Env Science 12-4: Food Production

12-4: Food Production

Multiple Choice

Efficient Industrial Agriculture requires that large areas be planted with

• Contoured and well-plowed fields

• A single crop

• Native organisms

• Cover Crops

Multiple Choice

True or false: It takes one year to produce one inch of topsoil

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Traditional agriculture may use all of the following except

• Teams of Work Animals

• Irrigation

• Fossil Fuels

• Organic Fertilizer

Multiple Choice

True or False: Today Human activities cause less erosion than natural erosion

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Because of the green revolution, food production

• increased 150% while the population doubled

• kept pace with population growth

• did not increase

• was mostly organic

Lesson Objectives

• Explain why the world needs to grow more food and to grow it sustainably

• Discuss Genetically Modified Food

• Describe the advantages and disadvantages of industrial food production

• Discuss Sustainable Agriculture

Introduction

• Each year, Earth gains 83 million people and loses 5–7 million hectares of productive cropland.

• Arable Land: land suitable for farming

  • Is a limited resource

Food Security

• Since 1960, our ability to produce food has grown faster than the human population

  • 1 billion people are hungry worldwide.

• Malnutrition and undernourishment are most common in the developing world.

• Food Security: the guarantee of an adequate food supply for all people at all times.

Undernourishment & Malnutrition

• Undernourishment: receive less than 90% of their daily caloric needs

  • Mostly occurs live in the developing world

  • Main cause is economic factors

• Malnutrition: A shortage of nutrients the body needs

  • Possible to eat every day and be malnourished if the food is of low quality

• leads to diseases

Kwashiorkor Disease

• Kwashiorkor: disease from protein deficiency

• Effects: Bloated abdomen, mental disability, lowered immune system, anemia

• Marasmus: wasting away of the muscles

• Most prevalent in children

Scurvy

• Scurvy: Caused by lack of vitamin C

• Effects: exhaustion, spontaneous bleeding, anemia, loss of teeth, swelling of the gums pain, inability to heal from injuries

• Relatively rare, but has been seen in children in modern society

  • 7.1% of people in the United States develop a deficiency

• Vitamin C foods: oranges, spinach, strawberries, carrots, peppers, oysters

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​

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is the guarantee of an adequate food supply for all people at all times.

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Food Security

Food Insecurity

Hunger

Production

Malnutrition

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​

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occurs when a person receives less than 90% of their caloric needs. ​

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occurs when the body does not receive the ​

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it needs regardless of the amount of calories a person consumes.

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Undernourishment

Malnutrition

nutrients

Starvation

Dehydration

Obesity

Anemia

Deficiency

Calories

Multiple Choice

What Malnutrition Disease is caused by a lack of sufficient protein, and mainly effects children in developing nations?

• Scurvy
• Rickets
• Marasmus
• Kwashiorkor

Multiple Choice

What Malnutrition Disease is caused by a lack of Vitamin C and is being seen in the developed World?

• Scurvy
• Rickets
• Marasmus
• Kwashiorkor

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

• Organisms that have had their DNA modified through genetic engineering

  • Different from natural selection

• Uses recombinant DNA Technology

  • Genes are taken out of different organisms and put into the one you want to change

• Biotechnology: The use of genetic engineering to increase the value of products

• In the United States, 85% of corn and 90% of soybean, cotton, and canola crops come from GM strains

GMO Traits

• Commonly engineered traits:

  • rapid growth

  • pest resistance

  • frost tolerance.

  • Medicinal traits

    • Goats are modified to produce milk that has proteins needed to cure blood clots

Risks of GMO Crops

• Potential for “superpests” that are resistant to pest-resistant crops

• Contamination of non-GM plants

  • Many GMO plants can outcompete natural plants

• Some fears for long-term effects are currently not substantiated

  • Not enough time has passed to study

Benefits of GMO Crops

• Insect-resistant crops reduce the need for insecticides.

• Herbicide-resistant crops encourage tillage conservation

• Reduce carbon emissions

• Extend Food lifespan

• Can provide healthier foods

Golden Rice

• GMO rice Developed in the 1990s with a higher quantity of Vitamin A

  • Vitamin A deficiency causes millions of deaths in developing nations, as well as blindness

• Opponents say it is not safe for consumption,

  • No evidence exists to support that claim

    • People have been brought to court over false claims

• 2012: Given to Children in China during a famine with improper consent forms, no one was harmed

• Deemed safe for human consumption by US FDA in 2018

• July 2021: The Philippines approved golden rice for growth by farmers within the country

Open Ended

If your local grocery store had golden rice available for a low price, would you be willing to try it? Give two reasons why or why not

Multiple Choice

• The use of genetic engineering to increase the value of products is known as

• GMOs

• Biotechnology

• Genetic Technology

• Bioagriculture

Multiple Select

Which of the following are traits that are used in GMO?

• Shorter lifespan

• Different colors

• • Rapid Growth

• Pest Resistance

• Frost Resistance

Industrial Food Production: Feedlots

• Alternative to open grazing in which energy-rich food is delivered to a group of livestock or poultry

  • Also Called "Factory Farms"

  • Animals kept in pens

  • over 50% of global pork and poultry comes from feedlots

• Benefits: Reduces soil degradation and fertilizer use

Industrial Food Production: Feedlots Costs

• Requires high antibiotic use to prevent infection

• Potential for water contamination if not properly managed

• Animal stress

Industrial Food Production: Aquaculture

• Fish farming in a controlled environment

  • Also allows the cultivation of aquatic plants

• Fastest growing means of food production

  • Provides 47% of the fish eaten by people

Industrial Food Production: Aquaculture Benefits

• Can be done on a small scale to provide a local source of protein to people

• Can be sustainable

  • Provides fertilizer from fish scraps

• Reduces Wild harvesting

• Reduces fossil fuel use

• Safer than fishing boats

Industrial Food Production: Aquaculture Costs

• More difficult to control the spread of diseases in a population

  • Can reduce production

• Produces a lot of waste

• Potential for farm-raised animals to escape into the wild

Sustainable Agriculture

• Does not deplete soil faster than it forms

• Does not reduce the amount or quality of soil, water, and genetic diversity essential to long-term crop and livestock production

• Local, small-scale agriculture reduces the use of fossil fuels and chemicals used for transportation and storage.

Organic Agriculture

• Organic agriculture: sustainable agriculture that does not use synthetic chemicals.

  • Standards were first developed in 1990, and continue to be updated

• Can be more expensive for the consumer, but demand is growing

Multiple Select

Which of the following are included in industrial food production?

• Aquaculture

• Monoculture

• Feedlots

Multiple Select

Which form(s) of industrial food production can have a higher rate of disease among animals?

• Feedlots

• Aquaculture

• GMO Crops

• Machine based farming

Multiple Choice

Which form of industrial food production can decrease erosion

• Feedlots

• Aquaculture

• Organic Foods

• Machine based farming