food lessons- student

8/14/2019 Food Lessons- Student

1/20


2/20

3

Introduction to FoodHave you ever been unable to finish your meal and then heard

someone say, You shouldnt waste food when there are starv-

ing people in the world? Its definitely true that some people in

the world do not have enough to eat. But why are they starving?

What does it have to do with the way food is grown and distrib-

uted? And how do our actions play a part?

CHAPTER 3 FOOD 39

FoodFood, glorious food!What is there more handsome?Gulped, swallowed or chewedStill worth a kings ransom!

Lionel Bart, Oliver! the musical

n How can we ensure that all people have access to nutritious food?

n What agricultural practices are compatible with a healthy planet?

GUIDING QUESTIONS

Chapter

CHRISTIEHEYER


3/20

40 CHAPTER 3 FOOD FACING THE FUTURE www.facingthefuture.org

afford to buy those food staples they havegrown to depend on; a prime example beingbread. Egypt experienced bread riots atseveral points during the last few decades.Much of Egypts food is imported, making the

country vulnerable to rising market prices. In2007-2008, high grain prices abroad led to a37% increase in the price of bread in Egypt.2Thousands of Egyptians took to the streetsin protest.3

In 2010, another wave of bread riotsoccurred in the region. This time, food insecu-rity ignited a spark that contributed to a seriesof citizen-led uprisings in Arab countries suchas Egypt, Tunisia, and Syria, known as the ArabSpring. Governments in these countries have

typically subsidized staple foods like bread tokeep costs affordable for citizens. However, asglobal grain prices soared, government subsi-dies could not keep pace and consumer pricesfor food began to climb. Along with otherfactors, the high cost of bread helped createa shift in public attitudes. Arab Spring pro-testers began to question the policies of theirgovernments, express their waning confidencewith the authoritarian regimes in power, anddemonstrate their desire for greater liberty. In

this case, what began as bread riots grew into abroader popular movement that ultimately ledto the overthrow of national governments.4

SocietyFood security can be undermined by a varietyof challenges. To start, our ability to continueto produce enough food for everyone may belimited by population growth, environmentaldegradation, and climate change. As morepeople are added to the worlds population,

there are more mouths to feed. And as peopleslives improve and they become wealthier, foodconsumption changes. When incomes rise,people tend to eat more meat. Eating meatreduces the potential number of calories avail-able to people around the world because of theresources it takes to produce it. Did you knowthat it takes at least six pounds of corn to pro-duce one pound of beef?5

Food and Sustainability

EconomyThe World Food Summit in 1996 explainedfood securitythis way: when all people at alltimes have access to sufficient, safe, nutritiousfood to maintain a healthy and active life.1

Food security obviously affects individualwell-beingwe all need to eat. Food securitydirectly relates to sustainability, too. It canaffect entire societies, creating unrest andinstability and even triggering changes inpolitics and governance. Bread riots haveoccurred throughout modern times whenfood prices rise so that many people cant even

Bread riots have happened throughout the world when food has

become too expensive.

RYANBIRD


4/20

CHAPTER 3 FOOD 41 FACING THE FUTURE www.facingthefuture.org

Background on FoodPeople have not always farmed. For thousands of

years people lived as hunter-gatherers or forag-ers, following animal migrations and the sea-

sonal growth of plants. During this time, worldpopulation remained low and grew slowlythenumber of people who died was about the sameas the number of people who were born. Around10,000 to 11,000 years ago people began togrow their own food. Farming maximizes theproductivity of plants to supply more energythan what natural ecosystems can provide.

Therefore, cultivating their own food allowedpopulations to grow much more rapidly.10

Major ancient civilizations would not have

flourished without productive agriculturalsystems. Part of this process was driven bydomestication. For plant species, domesticationentailed keeping certain seeds and replantingthem. Animal species were domesticated bycontrolling their reproduction and isolatingthem from wild populations. Interestingly,agriculture did not just emerge in one placeand spread from there; instead, agricultureemerged in different places around the globeindependently.11

EnvironmentAnother challenge is environmental degrada-tion. Each year more and more of the worldsbest farmland becomes unusable. Some agricul-tural land is overworked; intensive tilling, com-

bined with strong winds or rainfall, removesfertile topsoil and nutrients and reduces theproductivity of the land. Farmland is lost toother uses, too. For example, some productivefarmland in the United States is turned intosuburban neighborhoods because farmers canmake more money by selling their land thanthey can by farming.6

Climate change can make it difficult togrow crops in some places.7It can result inincreased severity of natural disasters that

destroy crops and farmland. It may also resultin the spread of agricultural pests and diseases,like fungi and bacteria.

However, agricultural technology is alsopart of the equation. Past improvements infarming efficiency have allowed us to growmuch more food than our ancestors were ableto grow.

The potential challenges facing foodproduction are not the driving force behindfood insecurity. Believe it or not, enough food

is grown and harvested to feed everyone onthe planet. In fact, there is more than enoughfood available on Earth to feed everyone today.The global harvest of cereal grains alone couldprovide every man, woman, and child with over3,000 calories a day.8

Yet even in a world of plenty, poverty andhunger affect many. Director-General of theUnited Nations Food and Agriculture Orga-nization, Jacques Diouf, asks: If our planetproduces enough food to feed its entire popula-

tion, why do 854 million people still go to sleepon an empty stomach?9As you will read laterin this chapter, hunger is typically the result ofan inability to access available food.

