Chapter 15-1 Feeding the World

Famine and Farmers By 2050 the world’s farmers may have to feed 9 billion people That is 50% more than they feed today Famine in Sudan Marasmus – not enough calories (wasting disease)

Nutrition and Nourishment Nutrition refers to the number of calories consumed and the ability to procure essential nutrients Malnutrition may be a result of lack of calories, lack of nutrients or both Kwashiorkor – lack of body building nutrients

Corn and Rice Cereal grains that have calories, but lack essential amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) Abnormal physical and mental development Genetically engineered rice – beta carotene

The Ecology of food Efficiency of food Energy input and resources Amount of food produced Ideal a large amount of food with little negative impact More energy, water and land are needed to produce a Calorie of meat than a Calorie of plant material Usually a 10-fold difference

Developing high yield plants Genetics/hybrids Engineering new varieties that are more nutritious Finding plants that do not require large amounts of water and fertilizer Salicornia - pickleweed

World Food Problems Farmers can produce enough grain to feed 10 billion people at a subsistence level. Most of the word’s farmers are subsistence farmers. Less than 1 dollar per day.

The Green Revolution Starting in 1950 the genetics of farm crops began to be understood. New varieties of grain were developed that produced high yields – if they had enough water, fertilizer and pesticides

The problem was that only large farms could afford to implement Subsistence farmers (the ones who need it most) live in poverty Green revolution techniques are hard on the ecology