GMO vs. Organic
This three-letter acronym stands for organisms whose DNA has been altered using genetic engineering techniques
What is GMO (Genetically Modified Organism)?
This revolution, beginning around 10,000 BCE, marked humanity's transition from hunting-gathering to farming and animal domestication.
What is the Neolithic Revolution (or First Agricultural Revolution)?
This type of agriculture is characterized by farmers growing only enough food to feed their own families with little to no surplus for sale.
What is subsistence agriculture?
These crops are grown specifically for sale and profit rather than for the farmer's personal consumption
Cash Crops
This small-scale commercial farming focuses on growing fresh produce like lettuce and tomatoes for nearby urban consumers, often using greenhouses.
What is market gardening?
Organic farming prohibits the use of these chemical substances designed to kill insects and weeds.
What are synthetic pesticides and herbicides?
The Second Agricultural Revolution began in this century in Europe, bringing innovations like the seed drill invented by Jethro Tull.
What is the 18th century (1700s)?
This traditional farming method involves clearing forests by cutting and burning vegetation, then planting crops in the ash-enriched soil.
What is slash-and-burn agriculture?
This type of large-scale commercial farming focuses on a single crop, such as bananas or coffee, typically in tropical regions and often for export.
What is plantation agriculture?
This farming method grows plants without soil, using mineral nutrient solutions dissolved in water, often in controlled greenhouse environments.
What is hydroponics?
Organic farmers use this natural material from decomposed plants and animals to enrich soil instead of synthetic fertilizers.
What is compost (or manure)?
The Green Revolution of the 1960s-70s dramatically increased food production through high-yielding varieties, but was criticized for increasing dependence on these two costly agricultural inputs
What are chemical fertilizers/pesticides, irrigation systems, GMO, high tech farming equipments?
This form of subsistence farming requires farmers to move to new plots of land every few years as soil nutrients are depleted, common in tropical regions.
What is shifting agriculture (or shifting cultivation)?
This intensive commercial farming operation confines large numbers of cattle in a small area and feeds them grain to fatten them quickly for slaughter.
What is a feedlot (or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation/CAFO)?
This integrated system combines raising fish in tanks with hydroponics, where fish waste provides nutrients for plants and plants filter water for the fish, creating a closed-loop ecosystem.
What is aquaponics?
What is the main genetic modification of corn and soybeans in the US?
The domestication of this grain in the Fertile Crescent around 10,000 years ago was crucial to the First Agricultural Revolution.
What is wheat (or barley)?
This traditional livelihood involves herders moving livestock seasonally between grazing areas, following precipitation patterns and available pasture.
What is pastoral nomadism?
This type of commercial farming grows fruits and vegetables for sale directly to urban markets, typically located near cities to ensure freshness.
What is truck farming (or market gardening)?
This emerging urban farming technique stacks growing beds vertically in warehouses using LED lights and hydroponics, maximizing space efficiency.
What is vertical farming (or indoor vertical farming)?
What common fruit is known to not have a genetically modified version of it?
Oranges.
Genetic modification of plants is an example of this process that civilizations have been doing over history.
Domestication
This Southeast Asian crop, grown in flooded paddies using intensive labor, is the staple food for subsistence farmers in the region.
What is rice?
This form of agriculture maximizes yield per unit area through heavy use of capital, labor, pesticides, and fertilizers, common in areas with high land values.
What is intensive agriculture (or intensive farming)?
These farming methods utilize urban environments to grow fresh produce.
What is/are urban agriculture/ rooftop plots?