Millions of tons of food waste are generated each year in the United

States, while millions of people around the world still go hungry.

YUNCHUNGLEE


5/20

CASE STUDY The Dust Bowl


humans have learned to farm in ways that aremore cooperative with nature.

The Incas, for example, farmed onsteep hillsides using terraces and irrigationtechniques. Their methods conserved both

water and soil resources, while increasingfood availability for a growing population.13In less mountainous areas, the Incas andother indigenous groups in the Americas,including the Aztecs, grew crops on raisedbeds. This practice helped mitigate the

The development of agricultural practicesmeant that humans began to alter their envi-ronment as never before. They dammed waterto irrigate crops, eliminated unwanted speciesin an area, and deliberately planted particular

species of interest to humans.12

As you willread throughout this chapter, these changeshave had varying effects on environments.In some cases, over time the intensive use ofenvironmental resources has led to soil erosionand expansion of deserts. But in other cases,

The famous period in American his-

tory known as the Dust Bowl shows

the consequences that can result

from unsustainable land use. In

the 1930s, the Great Plains of the

United States and parts of Canada

experienced a severe drought and

enormous dust storms, the loss of

millions of acres of farmland, and

massive migration westward from

the Great Plains. In the dust storm

of May 10, 1934, twelve million tonsof dirt landed in Chicago. In 1934

there were 22 major dust storms;

three years later, the number of

dust storms in a year had more

than tripled.15Constant wind and

periodic droughts were not new to

the Great Plains region, so why did

the Dust Bowl happen in the 1930s

and not before?

Encouraged by government

incentives and the dream of financial

success, people flocked to the GreatPlains to set up farms between 1862

and the 1920s. The invention of the

tractor enabled people to farm much

larger areas of land than before

and farmers were encouraged to

produce as much as possible, even

if there was already plenty of food

in the United States. The farming

techniques that most farmers used

increased erosion. By tilling native

grassland to create fields and plant

crops, farmers pulled out the sup-

port system that held soil in place

during dry windy periods. During thedrought of the 1930s, topsoil dried

out from lack of rain and strong

winds blew it off the fields.16With

their crops and fields ruined and

little hope for local employment

amidst the Great Depression, more

than 400,000 people migrated

west in search of migrant farm labor

jobs.17

The difficult experience of the

Dust Bowl changed the way that

many people in the United States

thought about the relationship

between humans and the environ-ment. In 1935, President Franklin

Roosevelt signed the Soil Conserva-

tion Act, establishing a Soil Conser-

vation Service. The Soil Conservation

Service was tasked with conducting

soil erosion surveys and helping to

prevent further soil erosion.

The Dust Bowl changed the way Americans thought about the environment.

BRIANHUMEK

|DREAMSTIME.C

OM


6/20


crops. For centuries, scientists and farmers havetinkered with seeds, carefully selecting seedsfrom higher-yielding crops or tastier fruits inan attempt to ensure those traits persist in theirnext harvest; to some degree, just speeding up

the process of natural selection.Other times hybridizing exist-ing plants to produce an entirelynew plant variety.

Rather than simply select-ing seeds from plants that havedesirable traits or cross-polli-nating two species to produce ahybrid, todays plant breeders aredoing revolutionary things. Overthe last thirty years, genetically

modified organisms (GMOs)have transitioned from experi-ments in the laboratory intoagricultural fields worldwide. Genetic modi-fication involves the insertion of genes fromone organism into another to produce alteredgenetic material (DNA). Unlike older meth-ods of genetic manipulation of plants, geneticmodification allows genes from very differenttypes of organisms to be inserted into a plantsgenome.

Perhaps the most famous GMO is Btcorn.Btstands for Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacteriathat acts as a pesticide. When insects ingestthe bacteria, it eventually kills them. Scientistsinserted the Btgene into corn to prevent croploss due to insect feeding. In theory, farmerswould not have to apply additional pesticides toBtcorn.

GMO seeds like Btcorn have their shareof critics. Over time, insect species that wereonce affected by Bthave become resistant to

it, meaning it no longer kills them. Geneticcontamination of non-GMO species is also aconcern. Genes from Btcorn have been knownto contaminate non-Btcorn; pollen from theplants is carried by wind from one field toanother. Little is known about the long-termimpacts of GMOs on human health and somepeople are worried that health issues mayemerge, such as new allergens.18

impact of both drought and heavy rains byincreasing water retention when rain was scarceand protecting root systems during periods ofheavy rainfall.14

Beginning in the 1950s, agricultureespe-

cially in developing countrieswent througha transformation called the Green Revolu-tion. Hybrid seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, newmachinery, and irrigation projects began to beused around the world. These new agricul-tural practices and technologies dramaticallyincreased crop yields, helping to feed a grow-ing world population. By the 1960s, GreenRevolution techniques such as monocultures(fields where only one crop is grown) and heavydependence on chemical fertilizers, pesticides,

and herbicides had become well known in agri-cultural production worldwide.

While modern farming techniques haveallowed for high crop yields and ensured a foodsurplus, some of those techniques have resultedin exposure to hazardous chemicals, depletedwater sources, and soil erosion. Additionally, theloss of genetic variation and crop variety frommonoculture practices and hybrid seeds maydisrupt natural ecosystems.

