Population, Food Security, and GMOs

What is food security?

• When all people have access to enough nutritious food

• When all people have access to any type of food

• When all people have access to food at certain times

• When all people have access to food in limited quantities

What has caused a decrease in world grain stocks since the mid-1980s?

• Environmental changes causing poor harvests

• Diverting corn to ethanol production instead of to food/feed

• Grain used to feed livestock instead of people

• All of the above

What is one solution to address food scarcity?

• Increase sustainable production of food

• Improve food distribution

• Promote economic development

• All of the above

What is the estimated increase in food production necessary to feed the expected population of 10 billion people by 2050?

• 50%

• 70%

• 90%

• 100%

How much are crop yields expected to drop due to global warming and climate change?

• 10%

• 15%

• 20%

• 25%

What is agribusiness?

• Agriculture that depends on labor and a large amount of land

• Agriculture that combines several different crops in a single farm

• Large and small corporations focused on profit through food production

• Traditional agricultural methods that depend on labor and a large amount of land

What are Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)?

• Chemical substances that persist in the environment and pose a risk to human health

• Chemical substances that accumulate in the tissues of plants or animals

• Chemical substances that increase in concentration as they move up the food chain

• Chemical substances that alter the genome of organisms

What is bioaccumulation?

• The tendency for a pollutant to persist in the environment

• The tendency for a pollutant to accumulate in the tissues of plants or animals

• The increase in concentration of a pollutant as it moves up the food chain

• The introduction of desirable genes from other species into an organism

What are GMOs?

• Organisms that have been altered by genetic engineering

• Organisms that persist in the environment and pose a risk to human health

• Organisms that accumulate in the tissues of plants or animals

• Organisms that increase in concentration as they move up the food chain

What is one potential benefit of GMOs?

• Greater productivity on less land

• Increased use of pesticides

• Unknown effects on human health

• Environmental effects on wild populations