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

1. Kwashiorkor: a ­­­­­­_________________ in children, mainly in West Africa, victims have reddish hair, puffy, discolored skin, and a bloated stomach.
2. Marasmus: caused by a diet low in ________ and _________, the child is thin and shriveled.
3. Anemia: most common dietary deficiency in the world (not enough __________) is a lack of hemoglobin in the blood.
4. 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

1. Buy local- less transportation costs
2. Buy organic
3. 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 __________!!