How do adaptations help an organism to reduce competition for food?

Answer 1

It helps by fighting off predators

Alternate Answer:

Where a particular food source is scarce or there are simply a large number of organisms is consuming the same food, some may adapt to eat alternate foods that have less competition, insuring the organism can find needed food. Other adaptations involve the organism becoming more efficient eating the same food. For example, some bird species have specialized beaks to drink nectar for foods or a pig has a very strong sense of smell especially suited for finding roots and other food that are underground and these are harder for other animals to detect. These all represent a specialization as part of the adaptive process.

The opposite occurs too. For the same reasons other animals will adapt to broaden their diet. Many animals are generalists and eat a wide variety of foods, increasing the odds that something edible can be found. If too many animals are eating the same preferred food (making it more scarce), it will just adapt to eat more things helping to insure that something edible can be found. Humans are generalists and documented food suitable for humans is a very large list. While you may not like a particular food, someone else will readily eat it and you will eat it too if you are starving.

Finally, the rise of carnivorous animals occurred eons ago as an adaptation. Animals initially started out as vegetarians, all competing to eat plant foods. Some eventually adapted to eat other animals as initially no animals were doing that. Nature discovered that these were good to eat too and some animals adapted to take advantage of this opportunity.