Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Environmental Systems > Terrestrial food production systems and food choices > Flashcards

Terrestrial food production systems and food choices Flashcards

1
Q

Characteristics of subsistence farming

A
  • provision of food by farmers for their own families // local community (no surplus)
  • usually mixed crops are planted
  • human labour
  • low inputs of energy in form of fossil fuels // chemicals
  • low capital input
  • low technology
  • subsistence farmers unlikely to produce more than they need so vulnerable to food shortages
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is cash cropping?

A

Growing crops for the market, not to eat yourself

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Characteristics of commercial farming

A
  • large, profit-making scale
  • maximising yields per hectare
  • often monoculture
  • high levels of technology, energy + chemical input
  • corresponding high outputs
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is extensive farming

A
  • uses more land
  • lower density of stocking // planting
  • lower inputs + corresponding outputs
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is intensive farming

A
  • uses land more intensively
  • high levels of input + output per unit area
  • eg animal feedlots
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What is pastoral farming

A

raising animals, usually on grass and on land that is not suitable for crops

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What is arable farming

A

growing crops on good soils to eat directly or to feed animals

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What is mixed farming

A
  • has both crops and animals
  • is a system in itself
  • animal waste is used to fertilise crops + improve soil structure
  • some crops are fed to the animals
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

How many people in the world suffer from undernourishment?

A

925 million

98% of these are in Asia, Africa or Oceania
200 million are children

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What percentage of total land area in Africa is cultivated

A

only 7%

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Increase in world pop. vs increase in food production

A
  • human pop. has increased by 70% in last 30 years

- world food production has increased by 17%

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

How does climate affect the food that we grow and eat?

A
  • climate + local ecological conditions determine what we grow where on earth
  • we adapt this through irrigation + greenhouses to artificially alter the climate
  • but most plants are grown w/o this
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

How does culture+religion affect the food that we grow and eat?

A
  • some religious proscribe certain foods

eg. Muslims + Jews won’t eat pork
eg. Hindus dont eat beef

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

How does politics affect the food that we grow and eat?

A

governments can subsidise // put tariffs on some foods to encourage // discourage their production

e.g. the EU manipulates production in this way

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

How does socio-economics affect the food that we grow and eat?

A

Market forces determine supply + demand in a free-market economy

eg if there is a short supply of almonds and prices rise, farmers may go into this crop, supply increases, prices fall + then they may stop growing it

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Why could the World Food Programme only buy half as much food in 2008 as in 2007 with the same money?

A
  • wheat + soya, rapeseed + palm oil prices spiked
  • biofuels are one of the reasons for this as farmers get subsidies for growing them so do not put their crops into the food chain
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

How many calories of food are available each day for every human on the planet?

A

2,790

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Why are people beginning to doubt that technology, efficiency + innovation will continue to allow us to feed a growing population?

A

As we adapt more and more of the NPP on earth to human needs, use and degrade more land, demand more meat, we must be reaching the limits of growth

As the human pop increases, there s a fall in grain produced per capita

19
Q

Why are livestock useful in our consumption?

A

useful means of converting plant material unsuitable for human digestion (grass) into valued protein

20
Q

How does crop rotation address loss of soil fertility after harvesting?

A

Leguminous crops (soya beans, peas, beans) add nitrogen to the soil so may be grown every fourth year, in a rotation w other crops

21
Q

Palm oil in SE Asia

A
  • indigenous to West Africa + Central America but imported to SE Asia in early 1900s
  • 85% of all palm oil globally produced + exported is from Malaysia + Indonesia
22
Q

What is palm oil used for ?

A
  • cooking oil + margarine
  • processed foods; chocolate, bread, crisps
  • cosmetics, soaps
  • lubricants
  • biofuel
23
Q

Disadvantages of palm oil in Malaysia + Indonesia

A
  • 87% of deforestation in Malaysia between 1985 and 2000 was caused by new oil palm plantations
  • Oil palm plantations have been directly responsible for the destruction of 10 million ha of Indonesian rainforest
  • These forests were some of the most important biodiversity hot-spots in the world, - Their destruction has resulted in the widespread loss of thousands of species of flora and fauna.
24
Q

Benefits of palm oil plantations

A
  • providing employment + exports

- growing a few oil palms can bring an income for a subsistence farmer

25
Q

How does the quality of energy vary between food products?

