Does the food chain begin with consumers?

No, the food chain does not begin with the consumers. The food chain begins with producers. Producers are organisms that make their own food from inorganic matter, such as plants. Then come the primary consumers, which are herbivores that feed on plants. Tertiary consumers are carnivores that feed on other carnivores, and secondary consumers are carnivores that feed on herbivores. Decomposers, such as fungi and bacteria, are organisms that break down dead matter into simpler substances, thus returning nutrients to the environment and allowing producers to create new organic matter.