Handout 8 - The human food supply - Test 2 Flashcards
Who is Thomas Malthus and why has his prediction not yet happened?
He posed the question of balance between resources and population. Malthus did not believe that preventive checks could control population growth. He pointed to high birth rates among the poor as evidence. Therefore, he predicted that the future of humankind would consist of endless cycles of war, pestilence, and famine.
The increasing productivity of agriculture on a global level is the main argument against Malthus’s prediction that population growth would outpace the food supply.
What is Neo-Malthusianism?
people who share Malthus’s pessimism are called this
What is the Green Revolution in northern India?
Large increase in crop production in developing countries achieved by the use of fertilizers pesticides and high yield varieties
What are genetically-modified organisms (GMOs)?
The result of joining the DNA of two organisms to produce a recombinant (or “recombined”) DNA that is then introduced into another organisms, thus permanently changing the genetic makeup of that organism and its descendants
What are Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)?
agricultural facilities where animals are kept and raised in confined situations.
What are subsidies?
financial aid or support that governments or firms provide to help individuals, organizations or enterprises that benefit the public or promote a social good or an economic policy
What are aquaculture?
The caring of aquatic animals or the cultivation of aquatic plants for food.
What are the different kinds of agricultural practices throughout the world
nomadic herding
low-technology subsistence farming
intensive rice farming
Asian mixed cereals and pulses
mixed farming with livestock
prairie cereal farming
ranching
Mediterranean agriculture
plantation farming
What is nomadic hearding?
one of the most ancient forms of herding. Nomadic herders roam in small tribal or extended family groups and have no home base. Nomads live in arid and semiarid parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe, and in the tundra regions of Asia and Europe. In Africa, nomads herd cattle, goats, sheep, and camels.
What is low-technology subsistence farming?
Subsistence farms usually consist of no more than a few acres, and farm technology tends to be primitive and of low yield.
What is intensive rice farming?
is a farming methodology that aims to increase the yield of rice while using fewer resources and reducing environmental impacts.
What is Asian mixed cereals and pulses?
These crops are common where the climate cannot support wet rice. Wheat is an important crop here, followed by barley, the world’s fourth most important crop. Barley has the shortest growing season of all cereals and can begrown farther north, at higher altitudes, and in more arid regions than any other cereal. Pulses include beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, soybeans, and carob, are rich in protein, and may form the principal source of dietary protein in poor regions or in regions where religious belief prohibits the consumption of meat. In China and Japan, tofu, made from soybeans, is a major food source.
What is mixed farming with livestock?
This type of agriculture has an intensity of land use that is somewhere between intensive rice and extensive ranching. It is usually a commercial undertaking and most of the crops are fed to animals rather than consumed directly by humans. The dominant crops are maize, soybeans, and hay, which are harvested after the summer and stored as animal feed for the winter. Livestock products bring income throughout the year. Mixed farming is the dominant form of agriculture in much of the world today because it is enormously productive. Maize production in the United States represented 36% of world total production in 2007; soybeans grown in the United States also accounted for 32% of the world total of that crop.
What is prairie cereal farming?
Crops on commercial grain farms are grown primarily for consumption by humans rather than by livestock ( 9-14c). Large-scale commercial grain production is found in only a few regions that are too dry for mixed crops and livestock. Wheat is today the most important cereal in world food production. It supplies about 20% of the total calorie consumption of the human species and provides a staple for over one-third of the world’s population. The protein content varies between 8% and 15%. Different wheat varieties are used for a variety of foods, such as bread flour, pasta, and bran.
What is ranching?
Ranching is the commercial grazing of livestock over extensive areas. It is best suited to arid or semiarid land, where the soil is too poor to support crops. Cattle raised on ranches are frequently sent for fattening to farms or to local feedlots before being moved to meat processors.