Food TodayDespite the lessons learned from the Dust Bowl,many unsustainable farming practices continuetoday. Whereas some would argue that intensivefarming techniques at odds with nature are nec-essary to produce food, others argue that farm-ing methods canand shouldbe in harmonywith natural processes. By examining each stageof food production, we see these two viewpoints

emerge again and again.

Starting with a SeedTactics to improve the amount and quality offood raised are not just applied to crops alreadygrowing in the field. People are also revolu-tionizing the seeds that will give rise to the

Genes from

Bt corn can

contaminate

non-Bt corn.

CIMMY

T


7/20

CASE STUDY Patenting Seeds


makes sense when you consider the time andresources a company puts into the process ofdeveloping a GMO.

On the FarmTurning seeds into edible plants is anage-old process; Mother Nature has donethis for thousands of years without help fromhumans. However, the development offarming techniques has allowed humans

A different set of concerns is related tolegal and economic issues presented by GMOs.In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in thecase of Diamondv. Chakrabartythat livingthings could be patented; prior to that time no

living organism was patented. The living thingin the Chakrabarty case was a microorganismengineered to eat oil to help clean up oil spills.The courts decision opened the door to otherGMOs being patented. Once an organism ispatented, no one other than the patent owneris allowed to create or sell that organism. That

Apatentis a set of rights granted by

a government to an inventor. Article

I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution

gives Congress the right to promote

the Progress of Science and useful

Arts, by securing for limited Times to

Authors and Inventors the exclusive

Right to their respective Writings and

Discoveries. When an inventor is

granted a patent for an invention, he

or she is given the right to excludeothers from making, using, or sell-

ing his/her invention for a certain

amount of time.

In the United States, patents

can apply to a newly developed

or discovered process, machine,

composition of matter, design for

a manufactured item, or variety of

plant. An invention or discovery must

be useful, new, and non-obvious in

order to be patented.

The ability to patent geneticmaterial has generated a lot of

controversy. One of the most famous

cases is a patent on basmati rice

lines. U.S.-based RiceTec, Inc. filed

for a patent on basmati rice variet-

ies in 1997. This outraged farmers,

advocates, and government offi-

cials in India, where basmati rice

has been grown for thousands of

years. Critics called the patent an

act of biopiracy, essentially a theft

of the collective knowledge of the

natural world. RiceTecs patent had

consequences not only for Indianfarmers who grew basmati rice, but

also for Indian traders and export-

ers. Because basmati rice is such

a significant component of Indias

culture, the RiceTec patent was seen

as a threat to Indias national heri-

tage. In response to protests from

India, RiceTec withdrew most of its

patents, including the right to refer

to their rice varieties as basmati.19

Patent law battles continue

to be fought in courtrooms today.

Suspicions of violating patent law

have led to a slew of lawsuits filedby large agricultural companies who

hold patents for seeds. For example,

in one case Monsanto success-

fully sued a farmer in Canada who

planted genetically modified canola

seeds without paying Monsanto

for them.20

Canola is used to making cooking oil.

ROLANDIREK


8/20

CASE STUDY Natural Systems Agriculture


when tilled, nutrient-rich topsoil is broken upinto smaller particles that can be carried awayby wind or water.

Herbicides, Pesticides, and FertilizersWhen thinking about how our food isgrown, tilling is not the only thing to consider.

to produce much more food in a given areaof land than what Mother Nature can do onher own. Some farming methods attempt tomimic natural processes in order to encour-age maximum plant growth without harming

environmental systems. Other farmingmethods seem to fight natural processes atevery step of the way.

TillageOn a modern farmone with diesel poweredmachinery and laboratory-developed tech-niquestillingthe soil is one of the first stepsto growing a crop. Soils are tilled for severalreasons: For one thing, tilling compact soils canbreak them up to make it easier for plant roots

to dig deeper into the ground as they grow. Foranother thing, tillage can incorporate left-overplant matter from previous harvests, whichreturns nutrients to soils. Also, some farmersuse tillage to interfere with weed growth andother unwanted pests.

Unfortunately, over time tillage can destroyhealthy soil. Tillage can rob soil of vital nutri-ents like carbon and nitrogen that help plantsto grow.21Tillage can also result in soil erosion;

Natural systems agriculture is just

what it sounds like: a method of

agriculture that is modeled after

natural systems. The Land Institute is

a nonprofit research and education

organization working to make natural

systems agriculture a reality on farms

around the world. The Land Instituteis located in Kansas, where prairie

ecosystems dominate. Land Institute

scientists look to processes seen in

native prairie ecosystems around

them to inform agricultural methods

including crop production, soil con-

servation, and nutrient cycling.

Long-lived perennial plants

(plants that live for multiple years)

predominate in the prairie, as

they do in most natural ecosystems.

Therefore, one aspect of The

Land Institutes research focuses

on breeding perennial grains.

While annual grains such as wheatand corn must be replanted each

year, perennial grains provide

food for several years in a row.

Planting perennial crops saves

resources and means fields can

be tilled less frequently than

with annuals.

Researchers at The Land Institute

and their colleagues across the United

States and the world have studied

perennial breeding in wheat, corn, rice,

sorghum, sunflower, and other species.

As one example, they are currently

working with hybrids of intermediate

wheatgrass (a naturally occurring peren-nial grain) and annual wheat. They work

with different hybrids in order to assess

useful traits in them like high seed yield

and survivability. The ideal perennial

wheat species would produce ample

grain and continue to produce high

yields year after year.

Tilling breaks up soil to make it easier for sprouts from newly planted

seeds to emerge.

KEITHWELLER


9/20


Agricultural chemicals do not only impactthe land and environmental resources theycome into contact with; they can also impactthe health of farm workers and people who livenear farms. According to the World Health

Organization, poisoning can result when toxicchemicalsincluding pesticides to kill weedsand insectsare released into soil, air, andwater. Long-term exposure to pesticides canlead to developmental and reproductive dis-orders, hormone disruption, nervous systemimpairment, and cancer.22

IrrigationWater is another important resource for agri-culture. Agricultural uses account for 75% of

worldwide water use, mainly for irrigation.23

While some fields are watered by rainfall,many farmers rely on aquifersto provideirrigation water. Aquifers are areas of porousrock belowground where water collects.Some people refer to them as fossil waterbecause water in aquifers has been there a verylong time. In many places aquifers are beingdepleted faster than they can recharge, or refill.In the United States about 50 billion gallonsof water per day are supplied to agriculture

from aquifers.24Overuse of aquifers can becostly. Water found deeper in the groundrequires more energy to pump to the surfaceand this process may destabilize land. Inaddition, when aquifers are depleted, ground-water-fed streams begin to dry up.

At the TableApproximately 60% of plant-based calories

consumed around the world are supplied byjust three crops: wheat, corn, and rice. Althoughthere are people in the world who sufferfrom hunger, the irony is that enough grain isproduced to provide every person in the worldwith over 3,000 calories per day.25

Not all of the cereal crops produced areconsumed directly. For example, did you knowthat only 1% of corn consumed worldwide

Some farmers and scientists argue that addi-tional chemicals (herbicides) will be neededto kill weeds so that crop seeds can get estab-lished. Others are finding ways to both reducetillage and eliminate use of agricultural

chemicals.The Green Revolution resulted in wide-

spread usage of chemical inputs such as fertil-izers and pesticides. Fertilizers are designedto quickly add nutrients including nitrogen,potassium, and phosphorous to the soil. Just aswe need nutrients to grow, so do plants. Thesenutrients cycle through ecosystems naturally.However, when humans alter natural cyclesduring farming, nutrients necessary for plantgrowth have to be applied from outside of the

system.Inorganic fertilizers created in factories

have been credited with greatly increasing cropyields around the world. However, there aretradeoffs involved in the worlds increasinglyheavy usage of and reliance on these fertilizers.They require large amounts of energy to createand they release greenhouse gas emissions thatcontribute to climate change.

The Green Revolution increased the use of fertilizers and pesticides.

SOLDEM2

|DREAMSTIME.C

OM


10/20


create pasture lands for cattle, ranchers arecutting down trees and burning forest lands.29As a result, the rainforest is shrinking in size.Deforestation and overgrazing by cattle alsoreleases greenhouse gases into the air, which

contribute to climate change.30

Intensive Rotational GrazingGrazing animals like cows and sheep can havesignificant impacts on rangelands. They eataboveground parts of plants, and their hoovescompact soils, making it difficult for plant rootsto grow. One technique that some ranchers useto minimize the impact that grazing animalshave on rangelands is called intensive rotationalgrazing.Instead of allowing animals to graze a

large pasture continuously, intensive rotationalgrazing only leaves animals in any given areafor a short time, sometimes just a few days.Then the animals are moved to a new area, andthe recently grazed area is allowed to recoverfor a long period of time. This helps to preventovergrazing (when all the plants in an area aregrazed so heavily that they cannot grow back)and soil erosion. Plus, it keeps livestock sup-plied with new plants to eat.

is actually eaten as whole or processed grain?Over 50% is used to feed livestock (mostlycattle, hogs, and chickens). Most of the restis consumed as starch or sweeteners, likecorn syrup.26

The portion of our global diet thatcomes from meat has been increasing overtime. While the average person in a developedcountry eats much more meat than a personin the developing world (80 kg or 176 lbs/person/year in developed countries, versus30 kg or 66 lbs/person/year in developingcountries), meat consumption is rising world-wide.27This is due to rising global incomes.Generally, when peoples incomes rise, theytend to consume more meat and dairy prod-

ucts.28

While rising incomes are certainlygood news for many people, the subsequentdemand for meat and dairy may have seriousimpacts on the environment.

Raising livestock requires tremendousenvironmental resources, including water andland. One of the worlds largest beef producersis Brazil, a country that is home to a large por-tion of the famous Amazon rainforest. Brazilexports more beef than any other country. To

Intensive

rotational

grazing

can prevent

overgrazing

and supply

livestock with

new plants

to eat.LAURAMATTHEWS


11/20


still exists all over the world. Hunger, orundernutrition, can stunt physical and mentaldevelopment; young children are especiallyat risk for long-term damage and death frommalnutrition.34

While hunger affects people in eventhe richest countries of the world, hungertends to affect greater numbers of people inless developed countries. As you may havealready guessed, hunger is not the result ofinsufficient global food production. Theproblem is really about regional and personalfood security.

According to the World Health Organiza-tion, food security results when all three of thefollowing conditions are satisfied:

1. Food is available 2. All people have access to it 3. Food can fulfill nutritional needs35

Food scarcity in different places is related to anumber of factors. While this chapter will notname every possible factor, some of the majorcauses of food insecurity are discussed here.

