FEEDING THE WORLD

HUMAN NUTRITION

• ~24,000 starve each day; 8.8 million each year

• ~1 billion lack access to adequate food supply

• Population keeps growing requires more land to be used for agriculture, eat less meat, and harvest more fish

NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Undernutrition a. not consuming enough calories b. 100 to 400 less a day c. susceptible to disease, less energy, improper brain development

Malnourished a. diet lacks correct balance of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals b. doesn’t matter how many calories consumed c. ~3 billion according to WHO

Results of malnourishment a. blindness – Vitamin A deficiency b. anemia – iron deficiency * most widespread nutritional deficiency * malaria, AIDS, parasite infections

Famine a. deaths occur due to extreme food insecurity b. crop failures, drought, etc

Overnutrition a. too many calories b. obesity * > 20% ideal weight * Type II diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke c. due to availability/affordability of certain foods

Variety of foods available a. grains (corn, rice, wheat) – 300kg b. meat (livestock and poultry) – 40kg c. fish – 21kg

Reasons for under nutrition and malnourishment a. #1 – poverty b. rise in food prices c. large amounts of crops are grown to feed livestock and poultry rather than people * corn and soybeans

d. grain production

* depends on

1. amount of land used

2. global weather and precipitation

3. price of grain

4. productivity of land

INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE

• Farming more mechanized

• Increase use of fossil fuels

• Green Revolution

a. small farms/human labor industrial operations/machinery

b. fertilization, irrigation, mechanization, pesticides, monocropping

c. increased food production significantly

GREEN REVOLUTION

• Mechanization

• Irrigation

a. benefits

- efficient use of H20

b. consequences

- waterlogging

- salinization

- depletion of groundwater

- saltwater intrusion

• Fertilizers

a. N, P, and K

b. organic

- decomposed animal manure

c. synthetic

- produced commercially

- advantages

* easy application, targeted nutrient content, easily absorbed

- disadvantages

* fossil fuel energy required, run-off, don’t add organic matter to

soil

• Monocropping

a. dominant agricultural practice in US (wheat and cotton)

b. benefits

1. increased efficiency and productivity

c. drawbacks

1. soil erosion

2. vulnerability to pests

• Pesticides

a. kill or control pests

b. insecticides, herbicides

c. broad spectrum v. selective

d. persistant v. non-persistant

- DDT

- bioaccumulation

- Roundup

e. can kill other species in addition to the targeted pests

f. pesticide treadmill

GENETIC ENGINEERING

• Higher crop yields

• Better food quality

• Reductions in pesticide use

• Higher profits

• Lower costs

ALTERNATIVES TO INDUSTRIAL FARMING

• Industrial agriculture = conventional agriculture

• Traditional farming

a. shifting agriculture

b. nomadic grazing

c. intercropping

d. agroforestry

• Shifting Agriculture

a. “slash and burn”

b. moderately warm climate and nutrient-poor soils

c. large amounts of nutrients found in vegetation

d. desertification

http://www.ingafoundation.org/slash-and-burn/#.Us7pGvVYQuc

• Nomadic Grazing

a. move herds of animals to seasonally productive feeding grounds

• Sustainable Agriculture

a. fulfills need for food

b. enhances quality of soil

c. less use of nonrenewable resources

d. emphasizes conservation and soil improvement

e. intercropping

1. 2 or more crop species planted in same field at same time

f. agroforestry

1. intercropping trees with vegetables

2. reduces soil erosion

http://www.conbio.info/post/registration-is-now-open-for-the-world-congress-on-agroforestry-2014-wca2014/

• No-till Agriculture

a. avoid soil degradation

b. leaves roots intact in soil

c. reduces emissions of CO2

d. negative - increases use of herbicides

• Organic agriculture

a. production of crops without the use of synthetic fertilizers/pesticides

• Integrated Pest Management

a. techniques designed to minimize pesticide inputs

b. crop rotation, intercropping, pest-resistant crops, limited use

of pesticides

http://www.pestmanagement.rutgers.edu/ipm/vegetable/ipmposter.jpg

FARMING OF MEAT AND FISH

• High – Density Animal Farming

a. CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations)

b. “feedlots”

c. used for beef cattle, dairy cows, hogs, and poultry

d. minimizes land costs while improving feeding efficiency

e. animals given antibiotics and nutrients

f. serious waste disposal problem

http://prairierivers.org/how-to-protect-rivers/preventing-water-pollution/illinoisfactoryfarmwatch/

• Free-Range Chicken and Beef

a. graze on land

b. little to no supplemental feeding

c. little to no use of antibiotics

d. uses more land

e. higher costs of meat

http://www.sheknows.com/living/articles/808002/the-facts-on-freerange-what-does-it-really-mean

• Harvesting Fish

a. fishery – commercially harvestable population of fish

b. caught through a variety of techniques

c. can unintentionally catch nontargeted fish declining their

population (some are keystone species)

d. aquaculture

- farming of aquatic organisms

- catfish and trout in US

http://www.globalpartnershipforoceans.org/key-issues/aquaculture%E2%80%99s-role-rise-though-challenges-remain