CORN
What does CAFO stand for?
Concentrated Animal Feeding operation
What prompted the first increase in crop yields at the start of the green revolution?
invention of synthetic fertilizer in the 1900s
When was the first plant domesticated?
10,000-12,000 years ago
What level of the trophic pyramid is the most efficient to eat at?
Primary consumer - with each transformation of calories through each layer comes with 90% loss of energy due to "heat loss"
List one pro and one con of GMOs
Pro: can create more nutritious food with more amino acids, can produce food at a higher yield because plants can be grown closer together, can grow crops that are drought, pest, disease resistant to avoid crop loss and variable yield per season
Cons: has let to genetically identical organisms and a loss of biodiversity which makes our food production less resilient, exacerbates industrial ag and is beneficial for the big farmer, not the small family farm, some voice the concern that the effects of GMOs are not studied well enough to allow for such a prominent presence in food production
What is food security?
The goal of all people having access at all items to adequate amounts and kinds of food needed for healthy lives.
If you added up all the cow grazing land in the US, what country is of equivalent size?
Germany
When was the green revolution and what about this historical context allowed for it to happen?
1960s. Used post WWII technology in the mechanized/synthetic farming techniques. Population had just boomed post WWII birth rate increase
What are some methods of subsistence farming?
intercropping, polyculture, growing at a smaller scale, organic fertilizer, plants & animals present on the same farm, etc.
What is the "Cost-Price Squeeze"
the price that fertilizers & pesticides go up is more than the value of the increasing yield. the larger volume of yield you are producing, the more you can close the cost/price gap.
Who invented synthetic fertilizer?
Fritz Haber - he received the nobel price
Who created the model for population and resource dynamics? What did this model state?
Thomas Malthus - At a certain point, human population will out pace resource production - leading to societal collapse
How many kg of corn does it take to make 1 kg of chicken, pork, and beef?
Pork - 6.5
Beef - 26
What is the second green revolution?
Change in ag production to meet the demands of our growing population and environmental degradation. move to smaller farms and sustainable farming practices.
What role has the US government played for industrial ag?
Provide subsidies to farmers in order to stabilize food prices on the grocery shelves. However, the majority of gov't subsidies go to cash crops - not food for people. These farms tend ot be the biggest and invest in industrial ag techniques. this has lead to disappearance of small family farm.