PovertyThe leading cause of hunger around the world

is poverty. Indeed, poverty and hunger seem tobe inseparable. In many cases, hunger within acountry is not simply a result of being withoutfood; it often occurs when people are not ableto afford the food being produced.

Perhaps you or your elders can remember atime when unemployment in your communityspiked. There may have been increased demandat local food banks and soup kitchens. Whentough economic times hit, there may be lessmoney for food. However, while some people

may cut back on extravagances like eating outin restaurants, the worlds poorest suffer mostseverely, experiencing hunger, malnutrition, andeven starvation.

The link between income and food seemssimple. If people do not grow their own food,they must pay for it. So why is it that some-times people cannot afford to buy food? Theanswer to this question is not as simple.

We Are What We EatWhat we eat impacts more than ourenvironment; it impacts our bodies, too.Malnutritionis the result of an imbalance ofnutrientseither from eating too little food,too much food, or the wrong kinds of food.While it is often thought of as with hunger,malnutrition can also refer to an excess ofnutrients that causes bodily harm.31Accordingto a research study done by the WorldwatchInstitute, nearly two billion adults around theworld are overweight.32About a quarter ofthose people are considered obese, meaningthey have an excessive amount of body fat.33Itsnot surprising that this trend has been linkedto another trend: a rise in preventable medicalproblems. Obesity has been linked to increasedrisk for medical conditions including diabetes,heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke.

Why Hunger Exists TodayBy now, you may be thinking that hunger isnot really a big problem in the world. After all,more food is grown than what would be needed

to sustain the worlds population, and manypeople consume so much food that they areactually overweight. The reality is hunger

Refugee camps such as this one in the Democratic Republic of

Congo can have scarce food resources.

UNHCR/S.S

CHULMAN


12/20


ing shifts in production that occurred duringcolonization and pressure from internationallending organizations, such as the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.When the IMF or the World Bank lendsmoney to a nation, the loan may come withspecific suggestions designed to encourage eco-nomic development within the country, includ-

ing shifting a countrys farming systems fromtraditional crops to exports that can be sold in aglobal market.37

When farmers do not grow food to be con-sumed within their own country, their liveli-hoods are at the mercy of international markets.For example, a farmer in Bangladesh may betempted by high prices to switch all of his ricefields to tobacco production. As a result, thatfarmer must rely on his income to eat. If theprice for tobacco exports falls, the farmer might

not be able to afford to feed his family.38

Geographic ConstraintsAny time there is a famine, geography is afactor to consider. It is not equally easy to growfood everywhere. Some regions may sufferfrom food scarcity due to drought and poor soilfor growing crops. For example, the Horn ofAfrica (the region of eastern Africa that includes

Povertyand the hunger that resultsiscaused by many interrelated factors. Just a feware described here.

Land ownership is one issue linked tohunger. In recent years, the world has seen aso-calledfarmland grabin which wealthiercountries (often those in the Middle East andAsia) seek land outside their borders in order to

produce food for their citizens. They typicallybuy land for very low prices in poor countries,where farmers may be completely unaware thata foreign country owns the community landthey farm. When foreign landowners use someof the best farmland in poor countries to growfood for export, the result is less food availablelocally and higher prices. The InternationalFood Policy Research Institute reported that15-20 million hectares (approximately 40-50million acres) of land in sub-Saharan Africa

were purchased by foreign investors between2006 and 2009.36

Another factor that can push people intopoverty and hunger is related to changes in theuse of agricultural land. Land may be divertedto non-productive uses (such as cash crops, liketobacco) or used to grow export crops ratherthan local staples for domestic consumption.There are various reasons for this, includ-

Foreign landowners

purchase farmland

in poorer countires

to grow food for

export, such as

tobacco here.BRANEX|DREAMSTIME.C

OM


13/20


Unsustainable Farming PracticesIn some places, food scarcity can be tracedto unsustainable farming practices. Soils thatwere once fertile can be depleted over time ifthey are not carefully managed. The Caribbeannation of Haiti is an example. Haiti once hadnutrient-rich soils, able to support the cultiva-tion of various crops, but those soils are nowlargely nutrient-depleted. Beginning with thearrival of Spanish and then French explorers,

forests in Haiti were cut down to grow cropssuch as sugar, coffee, and tobacco. Colonialexploitation had a lasting impact on Haitis for-ests and soils; it also re-shaped Haitian societythrough the import of African slaves to workcolonial plantations.

Even after Haitis independence in 1804,good farmland remained concentrated in thehands of a few wealthy landowners and peasantfarmers were pushed into hilly areas unsuitedfor intensive agriculture. Years of intense culti-

vation of crops such as maize, beans, and cas-sava on marginal lands combined with defor-estation for fuel wood has led to extreme soilerosion. Haitis inability to grow sufficient foodto sustain its population means the countryhas to rely on imports of staple crops, like riceimported from the United States. Not surpris-ingly, this means that Haitians are vulnerable toprice increases of so-called Miami rice.41

the countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea,Kenya, Somalia, the Sudan, and Uganda)includes much land area considered aridbecause it receives very little rainfall. This landis vulnerable to prolonged droughts. Althoughfarmers in the region can do some things toreduce risk of crop failure from drought, suchas staggering plantings throughout the growingseason, there is little they can do to avoid thedevastating impacts of a lengthy period with no

rain. It is possible that global climate changewill make weather in the region even moreunpredictable and farming that much moredifficult.39

