Nutrition and Food Supplies
Why do we have starvation in the world?
Overnutrition:
- affects _____% of the world
- increases blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes
Overweight:
- _____% of Americans are overweight
- obese: 30 lbs over ideal weight: ______% of Americans are obese
- morbidly overweight-100 lbs over ideal weight: 5 million Americans or _____%.
Undernourished: less than 2,200 kcal/day
- _____ million people are severely undernourished. 15% of developing world.
- Poverty is greatest threat. Hungriest places are ___________, and South and Southeast Asia.
- 1.4 billion people live on less than $____/day.
Famines:
Large-scale food shortages, massive starvation, social disruption, economic chaos
Causes:
Democracies seldom have famines!
Physical Effects of Undernourishment:
__________________ and ________________, especially if undernourished as a youth.
Infectious diseases that causes diarrhea can become lethal.
Leading cause of death in 3rd World is _______________!
Types
- Kwashiorkor: a _________________ in children, mainly in West Africa, victims have reddish hair, puffy, discolored skin, and a bloated stomach.
- Marasmus: caused by a diet low in ________ and _________, the child is thin and shriveled.
- Anemia: most common dietary deficiency in the world (not enough __________) is a lack of hemoglobin in the blood.
- Goiter (a swollen thyroid gland): A deficiency of __________ can cause brain damage.
MAJOR FOOD SOURCES
Westernized diet:
- 12 grains
- 3 root crops
- 20 fruits/veggies
- ___ mammals
- ___ fowl
North America, Japan, 7 Europe (20% world population) consume ________% of animal products
Average American eats 260 lbs/meat/year, average Bangladesh citizen eats 6.5 lbs/meat/year.
90% of grain grown is used to feed animals (for slaughter) and yet if people ate just grains many more people could be fed.
1/2 pound steak could feed 40 people if grains.
SOIL: A RENEWABLE RESOURCE
- mixture of weathered minerals from rocks, decaying organic material,
________ organisms and a dash of _____ and water
- takes ________ years to develop 1 inch of soil!!!!
- 1/2 of cropland is being destroyed quicker than replaced
Soil Composition
- sandy soil: light soil, good ________, dries quickly
- clay (tiny
particles), heavy, impermeable, holds _______ longer
- Loam: perfect agricultural soil with ________ portions of sand, silt, clay
- Humus: a sticky, brown residue from decaying plants & animals,
gives structure to soil and helps ___________
- Topsoil contains millions of organisms, most microscopic (bacteria,
algae), worms insects, animals, leaf litter, plant roots draw up minerals and
release acids that decompose particles
Soil Profiles
Soil horizons: layers of soil, reveal the _________, classified
by color, texture, composition
Soil profiles- a cross section through soil horizons
- A horizon (top soil): covered by O horizon (newly deposited fresh organic material),
minerals mixed with ________, where most plants spread their
roots to absorb nutrients, minerals are leached (removed by water) and carried downwards
- B horizon (sub-soil): dense with clay, nutrients (soluble) and ________ sediments. Leached material is illuviated (deposited).
- C horizon: broken down ____________. Time and further weathering allows
soil to extend downward
LAND RESOURCES
11% of Earth is used for agriculture.
- The total number of farms has declined from _____ million in 1935 to ____ million in 1997, mostly among ___________-type farms.
- The farms are becoming _____________. Drive toward agrobusiness corporate farming.
Problems:
- high consumption of ____________ products- most food we eat has traveled 1500 miles.
- soil erosion or poisoning: ____________, chemical toxins
- destroying animal diversity and habitats
- groundwater, stream and ocean pollution from runoff of _________ and ____________
- low cost of food production (mostly because of government subsidities) puts small, rural farms out of business both locally and internationally by flooding the market with cheap mass produced foods
- indifferent cruelty to _________ and migrant workers
- depletion of aquifers
- vulnerable to terrorist attack
- GMO- genetically modified food. Favorable characteristics from one living thing is transfered into another. 75% of the crops grown in the US are genetically modified.
