History of food vocabulary

Question 1

Agriculture

Answer 1

the production of food and goods through farming

Question 2

Calorie

Answer 2

A measure of energy. Dietary calories refer to the amount of energy available in food or the amount
of energy the body uses. People expend calories during breathing, pumping blood, digesting food,
exercise and other activities; excess calories are generally stored as fat.

Question 3

What is Economies of scale

Answer 3

The gain in efficiency that comes with doing something on a larger scale, such as mass production
or buying in bulk.

Question 4

What is Ecosystem ?

Answer 4

A community of organisms interacting with each other and with their physical environment.

Question 5

What is Equity?

Answer 5

Justice, fairness or freedom from bias.

Question 6

What is Climate?

Answer 6

The temperature, precipitation, humidity and other weather conditions over a long period of time.
Climate is a major factor in what crops can be grown in a region.

Question 7

What is Externality?

Answer 7

A side effect of providing a product or service that is not reflected in its price. The price of animal
products produced in an industrial system, for example, does not reflect the health and
environmental costs to society. Externalities can be positive (benefits) or negative (costs). External
costs are also called hidden costs.

Question 8

What is Feedlot?

Answer 8

Confined outdoor facilities where cattle and other animals are housed and fed before slaughter.
Large feedlots are a type of confined animal feeding operation (CAFO).

Question 9

What is Fertilizer?

Answer 9

Materials spread on soil to increase its capacity to promote plant growth. Common fertilizers
include animal manure, compost, synthetic (human-made) chemicals and certain minerals.

Question 10

What is Food Processing?

Answer 10

The practices used by food industries to transform raw plant and animal materials, such as grains,
produce, meat and dairy, into products for consumers.2-4 Examples include freezing vegetables, milling wheat into flour and frying potato chips. Slaughtering animals is sometimes considered a form of food processing.

Question 11

Industry concentration

Answer 11

The extent to which a small number of corporations control most of the sales in an industry. Greater
industry concentration means that fewer corporations control the majority of sales.5 For example, the U.S. beef slaughtering, processing, packaging and distribution industries are highly
concentrated; over 80 percent of these industries is owned by just four corporations.

Question 12

What is Industry consolidation?

Answer 12

The shift toward fewer and larger facilities.5 The historic trend toward fewer and larger farms is an
example of consolidation in the food system.

Question 13

What is Irrigation

Answer 13

Human-made means of delivering freshwater to agricultural fields. Irrigation techniques include
the use of flooding, canals, sprinklers and drip tape (hose with small holes that release water slowly
over time).

Question 14

What is Manure?

Answer 14

Animal excrement used to fertilize land.

Question 15

What is Mechanization?

Answer 15

The replacement of animal and human labor with machinery. In the food system, routine tasks such
as sowing seeds and harvesting crops are often mechanized.7

Question 16

What is Monoculture?

Answer 16

Fields planted with a single crop species over a given season, typically over a very large area.8,9
Industrialized U.S. crop production is characterized by highly specialized, genetically uniform corn
and soybean monocultures

Question 17

What is Nutrient?

Answer 17

A substance used by an organism for energy, growth or maintenance. Plants, for example, require nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and other chemicals—in addition to water and sunlight—in order to grow and survive. See dietary nutrient.

Question 18

What is Pasture?

Answer 18

Land covered with grasses and other plants suitable for grazing animals.

Question 19

What is Pest?

Answer 19

Any organism that threatens human interests. Common pests in agriculture include certain plants
(weeds), insects, fungi, rodents, bacteria and other organisms that can kill crops or interfere with
their growth.11,12

Question 20

What is Pesticide?

Answer 20

Substances intended to repel, kill or control any species deemed a pest. Types of pesticides include
herbicides, insecticides and fungicides.

Question 21

What is Plow?

Answer 21

A tool used by farmers to turn over the top layer of soil. Plowing buries weeds and residues from
prior crops, brings nutrients to the surface and loosens soil for planting. Traditionally, animals
such as oxen were used to pull plows; tractors are more commonly used today. Plowing can be a
major contributor to soil erosion. See Dust Bowl.

Question 22

What is Soil?

Answer 22

The top layer of the earth’s surface. Fertile soil aids plant growth by providing root support and
serving as a reservoir of air, water and nutrients. It is home to countless organisms—many of them
beneficial—including bacteria, arthropods, earthworms, fungi, nematodes and protozoa.14

Question 23

What is Soil Erosion

Answer 23

The removal of soil from the ground by wind, water and other forces. Erosion contributes to the
loss of soil’s fertility.

Question 24

What is Supply Chain?

Answer 24

The people, activities and resources involved in getting food from farms, ranches, rivers, oceans and other sources to consumers’ plates. Major stages along the supply chain include production,
processing, distribution, retail and consumption. The term food system sometimes refers to the
supply chain.

Question 25

What is Vertical Integration?

Answer 25

The extent to which a single company controls multiple successive stages along the supply chain of
a product.15 For example, the top pork producer and processor in the United States owns the rights
to raise a particular breed of hogs, oversees how the animals are raised, slaughters them, processes
their meat and markets the finished pork products.