WORLD FOOD RESOURCES

Part I

Food Resources

• Approximately 15 plant and 8 animal species.• Three main cash crops:

1. wheat

2. rice

3. corn

Grown by Industrialized agricultural methods (developed nations) and Traditional methods including subsistence and intensive (developing nations)

Wheat and corn (industrial agriculture)

Rice (Intensive agriculture)

Livestock

• Cattle – beef = affluence

• Horses

• Oxen

• Sheep

• Chicken

• hogs

Cattle Ranching

Beef Cows

Dairy Cows

Types of Agriculture

• Industrialized Agriculture – “Agribusiness”• Developed countries• Land – moderate amount• Labor – low• Capital Costs – high (use a lot of fertilizer,

pesticides, and irrigation systems)• Energy Use (fossil fuels) – high• Environmental Impacts - high

Industrialized Agriculture

Types of Agriculture

• Intensive Traditional (Rice fields, China, Thailand)

• Developing countries

• Capital Costs – low (use fertilizer and will divert water for irrigation through dams on occasion)

• Energy use (fossil fuels) – low

• Environmental Impacts (low-moderate)

Intensive Agriculture

Rice Paddies

Types of Agriculture

• Shifting Cultivation• Developing countries• Land – large tracts of tropical

forests cleared and used for agriculture

• Labor – low-moderate• Capital Costs – low (rarely use

fertilizer)• Energy use – low to none

• Shift agricultural plots of land until nutrients are restored to land.

• Environmental Impacts (moderate)

Types of Agriculture

• Nomadic Herding

• Developing countries

• Land – large tracts

• Labor – low

• Capital Costs – low

• Energy use (fossil fuels) – none

• Yak in Tibet (Snow Leopard Video)

Industrialized agriculture

Shifting cultivation

Plantation agriculture

Nomadic herding

Intensive traditional agriculture

No agriculture

Pre-Green revolution• 1912 – German chemist Fritz Haber developed a process for synthesizing ammonia

directly from nitrogen and hydrogen. “The Haber Process”• At the start of World War I, in 1914, Germany was dependent on nitrate deposits in

Chile for nitrogen containing compounds needed to manufacture explosives.• The Allied naval blockade of South America cut off this supply.• By fixing nitrogen from the air, Germany was able to continue explosives production.• From this incident and the development of the Haber process, scientists have

continued to fix nitrogen to manufacture fertilizers that have increased crop yields.• Approximately 50 billion pounds of ammonia are manufactured annually in the USA =

BIG BUSINESS!• The decision to award Fritz Haber the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1918 was the

subject of considerable controversy since he served as chief of Germany’s Chemical Warfare Service and developed chlorine as a poison gas-weapon later used in Nazi Germany concentration camps.

• He was awarded the Nobel Prize because it was believed that “the world would never go hungry again”.

• The ultimate irony came in 1933 when Haber was expelled from Germany because he was Jewish!

Haber Process

Green Revolution (1950-1970)

• Plant monocultures to obtain high yields.

• Input pesticides and fertilizers to obtain high yields.

• Increase frequency and intensity of cropping to obtain high yields.

• Was all of this done to “feed the world” or make high profits?

Trade-Offs

Inorganic Commercial Fertilizers

Advantages Disadvantages

Do not add humus to soil

Reduce organic matter in soil

Reduce ability of soil to hold water

Lower oxygen content of soil

Require large amounts ofenergy to produce,transport, and apply

Release the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O)

Runoff can overfertilizenearby lakes and kill fish

Easy to transport

Easy to store

Easy to apply

Inexpensive to produce

Help feed one of every three people in theworld

Without commercialinorganic fertilizers,world food output coulddrop by 40%

2nd Green Revolution

• Introduction of genetically modified crops to obtain high yields.

• New herbicides introduced.

New Green Revolution

• “Sasakawa Global 2000”• Ryoichi Sasakawa, Norman Bourlag &

Jimmy Carter• Goal: Obtain high yields in an

environmentally friendly way by introducing– Integrated Management Plans (IPM’s)– Terracing– Intercropping.

Terracing – Coffee PlantationForm of Contour Plowing

Economics of Agriculture• AGRICULTURE MAKES UP 20% OF USA’S GNP! = BIG BUSINESS• High input = high output (high yields)• Industrial Agriculture uses:

1. tremendous amounts of energy (fossil fuels)2. Moderate amount of land3. fertilizers and pesticides

Food costs/salary have decreased by 50% since 1940 due to “relatively” cheap energy (subsidies), mass growing and processing.

ALL leading to environmental degradation.

Environmental degradation costs billions of dollars to attempt to repair structure and function losses of ecosystems. Restoration of habitats usually will NOT replace the originally lost structure, function and values of ecosystems.

Economics of the Hamburger

• 1 acre of forest supports 800,000 pounds of plants and animals.

