice or true & false questions. Scores of 80% or greater are required for successful course completion and awarding of CEUs. You may revisit course materials and retest as needed to achieve a passing score.

Number of CEUs offered:

We offer courses from 1 to 21 contact hours. Each course will note the number of CEUs offered. Please note that 0.1 CEU = 1 contact hour = 1 CEE.

State licensing boards and online CEUs:

NSS is an ASHA CE Provider and most state licensing boards DO accept ASHA CEUs earned online (usually classified as home-study credits). Some boards do, however, place a limit to the number of CEUs that can be earned via home study/online courses. For the most current information, we suggest that you contact your licensing board or agency to verify acceptance policies and/or any CEU limits related to home-study courses prior to enrolling in an online course.

Course formats:

Our course formats include: text, audio, video, and PowerPoint with author narration. Each course will note the format on the course description page. Most courses include closed captioning.

Course handouts:

Most of our online courses provide a link to download the accompanying handout as a PDF file. 

Group discounts:

Groups of 3 or more are eligible for a 20% discount on each registration on most of our online courses. To receive this discount, registrations need to be processed together via the "Group Rates" tab on the Online Course of your choice.

Computer requirements:

For our online courses to function best, we recommend that you update your computer to include the newest version of your Internet browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Internet Explorer, etc.) and newest version of your computer's operating system. Also a high-speed Internet connection is recommended (cable or DSL). Speakers or headphones will be required for many of our courses as many contain audio components.

Course Cancellation Policy:

A purchased online course can be exchanged, refunded, or transferred to another individual if contact is made with NSS (via phone or email) within 30 days of purchase and the course materials have not been viewed or downloaded. 

Special Needs:

Please click here for any special needs requests, and we will do our best to accommodate them. 

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More Offerings by: Cheri Fraker

#e313 food chaining therapy “new without no” – overcoming aversion, sensory challenges and fear.

This treatment course demonstrates the how-to’s of PreChaining and Food Chaining over time. Learn fun and creative strategies for successfully implementing PreChaining and/or Food Chaining therapy for the child with severe to extreme feeding aversion. Detailed case studies are used to demonstrate from week to week how to help the child and their family make rapid and lasting gains, eat safely, lower anxiety, expand the diet, improve nutritional status, and eat with joy.

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More Offerings by: Laura Walbert

Become a peer reviewer to take courses for free, nss email alerts.

Northern Speech Services 325 Meecher Rd. Gaylord, MI 49735

888-337-3866 or 989-732-3866 888-696-9655 or 989-732-6164 Our Office Hours: Mon–Fri 9am - 5pm Eastern Time USA

Budget 2024-25: Protecting and Growing the Future of Agriculture

The Albanese Labor Government will invest $789 million over the next eight years in the Budget to help farmers and producers protect and adapt against the impacts of climate change, build more resilience for the sector and maintain Australia’s position as a trusted and reliable trading partner.

Farmers are on the frontline of climate change, facing more intense and frequent natural disasters and weather extremes which is already hurting the bottom line.

The Albanese Government is committed to helping farmers and regional communities across the country become more productive and more profitable, while also reducing their emissions.

Drought preparedness and resilience

Helping regional and rural communities prepare for the next drought and manage climate risk is a key feature of the Albanese Government’s $519.1 million spend from the Future Drought Fund (FDF). Support for farmers and regional communities in this Budget includes:

