Food Production

1. LT 7A: Describe the industrialized food production in the U.S and discuss why this is not sustainable. Food Production

2. Identify and describe the world’s major food supply systems Distinguish between industrialized agriculture and traditional agriculture Describe the green revolution process Illustrate how farmers have developed genetically improved varieties of crops and livestock Identify and describe the major environmental impacts of food production objectives

3. Croplands • Grains • 77% of the world’s food • 11% of the world’s land area • Rangelands, pastures, and feedlots • Meat and meat products • 16% of the world’s food • 29% of the world’s land area • Fisheries and aquaculture • 7% world’s food Food Supply Systems

4. Grain crops is the world’s major food supply system • 3 grain crops provide about 48% of the world’s food calories: • rice • Wheat • corn Food Supply Systems Think Box: How do you think this food “specialization” impacts the earth?

5. Produces monocultures using: • Heavy equipment • Large amounts of: • Financial capital • Fossil fuels • Water • Commercial inorganic fertilizers • Pesticides • Goal: Steadily increase each crop’s yield • Practiced on ¼ of all cropland and now produces about 80% of the world’s food Industrialized Agriculture

6. Plantation Agriculture • Type of industrialized agriculture • Tropical less-developed countries • Grows cash crops • Bananas • Soybeans • Coffee • Sugar Cane • Palm oil • vegetables Industrialized Agriculture

7. Greenhouses • New form of industrialized agriculture • Grow plants indoors • Hydroponics: grow plants by exposing roots to nutrient-rich water solution instead of soil • Uses recycled water Industrialized agriculture Think Box: What do you think the advantages and disadvantages of using greenhouses to raise crops are?

8. Unsustainable • Relies on the use of fossil fuels • Does not support diversity of crops as a form of ecological insurance • Neglects the conservation and recycling of topsoil Industrialized Agriculture

9. 39% of the world’s population practice traditional agriculture • Two types • Traditional subsistence agriculture • Traditional intensive agriculture • Generally focus on a single crop but some engage in polyculture Traditional Agriculture

10. Slash-and-burn agriculture • Burning and clearing small plots in tropical forests • Growing a variety of crops for a few years until the soil is depleted of nutrients • Shift to other plots to begin the process again Traditional agriculture Think Box: Where do you think slash and burn agriculture is practiced? Why?

11. Since 1950, about 88% of the increase in global food production has come from using high-input industrialized agriculture • First Generation Green Revolution • Occurred between 1950 - 1970 • Increases crop yields • Develop and plan monocultures of selectively bred or genetically engineered high yield varieties of key crops • Uses large inputs of water and manufactured manure • Increase the number of crops grown per year on a plat of land through multiple cropping Green Revolution

12. Second Generation Green Revolution • Taking place since 1967 • Fast growing dwarf varieties of rice and wheat introduced into less developed countries such as India, China, and Brazil • Both revolutions • Increased world grain production by 31% between 1961 and 1985 • 48% of the worlds grain is consumed directly, 35% is used to feed livestock, 17% used to make biofuels for cars • Since 2009 about 25% of corn/grain crops in US used to produce biofuels Green revolution

13. Crossbreeding through artificial selection • Alteration of genetic material: • Adding • Deleting • Changing segments of DNA to produce desirable traits or eliminate undesirable ones • Creates genetically modified organisms (GMOs) by the transfer of genes between different species Genetically engineered farming

14. Why do you think the industry has created these GMOs and how do you think this has affected the industry? Think Box

15. Represents the world’s second major food-producing system • 50% from livestock grazing on grass • 50% from industrialized factory system: • Crowded feedlots • Concentration animal feeding operations (CAFOs • Fed grain, fishmeal and fish oil doctored with growth hormones and antibiotics Meat and animal production

16. Third major food-producing system • 50% from Fisheries • concentration of particular aquatic species in a given area or inland body • Leads to overfishing • 50% from Aquaculture • the practice of raising marine and freshwater fish in freshwater ponds or underwater cages in coastal or open waters • Blue revolution • China raises 70% of the worlds farmed fish • Typically fed algae or other plants • Diets of meat-eating fish are now being supplemented with grains (corn) Fish and Shellfish Production

17. What do you think are some environmental impacts of industrial food production? Think box

18. Biodiversity loss • Loss and degradation of grasslands, forests and wetlands • Fish loss from pesticide runoff • Wild predator loss to protect livestock • Loss of genetic diversity of wild crop strains by monoculture strains Environmental impacts of food production

19. Soil • Erosion • Loss of fertility • Stalinization • Water logging • Desertification • Increased acidity Environmental impacts of food production

20. Water • Water waste • Aquifer depletion • Increased runoff, sediment pollution, and flossing from cleared land • Pollution from pesticides and fertilizers • Algae and fish loss from runoff of fertilizers and agricultural waste Environmental impacts of food production

21. Air pollution • Emissions of greenhouse gases • Other air pollutants from fossil fuel use and pesticide sprays • Human Health • Nitrates in drinking water • Contamination of drinking water from livestock waste • Pesticide residues • Bacterial contamination of meat Environmental impacts of food production