Title: Food Resources: A Challenge for Agriculture
1Food Resources A Challenge for Agriculture
Chapter 19
2Food and Nutrition
- Important molecules to our diets
- Carbohydrates
- Proteins
- Lipids
- Minerals
- Vitamins
- Nutrition problems
- Undernourished fewer calories than needed
- Malnourished wrong kinds of calories
- Overnourished food in excess (fats sugars)
- Cancers, heart disease, obesity
3Food and Nutrition
4World Food Problems
- In 2004
- 86 countries are low-income, food deficient.
- 800 million people were food deficient
- 182 million children severely malnourished and
underweight
5World Food Problems
- Common diseases due to malnourishment
- Marasmus low calories
- and protein wasting
- away, infants
- Kwashiorkor protein
- deficiency, swollen
- belly, children
6World Food Problems
7World Food Problems
- Famines
- 1983-1985 Drought in Africa resulted in 1.5
million deaths in Ethiopia and Sudan - 1993 civil unrest and drought resulted in 2
million starving Somalis - 1990s flooding and drought resulted in 2
million deaths in North Korea
8World Food Problems
- Maintaining Grain Stockpiles
- World grain carryover stocks
U.N. estimates that carryover stocks should not
fall below 70 days. Why?
9Lifeboat Ethic
- 50 people in a boat that seats 60. 100 drowning
people want to get in - Scenario 1
- Scenario 2
- Scenario 3
10World Food Problems
- Why the decline in carryover stocks?
- More grain is going towards feeding livestock
(eating higher on food chain).
11World Food Problems
- Poverty and Food
- Making Food Affordable for the Poor
- Poverty ? Poor nutrition
- Malnutrition more common in urban than rural
areas in developing countries - Infants, children, and elderly most susceptible
to hunger and poverty.
12The Principle Types of Agriculture
- Industrialized (modern) agriculture
13The Principle Types of Agriculture
- Subsistence agriculture self and family, little
technology - Shifting cultivation changing fields
- Slash-and-burn agriculture - rainforest
- Nomadic herding - animals
- Intercropping several plants, same
field - Polyculture in season at different times
14Challenges of Producing More Crops and Livestock
- The Effect of Domestication on Genetic Diversity
- Genetic diversity enhances long-term species
survival
15Challenges of Producing More Crops and Livestock
- The Effect of Domestication on Genetic Diversity
Lower Genetic Diversity in Domesticated Animals /
Plants
16Challenges of Producing More Crops and Livestock
- Global Decline in Domesticated Plant and Animal
Varieties defines modern farming. - In past, many localities had special varieties,
such as
17Challenges of Producing More Crops and Livestock
- The Global Decline in Domesticated Plant and
Animal Varieties
Many world farmers now using just a few varieties
on a limited amount of land. Land is cultivated
more efficiently to produce higher yields.
18Challenges of Producing More Crops and Livestock
US wheat yields
19Challenges of Producing More Crops and Livestock
- Increasing Crop Yields
- Case-in-Point The Green Revolution
20Challenges of Producing More Crops and Livestock
- Increasing Livestock Yields
- Modern livestock production commonly relies
upon - hormone supplementation
- antibiotics in feedstuff
- (Both are controversial)
21Challenges of Producing More Crops and Livestock
- Issues with Genetic Engineering
- The Safety of Genetic Engineering
- The Backlash Against Genetically Modified Foods
(GMOs) - Should Foods from Genetically Modified Crops and
Livestock Be Labeled?
22The Environmental Impacts of Agriculture
- Most livestock now grown in feedlots
Leads to problems like sewage disposal. Cruelty??
23The Environmental Impacts of Agriculture
- Insects are becoming increasingly resistant to
pesticides
Leads to increases in the amount of pesticides
applied. Leads further to pesticide residue on
foods and contaminated land / water.
24The Environmental Impacts of Agriculture
- Other problems
- Land degradation
- Habitat fragmentation
- Cultivating marginal lands
25Solutions to Agricultural Problems
26Fisheries of the World
27Fisheries of the World
- Problems and Challenges for the Fishing Industry
Pollution, Overfishing
28Fisheries of the World
- Overharvesting is the most serious problem
29Fisheries of the World
- Aquaculture Fish Farming
- 2003 aquaculture production of fin fish and
shellfish 41.9 million tons - In US aquaculture accounts for 6 of all
seafood consumed 900 million-a- year industry - Major drawback its expensive
30Fisheries of the World
- Ocean Pollution and Deteriorating Habitat
- 80 of global ocean pollution comes from human
activities on land
31Challenges of Producing More Crops and Livestock
32Solutions to Agricultural Problems
- Making Subsistence Agriculture Sustainable and
More Productive - Slash-and-burn agriculture in rainforests is
sustainable, if few people practice it - Researchers trying to find ways to increasing
long-term productivity