Chapter 13 Flashcards
What are the two forms of food scarcity?
Transitory (short term from war, droughts, price)
Chronic (food availability below required level long term, quantity and quality inadequate)
Why does chronic scarcity occur?
Population growth, rising incomes, international agribusiness, bad farming techniques, urbanization and loss of farmland
How we eat has implications for…
Health, environment, population, poverty and worker’s rights, energy
Agriculture coincides with a period of exponential _____
Population growth
What are two ways to feed growing populations?
Intensification and extensification
Since when has intensification been done?
Around 1950
Define subsistence farming.
Small scale, dependent on geography, human/animal labor, less energy, preservation of natural soil fertility, traditional crop, polyculture
Define industrial farming.
Large scale, fewer and larger farms, higher yields, non-animal energy and labor, mechanized, more energy, intensification methods, hybrid crops and GMO, exports
How does the use of energy and efficiency in industrial farms compare to traditional?
Requires greater inputs of energy, 19x more energy needed but 50x less efficient.
What % of calories is from animal protein in the developed world?
> 30%
What % of calories is from animal protein in the developing world?
< 10%
What are some unintended consequences of factory/animal farming?
Pollution, animal rights lost, health issues (infections)
What are the issues of modern farming?
Use of synthetic fertilizers and nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, irrigation, pesticides, biotechnology
How has the use of pesticides created a positive feedback loop?
Spread of industrial agriculture > loss of natural habitat areas > insect pest pressure on crops > increased use of insecticides
What are some alternatives to pesticides?
Environmental control, IPM (integrated pest management), genetic and sterile male techniques, behavioral control, resistance breeding, biological control
Define “genetically modified”
Food produced from plants or animals that have had their genes changed in a lab rather than by farmers in the field.
What are the most successful modifications? Which is more difficult to develop?
Most successful are aimed at the farmer, more difficult is to alter quality or nutritional value.
What is terminator technology?
Genes expressed in embryos at late stages of development, allowing crops to develop normally but killing when mature, therefore the harvested seed is sterile.
___% of food comes from just 12 crops, ___% from just 50 crops
75% from just 12 crops, 90% from 50 crops
___% more food is needed than in 2012.
50%
____ is the fastest growing food production sector in the world.
Fish/Aquaculture/Blue Revolution
What are some issues with aquaculture?
Spread of invasive species, infectious rise, effects of pesticides/antibiotics, eradication/danger to other species to promote fish
How is aquaculture not sustainable?
Requires a lot of energy to just produce 1kg of farmed salmon, controlled by monopoly companies, loss of indigenous lifestyles, and has more toxins than other sources of food.
What is agroecology?
Set of practices that mimics natural processes in agriculture. Recycles nutrients and energy on the farm, less artificial fertilizers, diverse species
