FOOD AND AGRICULTURE NOTES
NUTRITION & 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:
~_____ million people are severely undernourished
~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.
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 petroleum products
-soil erosion or poisoning: salinization, chemical toxins
-destroying animal diversity and habitats
-groundwater, stream and ocean pollution from runoff of pesticides and fertilizers
-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 animals and migrant workers
-depletion of aquifers
-vulnerable to terrorist attack
Film: Black Gold
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. And 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 benefical insect populations (like _____________ mantus)
-Mulching, ground cover and covering crops with crop residues- holds in moisture and add organic nutrients to soil
-Interplanting of two different crops (or more) in same field
Benefits:
ex: Three sisters: corn, beans and squash. Beans and pumpkins planted in between corn rows-beans 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