• 1 acre = 43, 560 square feet• 1 bovine = 200 pounds of actual beef• 200 pounds of beef = (800) 4 ounce hamburgers• 1 hamburger = ½ ton (1000 pounds) of forest products • 1 hamburger = 55 square feet of forest• Two 4oz. Hamburgers will fill 45-50 bowls with cooked

cereal grains for undernutrition/malnutritioned children in the USA.

• 2.1 million children under the age of 3 live in poverty in the USA!

Environmental Degradation

Environmental Degradation

Runoff From Slaughter Houses

Compaction and Salinization of Soils

Effects of Soil Compaction

Agricultural Methods

1. Polyvarietal Cultures – a plot is planted with several species of the same crop.

Example. RiceType A = normal strainType B = drought-resistant strainType C = nutrient-deficient strain

Multi-strains ensure that a crop will bring a profit under varying conditions, since annual weather is unpredictable.

Polyvarietal Strains

Agricultural methods

2. Intercropping – two or more different crops are grown at the same time on a single plot.

Example, carbohydrate rich grains such as corn next to protein-rich legumes such as alfalfa that fixes nitrogen in the soils due to Rhizobium sp.

Intercropping

Agricultural Methods

3. Agroforestry – crops and trees planted together. This may include plantation trees. Trees provide shading to promote moisture-retention in soils.

Example, fruit-bearing trees planted with a grain and/or legume.

Agroforestry

(c) Alley cropping

Agricultural Methods

• Polyculture – a complex form of intercropping. Many different species/varieties of plants will mature at different times. This ensures year-round crop production and habitat for pests and wildlife.

• Produces high sustainable yields.• Provides medicine, fuel, natural pesticides and

natural fertilizers.• Reduces environmental degradation from

pesticides and irrigation and reduces crop losses overall.

Polyculture

Agricultural Methods

5. Organic Farming – Does not apply inorganically manufactured fertilizers (or sludge-product), pesticides, genetically modified varieties, nor adds hormones or uses antibiotics (in meats and poultry).

Success of Organic Farming

• provides a healthier way of life (no bioaccummulation of chemicals),

• Reduces environmental degradation,

• Allows for maintenance or increases to biodiversity by reducing nutrient and toxicity loading to environment.

• Allows for safe working conditions for farmers and employees.

Failures of Organic Farming

• Unfavorable climate reduces cash crop because there are no genetically modified varieties used (drives the consumer cost up)

• Global warming and increased deforestation of rain forests are reducing precipitation in critical areas, thereby requiring increased irrigation use (drives consumer cost up)

• No fertilizers/pesticides used so the crop is more susceptible to damage and disease (drives consumer cost up)

• Basic Economics – if demand is low, prices are high!• Winds carry genetically modified seed and pesticides

onto “organically farmed” lands (Monsanto).

1990 Organic Food Protection Act

• Designed to develop uniform national standards for being “organic”. USDA states that any food:

• Genetically engineered/modified;

• Fertilized with municipal sludge;

• Zapped with radiation

…IS NOT ORGANIC!

Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2003Rider

• A rider was inserted into appropriations legislation that would have allowed producers to use the organic label for their meat and dairy products even if they did not meet the National Organic Standards (NOS).  This loophole, reportedly created at the request of a single livestock producer in Georgia, would have allowed any livestock producer to skirt the requirement that “organic” livestock be fed only organically-produced food.  This rider would have effectively gutted the organic standards, negating the hard-won consensus reached by stakeholders over the last ten years. 

• Why is this allowed?• Chemical and Agribusiness Industries are HUGE

BUSINESS!• Who really makes the laws?

Organic Restoration Act

• Tremendous pressure was placed on Congress by consumers …”I mean voters”

Constituents from the 4th District and across the country voiced their concern about this loophole. David Price was an original cosponsor of

The repeal was ultimately included in HR 1559, which was signed into law on April 16, 2003.   

Pros of Food Subsidies

1. Farmers stay in business during low production years.

2. Food production is encouraged.

3. Low interest loans provided for new farmers.

Cons of Food Subsidies1. More food = overproduction which decreases

profits and depresses global prices.2. Surplus becomes food aid, which is believed by

most scientists, economists and politicians to reduce the incentive for recipients of food aid to grow their own.

3. Farm Bill1990, 1996, 2002 – provides subsidies to farmers for overproduction and/or crop losses due to weather conditions. ONLY govt. assistance that reimburses business for “Act of God”

Payment Limitations Payment Limitations (Cont.)(Cont.)