A
  • Fats + proteins contain more energy content per gram than carbohydrates
  • You need to eat less meat + fish than cereals to get the same amount of energy
  • Higher energy content food costs less to transport as it has lower volume
26
Q

What is the grain equivalent?

A

The quantity of wheat grain that would have to be used to produce 1kg of that product

27
Q

Traditional, extensive rice production in Kalimantan, Borneo

A
  • low inputs of energy + chemicals
  • high labour intensity
  • low productivity
  • all energy added in form of labour + seeds
  • rice yield = quite low but
  • energy efficiency = high
  • as no fertilisers + pesticides used, no pollution
28
Q

Intensive rice production, California

A
  • high inputs of energy + chemicals
  • low labour intensity
  • high productivity
  • energy inputs in form of diesel // petrol, not labour
  • large amounts of fertiliser (N, P) + pesticides used
  • rice yield = high but
  • energy efficiency = low
  • excess fertilisers + pesticides -> pollution
29
Q

Name 5 characteristics of traditional extensive agriculture

A
  • Limited selective breeding
  • No genetically modified organisms
  • Polyculture
  • Small effect on biodiversity
  • Little soil erosion
30
Q

Name 5 characteristics of intensive agriculture

A
  • Strong selective breeding
  • Genetically modified organisms
  • Monoculture
  • Reduction in biodiversity
  • Strong soil erosion
31
Q

Are terrestrial food production systems efficient?

A
  • Food harvested at first (crops) or second trophic level (meat tends to originate from primary consumers eg cows)
  • This means they make efficient use of solar energy
  • But terrestrial animals have more energy tied up in their skeletons as they have to support themselves on land
32
Q

Are aquatic food production systems efficient?

A
  • most food comes from higher trophic levels
  • fish (for food) tend to be carnivorous + at trophic level 4 or higher
  • so energy efficiency is lower than terrestrial
  • initial intake of solar energy less efficient due to absorption + reflection of sunlight by water
  • energy losses in form of heat higher in water than on land
  • but energy conversions along food chain more efficient in aquatic
33
Q

4 factors that contribute to the decrease in agricultural land

A
  • soil erosion
  • salinisation
  • desertification
  • urbanisation
34
Q

What is the difference between food waste in LEDCs and MEDCs?

A

LEDCs

  • food waste mostly in production + storage
  • e.g. no refrigeration, severe weather

MEDCs

  • food waste mostly in consumption
  • e.g. consumers buying more food than they need + letting it go off
  • e.g. supermarkets having too strict standards (round apples etc…)
35
Q

How can monitoring and control help improve sustainability of food supplies?

A
  • governments regulating imports + exports for unsustainable farming practices
  • multinational food corporations raising standards on their supplier farms
  • NGOs
36
Q

How can we change our attitudes towards food + our diets to help improve sustainability of food supplies?

A
  • eat different crops
  • eat less meat
  • improve education about food
  • eat more insects (high protein source that reproduces rapidly + in large numbers)
37
Q

Name 6 predictions made by the FAO on food supply by 2030

A
  • Human pop. will grow to 8billion,
  • In LEDCs consumption will increase + have to import cereals
  • Per capita calorie consumption will rise from 2,800 to 3000
  • GM crops, soil conservation methods… will increase productivity
  • More people will eat more meat
  • An extra billion tonnes of cereal will need to be grown
38
Q

If we all at organic food, could we produce enough food?

A

no

39
Q

Why is Kenya’s bean industry very environmentally cost efficient?

A

Beans are grown

  • using manual labour (no fossil fuels)
  • using organic fertiliser from cows
  • w low-irrigation schemes

It costs more in carbon emissions to drive 6.5 miles to a supermarket than flying a packet of beans from Kenya to that supermarket

40
Q

How are crops genetically modified?

A

GM crops have DNA of one species inserted into the crop species to form a transgenic plant

41
Q

What is the EU’s Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) ?

A
  • 40% of EU’s budget goes towards CAP
  • farmers are guaranteed a price for their produce
  • aims are to ensure productivity, give farmers a reasonable standard of living, allow food stocks to be secured
42
Q

What is problem with the EU’s CAP?

A
  • accused of keeping food prices artificially high
  • accused of being protectionist - keeping products from other countries out of the EU to benefit the 5% of Europeans who work in agriculture
43
Q

Give a success story of GM crops in India

A
  • In India, the IR8 variety of rice gave 5x the yield of older varieties w no added fertiliser
  • This led to a fall in cost of rice + India exporting the surplus

Environmental Systems (30 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions