From Seeds to the Shelf: Modern Agricultural Technologies

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From Seeds to the Shelf Modern Agricultural
Technologies Lindsay Garrard1, Charlie Spatz2,
Mandy Reynolds3
Agricultural Tools3
Food Processing1

• Preservation
• Eliminates microbes and pathogens that could
  decompose and/or contaminate food
• Maintains quality taste, flavor, texture,
  appearance, and nutritional content
• Extends shelf life
• Methods freezing, dehydration, refrigeration,
  addition of chemicals, pasteurization,
  sterilization, fermentation
• Thermal Preservation cryogenics, modified
  atmosphere packaging, blanching (for
  sterilization), microwave treatment
• Antimicrobial agents, antioxidants, acidity
  regulators
• Additives - flavor enhancers, thickeners,
  artificial coloring

Overview
Agriculture is an important aspect of Science,
Technology and Society and has been since the
Neolithic Revolution. Agricultural technologies
include the first people to move earth with
sticks and stones for planting seeds, to modern
rototillers. The cultivation of food is necessary
for the life of every human on earth. We need to
eat in order to live, and agricultural products
provide these nutrients our bodies need. The
amount and caliber of agricultural technology has
grown with the rise in population. With more
hungry people to feed, humans have found ways to
increase the production of food. We have
manipulated it using genetic modification in
order to satisfy our desires and tastes. We have
learned to preserve and process foods in order to
create variety, longevity, and mobility. Humans
have become largely dependent on these
technologies to sustain their way of life and
consumption.
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• Evolution of Farm Tools
• Farming tools were once fashioned out of wood and
  iron
• The field plough was a welcome relief for farmers
  using shovels and hoes to break up the soil
• Machines are more time and labor efficient
  animals get tiredengines do not
• Bigger companies can afford more and better
  equipment to cultivate more land and thus
  increase production.
• 7 Major Crops in the US Corn, Soybeans, Hay,
  Wheat, Cotton, Sorghum, Rice
• Thomas Savery wrote The Miners friend or, An
  Engine to Raise Water by Fire in 1702, a
  treatise presented to the King and British Royal
  society about the steam engine
• 1902 Supposedly the first machine to use the
  word tractor, a two-cylinder built by C. W.
  Hart and C. H. Parr of Iowa
• WWI Increased demand for food called for the
  need of more tractors
• Henry Ford started building Fordson tractors in
  1907Mass production through assembly lines

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Genetically Engineered Crops2
Irrigation -Has been used for centuries all over
the world in order to grow food and plants for
populations -Fostered the spread of people and
agriculture to the western United
States -Re-routing water in order to regulate the
flow to cities and farms -Different types of
irrigation which are more efficient for some
parts of the country than others -Irrigation
techniques depend on the type of crop one is
growing -Deserts and the U.S. mid-west are arid
climates with little rainfall predictability -Plan
ts need 30 mm of rain since the start of the
rainfall OR 30 mm of rain within 10 days of the
start in order to grow -Farmers know when and how
much water they can use for their crops -Upstream
farmers have the most access to water supplies
compared with downstream farmers -Leaky canals
can support poor farmers who benefit from the
groundwater, so lined canals are not always the
most beneficial to all
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• Origins
• Selective breeding has been part of agriculture
  since the Neolithic Revolution
• Farmers struggle with battle against weeds and
  insects
• Pesticides and Herbicides commonly used-Negative
  consequences of chemicals can afflict unattended
  organisms
• GE offers alternatives to chemicals, but also has
  its own consequences
• Common Genetic Engineering (GE) Uses
• Transgenic Bt Technology
• Ready RoundUp (Corn, Soy Bean, Cotton)
• Genetic use restriction technology (GURT)

• Benefits of GE crops
• Selective breeding has been part of agriculture
  since
• Lower costs associated with farming
• Protection against pest damage
• Herbicide tolerance
• Reduction of mycotoxin contamination
• Resistance to environmental conditions
• Risks of GE crops
• Spread of transgresses through cross pollination
• Creation of "super" weeds, insects, and diseases
• Possible unknown long term health risks
• Unknown long term ecological risks
• Important Issues
• Funding for independent and long term research
• Competitive advantage if countries choose to ban
  GE
• Monopolistic nature of the GE agriculture
  industry

Adoption of genetically engineered crops grows
steadily in the U.S.
REFERENCES
1. Pastries Bacon. 16 March, 2010.
http//pastriesandbacon.wordpress.com/2009/09/ 2.
IBM.com. 16 March, 2010. https//www.ibm.com/devel
operworks/mydeveloperworks/blogs/PragmaticOpenComp
uting/tags/retail?langen 3. Fringe TV Series. 16
March, 2010. http//www.horrornews.net/fringe/_fri
nge_symbols/FlowerGlyph.jpg 4. Patzer Patzer
Inc., Jamestown. 15 March, 2009.
http//www.patzerinc.com/_borders/machinery.jpg 5.
Jim Peipert. Jims Bike Blog, Word Press, 20
Sept. 2009.
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