Module 42 Lesson

5.11 Challenges of
Contemporary
Agriculture

Objective and Essential Learning

Explain challenges and debates related to the changing nature
of contemporary agriculture and food-production practices.

▪Agricultural innovations such as biotechnology, genetically modified organisms, and aquaculture have
been accompanied by debates over sustainability, soil and water usage, reductions in biodiversity,
and extensive fertilizer and pesticide use.

▪Patterns of food production and consumption are influenced by movements relating to individual food
choice, such as urban farming, community-supported agriculture (CSA), organic farming, value-added
speciality crops, fair trade, local-food movements, and dietary shifts.

▪Challenges of feeding a global population include lack of food access, as in cases of food insecurity
and food deserts, problems with distribution systems, adverse weather, and land use lost to
suburbanization.

▪The location of food-processing facilities and markets, economies of scale, distribution systems, and
government policies all have economic effects on food-production practices.

2

Objective and Essential Learning

Explain challenges and debates related to the changing nature
of contemporary agriculture and food-production practices.

▪Agricultural innovations such as biotechnology, genetically modified organisms, and aquaculture have
been accompanied by debates over sustainability, soil and water usage, reductions in biodiversity,
and extensive fertilizer and pesticide use.

▪Patterns of food production and consumption are influenced by movements relating to individual food
choice, such as urban farming, community-supported agriculture (CSA), organic farming, value-added
speciality crops, fair trade, local-food movements, and dietary shifts.

▪Challenges of feeding a global population include lack of food access, as in cases of food insecurity
and food deserts, problems with distribution systems, adverse weather, and land use lost to
suburbanization.

▪The location of food-processing facilities and markets, economies of scale, distribution systems, and
government policies all have economic effects on food-production practices.

3

6

For this learning goal, you will learn to:

• Explain whether contemporary agricultural

innovations are sustainable.

• Describe sustainable agriculture, GMOs, and

aquaculture.

Sustainability of contemporary agricultural innovations

7

Sustainable agriculture: A commitment to satisfying human food and
textile needs and to enhancing the quality of life for farmers and
society as whole, now and in the future; it requires a balance among
feeding the growing population, minimizing environmental impacts,
and ensuring social justice.

Sustainability of contemporary agricultural innovations

8

Sustainability of contemporary agricultural innovations

This figure shows how
sustainable
agriculture can be
arranged on a farm
property that slopes
toward a wetland
area. The farm
produces crops, dairy
products, and
aquaculture, using all
aspects of the land in
a sustainable manner.

9

Genetically modified organism (GMO): A living organism, including
crops and livestock, that is produced through genetic engineering.

Sustainability of contemporary agricultural innovations

• Most

scientists
agree that
GM food is
safe for
people and
the
environment.

10

Genetically modified organism (GMO): A living organism, including
crops and livestock, that is produced through genetic engineering.

Sustainability of contemporary agricultural innovations

• Critics dispute the increase in productivity that scientists associate

with GMOs, and that they are not in the best interest of the
environment or people.

• They claim that chemicals are harming the soil by destroying its

living organisms.

11

Aquaculture: The cultivation and harvesting of aquatic organisms
under controlled conditions.

Sustainability of contemporary agricultural innovations

Mariculture: The farming of saltwater
species such as shrimp, oysters, and
marine fish.

12

Multiple Choice

Which statement is NOT true of aquaculture?

• a. It is expected to decline in the coming decades due to decreased demand for seafood.

• b. It tends to be prevalent along tropical coasts.

• c. Large-scale aquaculture is replacing small-scale aquaculture.

• d. Asia and the Pacific regions produce 90 percent of the world's total aquaculture harvest.

• e. Farming of saltwater species is mariculture

Multiple Choice

Which of the two following crops diffusing from the United States account for the rapid growth of genetically modified (GM) food production?

• a. rice and wheat

• b. soybeans and corn

• c. wheat and potatoes

• d. soybeans and barley

• e. wheat and barley

Multiple Choice

The survival for centuries of a land-use system without destruction of the environmental base refers to:

• a. sustainability

• b. a folk culture

• c. intensive agriculture

• d. the green revolution

• e. ecological stewardship

13

For this learning goal, you will learn to:

• Describe how food-choice movements influence

patterns of food production and consumption.

• Contrast differences between food-choice

movements.

How food-choice movements influence patterns of food
production and consumption

14

Urban farming: The practice of growing fruits and vegetables on small
private plots or shared community gardens within the confines of a city.

Community-supported agriculture (CSA): A direct-to-consumer
marketing arrangement in which farmers are guaranteed buyers for their
produce at guaranteed prices and consumers receive fresh food directly
from the producers.

Farmers’ market: A venue (ranging from a few stalls in the street to
covered enclosures extending a few city blocks) in which farmers sell
their produce directly to consumers.

How food-choice movements influence patterns of food
production and consumption

15

Organic farming: The production of crops and livestock using ecological
processes, natural biodiversity, and renewable resources rather than
industrial practices and synthetic inputs.

Conventional agriculture: Farming that depends on manufactured
synthetic inputs, GMO seeds, and other industrial practices.

How food-choice movements influence patterns of food
production and consumption

16

Value-added specialty crop: A crop whose physical state or form has
been changed.

Fair trade: A certification program that supports good crop prices for
farmers and environmentally sound farming practices.

How food-choice movements influence patterns of food
production and consumption

17

Slow-food: Movement that resists fast food by preserving the cultural
cuisine and the associated food and farming practices of an ecoregion.

Locavores: People who dedicate themselves to slow-food diets and to
obtaining as much of their nutrition as possible from local farmers.

How food-choice movements influence patterns of food
production and consumption

Multiple Choice

In Dar es Salaam, 90 percent of the leafy green vegetables consumed in cities come from:

• a. swidden agriculture

• b. market gardening

• c. plantations

• d. urban agriculture

• e. truck farming

Multiple Choice

Urban agriculture:

• a. produces 90 percent or more of the vegetables consumed in Chinese cities

• b. refers to the portion of agricultural production intended for processing in cities

• c. is important as a community empowerment tool, but produces little actual food

• d. is found almost exclusively in China and Africa

• e. provides spices and leafy vegetables for city dwellers

Multiple Choice

Which was NOT a motivating force behind the growth of organic agriculture?

• a. the relatively low prices of food produced by agribusiness

• b. the nutritional deficiencies of highly processed foods

• c. a protest against corporate control of the food system

• d. criticism of the environmental damage wreaked by pesticides and fertilizers

• e. concern of the impact of GMO's in the human body

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best describes the purpose of Fair Trade?

• a. Promote equitable trade practices with emerging and developing nations.

• b. Fairly distribute sufficient grain crops in times of food insecurity to those suffering from malnutrition.

• c. Establish trade standards to provide for local food needs while balancing commercial production.

• d. To support fair crop prices and wages for farmers and environmentally sound farming practices.

• e. Establish acceptable practices for market trading of commercial crops in the global market.

Multiple Choice

Most climate models predict that agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa will:

• a. decline overall

• b. increase overall

• c. stay the same

• d. decline only in the north

Multiple Choice

Which is currently responsible for replacing much of the fertile farmland in the United States?

• a. shifting cultivation due to climate change

• b. controlled animal feeding operations

• c. ranching and loss of forest land

• d. squatter settlements on the outskirts of urban areas

• e. expansion of cities and development of suburbs

19

For this learning goal, you will learn to:

• Explain the contemporary challenges of feeding

the global population.

• Define food desert, food security, and food

insecurity.

Contemporary challenges of feeding the global
population

20

Food desert: Area with limited access to fresh, nutritious foods.

Contemporary challenges of feeding the global
population

• Food deserts are

present in both
urban and rural
areas.