Eastern Africa is not the only place whereconditions make agriculture difficult. Anotherregion that has a hot, dry climate is the MiddleEast. Some agriculture is possible in this cli-mate using irrigation, but much of the regionrelies on imported food. Whereas regionalpoverty makes it difficult for those in the Horn

of Africa to purchase imported food, strongeconomies and government subsidies allowmany people in the Middle East to purchasefood imports. In the Middle East and otherplaces where weather and geography limitpeoples ability to farm sustainably, food secu-rity may be gained through strengthening tradenetworks rather than increasing agriculturalproduction.40

A deforested hillside

in Haiti is vulnerable

to soil erosion. MELINDAMILES


14/20


tools and knowledge to maximize the landsproductivity. FARM-Africa seeks to turn thesituation around through programs that estab-lish wells to provide reliable sources of water,provide animal healthcare training, help farm-

ers research the crops best suited to the region,and identify alternate sources of income.43

Energy PricesPoverty, geography, farming practices, andconflict all influence the availability of food.Another factor related to hunger is the cost offood. There are many things that might influ-ence the price of food. Just think of all the thingsfood prices might depend onthe availabilityof water, the price of agricultural equipment, or

the cost of pesticides. Have you ever thoughtabout how much energy it takes to produce thefood that you eat, or how the price of a par-ticular source of energy could even be relatedto the price of food? A group called the GlobalRenewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) arguesthat the price of one source of energypetro-leum (a.k.a. oil)directly influences globalfood prices. When oil is cheap, food is cheap.But the steady climb in oil prices over the lastdecade has coupled with rising food prices.44

Political Instability and ConflictsFood scarcity can also result from unstable gov-ernment and conflict, whether within a singlecountry or between multiple countries. Oneplace where lengthy conflict has impacted food

security is the Republic of South Sudan. Priorto achieving statehood in 2011, South Sudanwas a part of the Northeast African countryof Sudan. Parties in north and south Sudanfought a civil war that lasted from 1983 untilpeace talks began in 2002 and a formal peaceagreement was signed in 2005.42

Although the majority of South Sudans landis suitable for farming, the long civil war devas-tated agricultural production. Millions of resi-dents were displaced from their homes and those

who stayed generally abandoned their fields toavoid being caught in violent raids and attacks.

A UK-based nonprofit organization,FARM-Africa, is working to help people inSouth Sudan as they return to their fields.According to FARM-Africa, over 80% ofSouth Sudanese make money by rearinglivestock and 50% grow crops. Livestock farm-ers struggle to maintain healthy herds due tolimited access to water, pasture, and veterinaryservices. Farmers who raise crops often lack the

South Sudan

has land suit-

able for farm-

ing, but civil

war devasted

its agriculture.

REDRAW??

JOHNWOLLWERTH|DREAMSTIME.C

OM


15/20

CASE STUDY How Much Oil Is in Your Ketchup?


improved food production in Africa. A studythat looked at the implications of biofuelinvestments in Tanzania, Kenya, Mozam-bique, Zambia, Mali, and Senegal suggests thatimproved management practices could triple

agricultural productivity and free up land forgrowing crops for biofuels.47

Pathways to Progress:FoodThere are many examples of positive workbeing done to increase the availability of foodaround the world and to grow food in a sus-tainable manner, from innovative farming

methods and government efforts to individualconsumption choices. Both personal and struc-tural solutions are important tools to ensurethat the worlds population has access to foodtoday and in the future.

Various agricultural processes involvedin growing, transporting, and processingfood traditionally depend on petroleum. Thebiggest need is for diesel fuel or gasoline tooperate agricultural machinery and run dis-

tribution trucks. In order to make global foodprices more predictable, GRFA advocates forusing renewable fuelsprimarily biofuelsthat are less susceptible to major economicswings.

Interestingly, some research suggests thathigher oil prices drive demand for biofuelalternatives (such as ethanol made from corn),which are often made from grain crops. Thatcreates competition with food crops; somecereals are raised to become biofuels rather

than food.45

In a sign of how interconnectedour world is, demand for corn-based ethanolin the U.S. has driven up food prices aroundthe world.46Yet other research suggests thatdemand for biofuels could be coupled with

A group of scientists at the SwedishInstitute for Food and Biotechnol-

ogy traced the lifecycle of one food

product: ketchup. They attempted

to catalog nearly every step in

creating ketchup, from growing

tomatoes to bottling the final prod-

uct. They counted 52 steps just for

the transportation and processing

used to turn tomatoes into that

tasty red condiment you know so

well. Before the ketchup reached

consumers in Sweden, it had loggedquite a few miles. The tomatoes

were grown and made into tomato

paste in Italy. The bags used to

store the tomato paste were made

in the Netherlands. Once the

tomato paste had been created, it

was then transported to Sweden.

The plastic bottles were made of

materials from Japan, Italy, Belgium,

the United States, and Denmark;

the bottle caps were made in

Denmark. Other petroleum-basedpackaging was used, including

plastic film.48

In the many steps to produce

ketchup, various forms of energy are

needed: electricity to process the

tomatoes into paste, fuel to trans-

port materials, petroleum to make

the plastic bottles, and even electric-

ity to run the refrigerator where

some people keep their ketchup.

The result is that a great amount of

energy goes into producing ketchup.It makes you wonder how much

energy we get back out of it. As it

turns out, the study found that it

took four times as much energy

to produce, transport, and store

ketchup as the energy you could get

from eating it.49

Scientists counted 52 steps in the

lifecycle of ketchup.

CHELSEACOOPER


16/20


While hydroponics and aquaponics maylook like they mean the same thing, there is oneimportant difference. Hydroponicsis the tech-nique used to grow plants using nutrient-richwater instead of soil.Aquaponicscombinesthat process with fish farming, incorporatingthe solid waste from the fish into the watersnutrients.

Aquaponics is a method for growing food

sustainably by turning waste into a resource.You would normally have to bring nutrients toplants in a hydroponic system, and you wouldhave to remove fish waste from an aquaculturesystem. Aquaponics allows nutrients to cycledirectly from the fish to the plants. The plantsthen help to filter the water, which can beresupplied to the fish.

Mark eventually got over the smellof the fish room. Our school is very differ-ent and we do this awesome stuff as part

of our normal routine, said Mark. Theschool also harvests and sells honey andwax candles from an on-campus apiary.Each school year, students harvest about200 pounds of honey. Learning aboutsustainable agriculture and aquaponics systemslike the one at CHSAS is not just a learningexercise; it helps prepare students for careersin agriculture.

On the Farm: SustainableFarming PracticesThere are countless methods for sustainingagricultural ecosystems so that they can con-

tinue to produce food well into the future. Forexample, growing species that are well suitedfor a regions soil and climate can reduce theneed for inputs like fertilizers and irrigation.Many researchers and farmers have found waysto preserve precious topsoil through reducedplowing and crop rotation. Incorporating spe-cies like legumes and even trees that contributenitrogen to soils can reduce the need for man-made fertilizers that produce greenhouse gases.Many of these strategies are not revolutionary

practices, although they may not be compat-ible with some of the more resource-intensivemethods that emerged during the GreenRevolution.

YOUTH PROFILE

Creative Nutrient Cyclingthrough Aquaponics

When Mark Banik was a freshman at ChicagoHigh School for Agricultural Sciences he wasan eager student, but he always avoided onearea of his school because of its strong smell.What he didnt know at the time was that itwas a crucial part of a sustainable agriculturesystem. Affectionately called the fish room,the space has three long soil beds (one plantedwith lettuce and two with basil) and four hugebreeding tanks filled with tilapias (a type offood fish). The tilapias excrete nutrient-rich

waste that travels to another tank called a clari-fier. Those nutrients are extracted and fed intothe soil beds to help the plants grow. The basilstalks take about two months to grow about10 inches tall before the tops are cut off andharvested.

Mark Banik demonstrates basil plants growing atop fish tanks at

Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences.


17/20


have to be aware of what youre buying, whichmeans asking questions.

One way to learn about how your food israised is to read the label. But the number oflabels on food items can be daunting: organic,

natural, wild-caught, locally-grown, hormone-free, grass-fed, cage-free, and on and on. Ifyou know how to decode them, these labelscan be helpful in identifying how your foodwas produced. For example, food that is certi-fied organic is grown largely without the aid ofmanufactured chemicals, typically used to killinsects and weeds. Beef that is grass-fed doesnot come from cows that were fattened at feedlots. Pastured chickens are raised outside ratherthan in large chicken houses. Beyond labels,

the best way to learn about where your foodcomes from is to meet the people who grow it.Shopping at a farmers market or even visiting alocal farm is a great opportunity to ask farmersquestions and to let them know what practicesare important to you.

Consumer Demand:Securing Regional Accessto Healthy FoodOne way to make sure that fresh food is avail-

able where you live is to support local farmersor even try growing your own food. While youmight be craving an avocado in the middleof winter, it might be less tempting when youconsider that it was grown halfway around theworld. That avocado would have to travel a lotof miles to reach you!

Becoming aware of where your food isgrown, how it is grown, and by whom is a criti-cal piece of sustaining food production systems.As a consumerwe all eat!you have a voice

in how you want your food to be produced.You can choose to buy seasonally appropriatefood grown by a farmer that lives just 100 milesfrom you. You can also choose to buy food thatwas grown according to environmental stan-dards that are important to you. But first you

Farmers mar-

kets can be a

source of local

and seasonal

foods. CHRISTINEZILKA


18/20

CAREER PROFILE Nonprofit Founder


Government Support:Subsidies to PromoteSustainability

Federal programs can support unsustainablepractices, or they can be designed to promotesustainable systems of food production. In theUnited States, a piece of legislation commonlyknown as the Farm Bill outlines how thefederal government will support particularagricultural programs in the country. Thebill authorizes direct payments to farmers.In theory, this maintains a farming industryin the United States and keeps food cheapfor consumers.

Another way to flex your consumer muscleis to help eliminate food deserts in your com-munity. Do you live in a neighborhood withouta grocery store or farmers market, where youcan only get food from a convenience store?

If so, you know what a food desert is like. Theterm food desert describes a neighborhoodwith high concentrations of people who are farfrom a source of fresh food, such as a grocerystore. If you want your neighborhood store tocarry more fresh fruits and vegetables, it prob-ably wont happen until you ask. You can makean even more compelling case by getting othersin your neighborhood on board and showinga local food retailer that lots of people will buyfresh foods if theyre available

Do you ever see things you want to

change about your community? If

you are committed to a cause, you

might create change by founding

your own nonprofit organization.