• Adjusted Gross Income Limitation– Defined as: the 3 year average of the adjusted gross income

or comparable measure of the individual or entity over the 3 preceding years

– Begins in 2003– $2.5 million limit

» Unless not less than 75% of AGI comes from farming, ranching, or forestry operations

– An individual or entity shall not be eligible to receive any benefit (direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, and marketing loan gains/LDPs)

– Certification: An individual or entity shall provide to the Secretary

» Certification from a CPA or another third party» Information and documentation through other procedures

established by the Secretary

• Creates a new commission to study and make recommendations regarding payment limits

Market Receipts

CCP

MLG/LDP

Distribution of Government Distribution of Government SupportSupport

Example: Grain SorghumExample: Grain Sorghum

Revenue per Bushel

Target Price – $2.54

LoanRate – $1.98

Fixed payment – $0.35

}Decoupled (do not have to produce to receive payment)

Coupled (do have toproduce to receive benefits from marketing loans gains or LDPs)

Market Price

Reflects payments not on full productionReflects payments not on full production(payment acres = .85 x base acres)(payment acres = .85 x base acres)

“Life Boat Ethics” Garrett Hardin

• Food relief goes to developing countries helping to ensure population increase (increases fitness).

• Population increase will “sink the boat”. It discourages governments of developing nations in investing in sustainable intensive agriculture.

• Relief seldom reaches target population.

American Indian Saying

• “Give a man a fish and you’ll feed him for a day”

• Teach a man to fish and you’ll feed him for a lifetime”

Evaporation

Transpiration

Waterlogging

Less permeableclay layer

Environmental Degradation From Terrestrial Food Production

ConsequencesCauses

Worsening drought

Famine

Economic losses

Lower living standards

Environmentalrefugees

Overgrazing

Deforestation

Erosion

Salinization

Soil compaction

Natural climate change

Environmental Degradation From Terrestrial Food Production

Biodiversity Loss

Loss and degradation of habitat fromclearing grasslands and forests anddraining wetland

Fish kills from pesticide runoff

Killing of wild predators to protectlivestock

Loss of genetic diversity fromreplacing thousands of wild cropstrains with a few monoculture strains

Soil

Erosion

Loss of fertility

Salinization

Waterlogging

Desertification

Air Pollution

Greenhouse gas emissions from fossilFuel issue

Other air pollutants from fossil fuel use

Pollution from pesticide sprays

WaterWater waste

Aquifer depletion

Increased runoff andflooding from land clearedto grow crops

Sediment pollution fromerosion

Fish kills from pesticiderunoff

Surface and groundwaterpollution from pesticidesand fertilizers

Overfertilization of lakesand slow-moving riversfrom runoff of nitrates and phosphates fromfertilizers, livestockwastes, and foodprocessing wastes

Sustainable Agricultural Methods• Terracing• Contour Farming• Strip Cropping• Agroforestry (Alley Cropping)• Windbreaks• Conservation Tillage Farming• Salt Flushing• Gully Reclamation

Figure 14-13Page 284

Reduces erosion

Saves fuel

Cuts costs

Holds more soil water

Reduces soil compaction

Allows several crops per season

Does not reduce crop yields

Reduces CO2

release from soil

Can increase herbicide use for some crops

Leaves stalks that can harbor crop pests and fungal diseases and increase pesticide use

Requires investment in expensive equipment

DisadvantagesAdvantages

Trade-Offs

Conservation Tillage

Figure 14-12Page 283

Reduce irrigation

Switch to salt-tolerant crops(such as barley, cotton, sugar beet)

Prevention

Flushing soil(expensive andwastes water)

Not growing crops for 2-5 years

Installing under- ground drainagesystems (expensive)

Cleanup

Solutions

Soil Salinization

(d) Windbreaks

(b) Contour planting and strip cropping

Alley Cropping

Other Sustainable Considerations

• Low input agriculture reduces irrigation water waste, pesticides and inorganic fertilizer applications.

• IPM’s – Integrated pest management uses release of natural predators to pests (ladybugs), hot water zapping (physical) and green fertilizer (manure) to reduce pesticide and fertilizer application.

Health Issues Related to Industrialized Food Production

1. Antibiotic resistance and susceptibility of young children to ear infections.2. Mad Cow Disease – (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy) Slowly, progressive,

degenerative, fatal disease affecting the central nervous system of adult cattle.• Abnormal proteins “prions” attack the organs. Organs are ground up by livestock

owners to add as a protein supplement to feedlot diets of cattle and is spread toother cattle.

• Disease found in humans is called “Creutzfeldt-Jacob Diseas which is caused by eating contaminated food. It is a fatal brain disorder in humans. Humans exhibit psychiatric or sensory symptoms, neurological abnormalities, and dimentia.

3. Avian Flu (Bird Flu) – Emerged in 2003 in China and Thailand. It has made the jump to mammals and can become the next pandemic. It is present in all of indonesia and Malaysia, China, India, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, Nigeria, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Georgia, Slovenia, Italy, Bosnia, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, France

TOTAL HUMAN DEATHS (2006) = 93Vietnam – 42; Indonesia – 20; Thailand – 14; China – 8 (?); Cambodia – 4; Turkey – 4;

Iraq – 1. 4. Deaths related to pesticides? Millions? 5. Death’s related by hormone introduction into fowl and meats?6. Early onset of menstruation by young girls from introduction of hormones into meats

and poultry? UNKNOWN – millions? Billions?