• $235 million over eight years to work with regions and communities to help them manage their own drought and climate risks, through collaborative and locally led action. The funding will continue the Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub model, provide for the next phase of the Regional Drought Resilience Planning Program and deliver a revised FDF Communities program. 
• $15 million over four years to work with First Nations peoples and communities to support connection to country through management of drought and climate risks. The funding will establish a First Nations Advisory Group to advise on issues relating to drought and climate resilience, a pilot program to facilitate place-based, First Nations-led activities, and dedicated funding to support activities that seek to improve opportunities for First Nations participation in FDF drought and climate resilience activities. 
• $137.4 million over five years to support farmers and regional communities to make informed decisions and better manage drought and climate risks. The funding will extend and improve the existing Farm Business Resilience and Climate Services for Agriculture programs, and deliver the new Scaling Success Program. 
• $120.3 million over six years for programs that trial innovative solutions with the potential to build the agriculture sector, landscapes and communities’ long-term resilience to drought and climate risks, through transformational change. The funding will continue and expand the FDF Long Term Trials Program, a revised FDF Resilient Landscapes Program, and will implement a new FDF Innovation Challenges Pilot. These activities will lead to increased uptake of evidence-based, innovative practices, approaches and technologies. 
• $11.4 million over four years to support critical enabling activities to effectively deliver drought and climate resilience outcomes. This will support monitoring, evaluation and learning to measure outcomes and share knowledge generated by FDF programs about how to address drought and climate risks. 
• A further $13.9 million over the next four years will be spent to ensure the Government maintains a state of readiness for drought. The funding supports a nationally consistent approach to drought policy and programs, which will informed by the 2024-2029 National Drought Agreement and the Australian Government’s Drought Plan. These key activities will be supported by inclusive and timely stakeholder engagement and communications to ensure drought policy is informed by the people it impacts. Consultation on the Australian Government’s Drought Plan will commence shortly. 
• From 2028-29, a further $3.4 million per year ongoing has also been allocated to ensure the Government has an ongoing focus on drought as we know the best time to prepare for drought is before drought occurs.

Climate and sustainability

To ensure the agriculture and land sectors can meaningfully contribute to the whole-of-economy transition to net zero, the Government is investing $63.8 million over ten years to support initial emissions reduction efforts.

Phase out of live sheep exports by sea

This Budget also includes a $107 million assistance package over five years to help the Australian sheep industry transition away from live exports by 1 May 2028, realising the booming opportunities for Australian sheepmeat and wool across the globe.

Ending the trade was an election commitment, with an independent report recommending a suite of measures following extensive consultation with industry and the public.

The assistance package will help the $77 million industry to transition away from live exports into onshore processing, creating added value for the local processing market and additional jobs in Western Australia.

The package also provides funding for overseas market development for Australian sheepmeat, as well as funding for rural mental health programs in Western Australia.

Agriculture workforce

More Australians will be encouraged to enter the agricultural workforce with a revised and focussed AgUP grants program.

The Government will use $1.9 million over three years to provide targeted grants to industry led projects that can benefit the entire sector.

The program will support the continuation of existing activities for National Farm Safety Week and work experience opportunities for young people interested in agriculture through the AgCareer start pilot.

It also includes funding for a new, skilled agricultural work liaison program, in urban and regional universities, aimed at increasing the number of highly-skilled graduates entering the sector.

The funding will help the Government address diverse and complex workforce issues such as attraction and retention.

Food labelling

This Budget will also see the Government deliver on its election commitment to deliver accurate and clear labelling of plant-based alternative protein products.

The Government will spend $1.5 million over two years from 2023–24 to work with industry and regulatory agencies to improve existing arrangements in labelling.

The funding will also support independent research into consumers’ current understanding of plant-based labelling and inform improvements to guidance material.

Biosecurity

The Albanese Government is investing $16.9 million over four years to ensure the biosecurity integrity of Australia’s border remains contemporary and adaptable to evolving global risks by underpinning biosecurity operations with specialist technology and equipment at Sydney’s new international airport.

Western Sydney International Airport, which is currently under construction, will be fitted out with specialist screening and biosecurity risk detection equipment and scientific diagnostic equipment to support biosecurity officers and detector dogs continue to keep Australia free from exotic pests and diseases.

The canine facility will be fitted out to provide canine care, including medical and veterinarian needs and food and accommodation for the Biosecurity, Australian Border Force and Australian Federal Police dog fleets.

Western Sydney International Airport is expected to be one of Australia’s busiest airports when it opens. The Department is working closely and co-designing with Western Sydney International Airport and other Commonwealth agencies on infrastructure and facilities for border services.

Forestry and Fisheries

The Government is investing $3.4 million over four years to implement and complete its plan for forestry, A Future Grown in Australia: A Better Plan for Forestry and Forestry Products. 

This allows delivery of the Government’s election commitment to develop a national strategy for the wood fibre and forestry sector and a commitment to review the 1992 National Forestry Policy Statement in collaboration with state and territory governments. 

These initiatives are part of a $302 million investment in new plantations and technology and will contribute to achieving and realising a long-term outlook for the forestry industry, which is a key element of regional communities around the country. 

The Government has also committed $1.7 million to ensure the Australian Fisheries Management Authority can protect our northern waters from the growing threat of illegal fishing, which is a risk to our fishing industry, our biosecurity status, our environment and our border security. 

For more information head to the DAFF budget webpage .