Although its called nonprofit, anonprofit organization still needs

funding to operate. A nonprofit

founder or director should enjoy net-

working with people and have good

communications skills to enable him

or her to sustain the organizations

work by writing grant proposals,

soliciting donations, and recruiting

volunteers. To run a nonprofit

organization, you also need to

have excellent management skills

to create and prioritize successfulprojects and to hire the right people

to run them. Community service

experiences can help you to see

how your skills and knowledge can

be applied to work in the nonprofit

sector. Internships with nonprofits

can teach you good management

practices for this particular arena

of business.

Katy Elliott wanted to connect

residents in her community withfarm-fresh food and to make sustain-

able living easy for people through

resources, education opportunities,

and strong community support.

Katy and two other women founded

their own nonprofit, the Arkansas

Sustainability Network (ASN), in

order to hold an expo for community

members to learn about sustain-

ability initiatives happening in

the state of Arkansas. What started

as a one-day expo has bloomed

into a multi-faceted social network:its a food club that connects farm-

ers with consumers, a bike co-op

where people can learn bicycle

maintenance, and an environmental

education program with a student-

run garden. ASNs Food Club

helps connect Arkansas farmers

directly with consumers who want

fresh, locally-grown food and allows

consumers to meet the people who

produce their food. If you want to

create change in your community,Katys advice is, start small,

and go for it! She suggests small,

incremental projects that you can

learn from and build on. Maybe

one day you, too, will find yourself

starting your own nonprofit

organization.

Katy Elliot with her husband


19/20

WHAT YOU CAN DO Food


example, subsidiesof corn without limits onproduction have led to a growing supply ofcheap corn and corn-derived products, suchas corn syrup. Corn is now included in nearlyevery kind of processed food you can think

of, from chewing gum to beef sticks.50

Butsubsidies dont always encourage unsustain-able practices; they can be designed for just theopposite outcome.

Federal subsidies for sustainable agricul-tural practices such as soil and water conser-vation programs allow more farmers to par-ticipate. Some specific examples are providedwithin the U.S. Farm Bill. The 2008 Farm Billincreased funding over the 2002 legislation fororganic programs, providing financial support

to farmers transitioning to organic methods.The Farm Bill also encourages school lunchprograms to purchase unprocessed locally-grown foods when possible. Another provisionof the bill is that low-income senior com-munity members can qualify to receive fresh,locally-grown foods.51

Over the years, U.S. farm bills have sup-ported some unsustainable practices, such asgrowing an excess of a particular crop. For

Food is something you consume every

day. Thinking about ways you can play a

role in addressing food issues? Consider

the following things you can do to get

involved:

n Know where your food comes from and

what ingredients are included in your

food

n If your grocery store doesnt carry the

healthy foods you and your communitywant, advocate on behalf of your

community

n Participate in local food drives

n Get involved with global campaigns to

fight hunger

Corn subsidies have led to an increased supply of cheap corn.

KARAKING

Local fruit sold at a Bolivian market

ERICHINSON|DREAMSTIME.C

OM


20/20

Should junk food advertising be banned?The debate on junk food advertising looks at how junk food ads impact parents and children.

While some believe ads easily influence children, others believe that parents ultimately have the final

decision and can say no to purchasing certain types of food.

Read the following perspectives below taken from the online debate forum, Debatepedia.

COUNTERPOINTPOINT

POINT

Yes52

n Children are swayed easily by advertisements to con-

sume junk food. Most children if they are convinced by

an advertisement will want to get the product, in this

case, junk food. Eating junk food causes obesity and

television advertising during childrens programs willjust convince innocent children that junk food is good.

Stopping these advertisements will help obesity and

lower childrens intake of unhealthy foods.

n Nearly half of U.S. middle and high schools allow

advertising of less healthy foods, which impacts

students ability to make healthy food choices. In

addition, foods high in total calories, sugars, salt,

and fat, and low in nutrients are highly advertised

and marketed through media targeted to children and

adolescents, while advertising for healthier foods is

almost nonexistent in comparison.53

COUNTERPOINT

No54

n Junk food advertising does not force parents to buy

the food. Just because the junk food is being adver-

tised does not mean that parents should buy it for their

children or give their children the money to buy it. It

is important to recognize that parents have the finalsay, and also are ultimately responsible for what their

children eat. It matters little, therefore, that children

might be swayed by advertisements. We should place

great onus of responsibility on parents, and if we are

concerned that they are buying junk food for their chil-

dren, we should attempt to address that problem. But

this has less to do with junk-food advertising and more

to do with informing the health decisions of parents.

n If we apply the principle of individual responsibility,

advertising is fine. It is important not to hold busi-

nesses and advertisers responsible for the choices ofindividual consumers. If a consumer wants to purchase

a good, the supplier should not be blamed for the con-

sumer finding their good attractive. We must maintain

the notion of individual responsibility, or people will

start blaming each other for their own bad choices.

Those who believe junk

food advertising should

be banned think that

children are too easily

swayed by ads. Do you

think this is true?MONKEYBUSINESSIMAGES|DREA

MSTIME.C

OM

food lessons- student

Documents