The Future of Food Production

1. The Future of Food Production Feeding an ever-growing population

2. Green Revolution • Dr. Norman Borlaug and his HYV’s (high-yield varieties) of wheat • 1950-1970 global grain production increased 170%, without increasing the amount of land used for agriculture

3. Part 1: Biotechnology and Food Agricultural science continued to advance after Borlaug • Application of biological processes to agriculture • The ability to transfer desirable characteristics from one organism to another by transferring genetic material • Genetic material can be taken from other plants, animals, or bacteria • Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) • The genes of plant species are modified for specific agricultural purposes • Shorter growing season, disease resistance, healthier food etc.

4. GMO’s in Canada GMO’s are commonly farmed in Canada • 6.1 million hectares of genetically modified corn, canola, and soybean is grown in Canada each year • USA has 54.6 million hectares of GM soy, cotton, corn, alfalfa, canola, squash…

5. Benefits of GMO’s in Agriculture By transferring desirable characteristics from other organisms, we are able to develop more robust, nutritious, and productive crops Three examples • “Golden Rice” • “Bt Corn” • “Arctic Flounder Strawberry”

6. Golden Rice • Rice is the most widely consumed staple grain in the world; rice provides 20% of human dietary energy • Rice is low in Vitamin A (nutrient required for proper health and vision function) • Millions around the world are Vitamin A deficient; leading to blindness and death

7. Global Vitamin A Deficiency Red is most severe vitamin A deficiency, green is minimal vitamin A deficiency

8. Golden Rice Genes from daffodils and a strain of bacteria added to rice genes, resulting “golden rice” has higher levels of vitamin A Regular white rice (left), and vitamin A enriched, genetically modified Golden Rice (right)

9. Bt Corn • Genetic material from the Bt bacteria is added to corn DNA • Resulting corn is “naturally” resistant to certain insect infestations • Reduced need for pesticides and chemicals sprayed on corn Insect infected non-Bt Corn (left) Pest-resistant Bt Corn (right)

10. “Arctic Flounder Strawberry” • Genes from arctic flounder (a fish that survives in cold arctic waters) introduced to strawberry DNA • Resulting strawberry is resistant to colder temperatures, can be grown in more places than traditional strawberries

11. Concerns About GM Agriculture • Little research on long-term health effects of GMO’s • Agri-corporations benefit at the expense of farmers • Farmers must pay for expensive GM seeds • Agri-corporations have introduced “terminator seeds” • Seeds which can only be planted once, resulting seeds from plant cannot be replanted

12. More Concerns • Loss of genetic diversity • Relying too much on 1-2 specific species reduces gene pool (75% of entire agricultural diversity was lost in 20th century) • Crops more susceptible to widespread failure (a single disease could wipe out entire harvest due to lack of genetic diversity) • In USA and Canada, there is no law requiring foods to be labeled as GMO’s • Consumers are not informed about where their food came from • Europe has laws requiring these labels

13. Part 2: Corporate Farming • The “family owned” farm is no longer financially viable • Replaced by large scale corporate farms • Lower costs by farming on a large scale, with bigger machines and less human labour • More food produced, costs less

14. Factory Farms • Goal is to produce highest amount of food at the lowest possible cost • Animals in crowded cages, no fresh air or exercise • Fed mechanically to maximize weight gain • Diet supplemented with growth hormones, antibiotics • Majority of Canadian meat (beef, pork, poultry), eggs and dairy produced this way A cartoony explanation of the concerns around factory farming “The Meatrix”

15. Concerns with Factory Farming • Ethical treatment of animals? • Same corporations own farms, machinery, seeds, fertilizers, transportation, processing and retail distribution of food • DuPont and Monsanto represent 65% of all corn seed bought • Too much food control by a couple corporations?

16. United Fruit Company • American-based banana corporation owned huge amounts of land in Costa Rica and Guatemala in the early 20thcentury • Significant political and economic influence in Central America • In 1954 UFC worked with CIA to overthrow the democratically elected government in Guatemala, because gov’t might jeopardize UFC banana dominance.

17. Part 3: Organic Food to the Rescue? • Organic food was largely a response to the culture of corporate farming • Consumers had fears about • Ethical treatment of animals • Supplements, hormones and antibiotics added to animal diets • The long term health effects of GMO’s

18. Organic? Or not? • The organic food industry has grown substantially over the past 15 years • Annual spending on organic food is $1.3 billion in Canada, $15 billion in USA • There is still no widely recognized “organic” certification process • Generally food raised without synthetic chemical fertilizers, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics etc.

19. Concerns about Organic • Organic farming leads to lower yields (less food produced per unit of farmland • To produce more organic food, more land would need to be converted to farmland • Organic food costs more to produce, and that cost is passed on to the customer in the form of higher prices

20. Thought Questions Assuming the population keeps growing, how do we feed an ever increasing population? • Is biotechnology and GMO’s the only way forward? • Can organic agriculture produce enough food for everyone? • Other possibilities?