Pro:
- pest resistance
- herbicide tolerance
- disease resistance
- cold tolerance
- drought/salinity tolerance
- nutrition- ex. vitamin A
- pharmaceuticals- ex. research on edible vaccines in tomatoes and potatoes!
- phytoremediation- plants clean up pollution in soil and groundwater. ex. poplar trees collect heavy metal pollution from soil.
Con:
- genetically engineered plants could escape into _______ and create super weeds
- Bt bacterium, a natural pesticide, added to plant genes is causing genetic resistance and taking away __________ farmers best defense
- unintended harm to other organisms- ex. Bt bacterium genes in corn kills monarch caterpillers.
- called __________- are we creating a monster?
What is the best way to use the land to produce food?
- __________________________ Agriculture: regenerative farming is the answer!
- Goal is to produce food and fiber on a sustainable basis and repair the damage caused by destructive practices.
- Promote _____________, ______________ and Worm farms!
- The most healthy farms have rich, fertile soils. Lack of fertile soil was a common contributing factor for the collapse of many major past civilizations. ______________, _______________,
- ______________ Soil fertility is improved by increasing the soils humus and biological activity (bacteria and worms) plus correcting for mineral deficiencies.
- Healthy plants are much less susceptible to disease and insect attack.
Sustainable agriculture techniques:
- Reduce use of fossil fuels.
- Reduced tillage: machines just cover seeds so do not disrupt ecosystem
- Selecting plants that are appropriate for the _______________.
- _______________ plowing- plowing across hills, rather than up and down to reduce water erosion.
- Strip Farming-planting different kinds of crops in alternating strips along the land contours.
- Terracing-shaping the land to create level ____________ of earth to hold water and soil: edges of terraces planted with soil, anchoring plant species- makes farming on steep hills possible.
- Crop rotations especially with legumes to replace _______________ in soil.
- Natural fertilizers- use composted animal wastes/kitchen wastes.
- Natural pesticides- use low to no toxicity pesticides like pyrethrum (extracted from chrysanthemum flower) or tobacco- increases beneficial insect populations (like _____________ mantis)
- Mulching, ground cover and covering crops with crop residues- holds in moisture and add organic nutrients to soil
- Buffers- leaving shrubs and trees in place between fields to reduce wind erosion
- Interplanting of two different crops (or more) in same field
-Benefits:
- ex: Three sisters: corn, _______ and squash. Beans and pumpkins planted in between corn rows- ________ provide nitrogen for corn, corn produces a vertical pole for the beans to grow on, and pumpkin crowds out the weeds.
Local Action
- Buy local- less transportation costs
- Buy organic
- Join a CSA- C_______________________ S_________________ A___________________ farm.
Fishing
- Fishing Methods
- Purse-seine fishing- one or more boats deploys a large net around and underneath a school of fish, the net then closes like a drawstring ______. Perfect for deep sea fish like _____.
- Trawling and Dredging- Nets as large as a _______ ______ are dragged near the sea floor. Dredging scrapes the seafloor distroying the ecosystem and innocent bycatch. Perfect for capturing bottom fish like shrimp and _________.
- Longlining- baited hooks up to _____ MIILES LONG are excellent for swordfish and tuna hunting. Also for capturing birds and __________.
- Harpooning or spearfishing- traditional fishing methods such as spearing a _________ fish such as tuna or swordfish don't result in bycatch damage.
- Overfishing
- Commercial fishing has become highly technical and efficient- between _______ and GPS fish don't stand a chance. Many more fish are being caught than are left to maintain the population- 70% of the world's fish species are either overexpoited or _________. Overfishing has led to the closure of once prolific areas such as the Grand Banks and Newfoundland. Cod, haddock, tuna, swordfish and Patagonian toothfish (Chilean _____ ______) are especially hard hit. Better choices are vegetarian _______ and wild Alaskian salmon.
- Aquaculture
- Aquaculture to the rescue! Raising fish in ponds or fenced areas could be sustainable. 1/3 of our fish such as shrimp, salmon, oysters and clams are raised in aquaculture.
- However, crowding creates a lot of ________ that pollute the water and excess antibiotic use is creating antibiotic resistant __________!!
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