21

Food security: According to the United Nations, the situation in which all
people, at all times, have physical and economic access to enough safe
and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences
for an active and healthy life.

Contemporary challenges of feeding the global
population

Food insecurity: Occurs when large numbers of people experience long
periods of inadequate diets.

22

Food safety

• The globalized food system is quite vulnerable to food

contaminations that can cause illness and even death.

• Each link in the chain from “farm to fork” is another opportunity for

contamination with viruses and bacteria.

Contemporary challenges of feeding the global
population

23

Climate change

• Most scientists believe that the climate conditions that prevailed for

millennia and to which our global food system is adapted are
beginning to shift.

• Global climate change may increase extreme weather, leading to

droughts and floods that can reduce crop yields.

Contemporary challenges of feeding the global
population

24

Food distribution systems

• Notice how the

percentages of
undernourishe
d populations
align with
wealth and
poverty.

Contemporary challenges of feeding the global
population

25

Suburbanization

• As world population increases and cities expand outward, good

farmland is lost to housing and retail developments.

• As the expansion of cities and development of suburbs replace

farmland, other areas of fertile land are also affected.

Contemporary challenges of feeding the global
population

Multiple Choice

Which region is predicted to suffer disproportionately from global climate change?

• a. The Sahel region of Africa

• b. Siberian region of Russia

• c. The Outback of Australia

• d. The Arabian Peninsula

• e. The Deccan Plateau region of India

27

For this learning goal, you will learn to:

• Explain why large-scale agribusinesses have an

advantage over small-scale farmers.

• Describe how economies of scale apply to food

production and distribution.

Advantages large-scale agribusinesses have over
small-scale farmers

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Economies of scale in food production and distribution

• Large agribusinesses manage the worldwide complexities of food

production and distribution.

• Major companies employ specialists who understand government

regulations at local, regional, and national levels as well as pricing
factors leading to economies of scale.

• Following government policies on an international or regional level is

not feasible for most small-scale farmers.

Advantages large-scale agribusinesses have over
small-scale farmers

30

Summary and Review

A commitment to satisfying human food
and textile needs and to enhancing the
quality of life for farmers and society as a
whole, now and in the future; it requires a
balance among feeding the growing
population, minimizing environmental
impacts, and ensuring social justice

1) Define sustainable
agriculture.

2) Define genetically modified
organism (GMO).

A living organism, including crops and
livestock, that is produced through genetic
engineering

31

Aquaculture is the cultivation and
harvesting of aquatic organisms under
controlled conditions, whereas
mariculture is the farming of saltwater
species such as shrimp, oysters, and
marine fish

3) Describe differences
between aquaculture and
mariculture.

4) Define urban farming.

The practice of growing fruits and
vegetables on small private plots or
shared community gardens within the
confines of a city

Summary and Review

32

The production of crops and livestock
using ecological processes, natural
biodiversity, and renewable resources
rather than industrial practices and
synthetic inputs

5) Define organic farming.

6) Define value added
specialty crop.

A crop whose physical state or form has
been changed

Summary and Review

33

Movement that resists fast food by
preserving the cultural cuisine and the
associated food and farming practices of
an ecoregion, and is often supported by
locavores

7) Describe the slow-food
movement.

8) Define food desert.

An urban or rural area with limited access
to fresh, nutritious foods

Summary and Review

34

The situation in which all people, at all
times, have physical and economic access
to enough safe and nutritious food that
meets their dietary needs and food
preferences for an active and healthy life

9) Define food security.

10) Identify contemporary
challenges of feeding the
global population.

Aside from food deserts and food security,
there is food safety, climate change, food
distribution systems, and suburbanization

Summary and Review

35

Large agribusinesses manage food
production and distribution that employ
specialists who understand government
regulations at local, regional, and national
levels as well as pricing factors leading to
economies of scale, which is not feasible
for most small-scale farmers

11) Explain economies of scale
in food production and
distribution.

Summary and Review