1. Food, Soil, and Pest Management
Chapter 12

2. 12-1 What Is Food Security and Why Is It Difficult to Attain?
Concept 12-1A Many of the poor suffer health problems from chronic lack of food and poor nutrition, while many people in developed countries have health problems from eating too much food.
Concept 12-1B The greatest obstacles to providing enough food for everyone are poverty, political upheaval, corruption, war, and the harmful environmental effects of food production.

3. Many of the Poor Have Health Problems Because They Do Not Get Enough to Eat
Food security – means that every person in a given area has daily access to enough nutritious food to have an active and healthy life.
Global food production has stayed ahead of population growth.
However :
One of six people in developing countries cannot grow or buy the food they need.
Food insecurity – living with chronic hunger and poor nutrition.

4. Key Nutrients for a Healthy Human Life
We need large amounts of macronutrients
(protein, carbohydrates, and fats)
We also need smaller amounts of micronutrients
(vitamins such as A,C, and E and various minerals)

5. Many People Suffer from Chronic Hunger and Malnutrition
Some people cannot meet their basic energy needs
Chronic undernutrition or hunger
Others lack proteins and key nutrient needs
Chronic malnutrition
The root cause of hunger and malnutrition is poverty.
In 2006, 862 million were undernourished worldwide.
A 2005 estimate says 6 million children die annually from undernutrition or nonfatal diseases made worse by their poor diet.

6. Many People Do No Get Enough Vitamins and Minerals
One in three people has a deficiency of one or more vitamins and minerals, especially:
iron – anemia
vitamin A – blindness
iodine – goiter or enlarged thyroid gland
Can lead to deafness
Famine – a shortage of food in an area along with mass starvation, economic and social chaos
Usually caused by crop failures from drought, flooding, war, or other catastrophic events

7. Many People Have Health Problems from Eating Too Much
Overnutrition – excess calories and lack of exercise can lead to reduced life quality, poor health, and premature death…same as undernutrition
A 2005 Boston University study:
60% of American adults are overweight
33% are obese
Americans spend $42 billion a year trying to lose weight.
Estimates are that $24 billion per year would eliminate world hunger.

8. 12-2 How Is Food Produced?
Concept 12-2A We have sharply increased crop production using a mix of industrialized and traditional agriculture.
Concept 12-2B We have used industrialized and traditional methods to greatly increase supplies of meat, fish, and shellfish.

9. Food Production Has Increased Dramatically
Wheat, rice, and corn provide more than half of the world’s consumed calories
Fish and shellfish are an important source of food for about 1 billion people mostly in Asia
Of all the biodiversity on the planet, only 14 plant and 9 animal species make up 90% of the world’s consumed calories.

10. Food Production Has Increased Dramatically
Three systems produce most of our food:
Grain from croplands: 77%
Meat from rangelands, pastures, and feedlots: 16%
Fish from fisheries/Aquaculture: 7%
Dramatic increase in global food production since 1960.
Why?
Technological advances
More sophisticated farming techniques
Expanded use of inorganic chemical fertilizers, irrigation, pesticides, high-yield crops
Intense farming methods, densely populated feedlots, breeding/growing pens, aquaculture ponds or ocean cages

11. Two Types of Agriculture
Industrial Agriculture (High Input Agriculture)
A relatively small group of farmers produce large quantities of a single crop or livestock
Mostly in developed countries
Traditional Agriculture (Low Input Agriculture)
Traditional subsistence agriculture
Produces enough crops or livestock to feed family
Traditional intensive agriculture
Produces enough crops or livestock to feed the farmer’s family and maybe some to sell
Mostly in developing countries

12. Industrialized Crop Production Relies on High-Input Monocultures
About 80% of the world’s food supply is produced by industrialized agriculture.
Goal is to steadily increase crop yield
Uses large amounts of fossil fuel energy, water, commercial fertilizers, and pesticides to produce monocultures.
Plantation agriculture primarily in tropical developing countries (bananas, coffee, sugarcane)
Cash crops – crops intended for sale, not consumption or animals

13. Traditional Agriculture Often Relies on Low-Input Polycultures
Many farmers in developing countries grow a variety of crops on the same plot of land
Polyculture: different plants are grown together
Limited technology, limited equipment, limited impact on the environment
Slash-and-burn agriculture – burning underbrush to provide nutrients to the soil

14. A Closer Look at Industrialized Crop Production
The Green Revolution represents the 88% increase in food production per unit of area since 1950.
Monocultures of high-yield key crops
Selectively breed or genetically engineered crops
Large inputs of fertilizers, pesticides, water
The Second Green Revolution involves fast growing rice/wheat bred for tropical regions.
Early in the century, one American farmer could produce food for 2.5 people.
By 1999, a single farmer could feed over 130 people.

15. A Closer Look at Industrialized Crop Production
Since 1950, high-input agriculture has produced more crops per unit of land.
Grain production has tripled during this timeframe
Why has per Capita grain production gone down since the early 1980’s?

16. Crossbreeding and Genetic Engineering Can Produce New Crop Varieties
Gene Revolution – increased crop yields, as a result of mixing organisms’ genes
Artificial selection has been used for centuries to develop genetically improved varieties of crops.
Genetic engineering develops improved strains at an exponential pace compared to artificial selection.
Add beneficial genes
Delete negative genes

17. Crossbreeding and Genetic Engineering Can Produce New Crop Varieties
Age of Genetic Engineering
developing crops that are resistant to:
Heat and cold
Herbicides
Insect pests
Viral diseases
Drought
Salty or acidic soil
Controversy has arisen over the use of genetically modified foods (GMF’s).
Critics fear that we know too little about the long-term potential harm to human health and the environment.

18. Meat Production and Consumption Have Grown Steadily
Meat production increased fourfold from 1961–2007
Industrialized livestock production:
Densely populated feedlots are common
System uses a lot of energy and water and produce huge amounts of animal waste

19. Industrialized Meat Production Has Harmful Environmental Consequences

20. Fish and Shellfish Production Have Increased Dramatically
Aquaculture – raising large numbers of fish and shellfish in ponds and cages
world’s fastest growing type of food production.
Fish farming involves cultivating fish in a controlled environment and harvesting them in captivity.

21. Producing Fish Through Aquaculture Can Harm Aquatic Ecosystems