Unit 3 Flashcards
How many hunger deaths are cause by famine?
Fewer than 10%
What is starvation?
Extreme hunger that occurs over a long period of time
What is malnutrition?
A medical condition from poor health cause by a diet of too little or too much nutrition
What is chronic hunger?
A decrease in food supply because of an inability to earn enough money or grow enough food
How many hunger deaths are cause by chronic hunger?
Over 90%
What started the green revolution?
1943 - Rockefeller foundation set up a research group to develop more productive varieties of wheat that could help feed the growing population of Mexico
Who headed the Rockefeller project? What year did he win the Nobel Peace Prize?
Dr. Norman Borloug, 1950
What did Dr. borloug create?
High-yield varieties (HYV)
- Dwarf plants - focused energy on
seeds and not inedible parts
(stems)
- respond better to fertilizers
- grew faster - more than one crop
per yearWhat were the successes from the high-yield varieties?
World grain production increased
Rice and wheat prices dropped
Developing countries focused on social issues instead of food issues
Helped preserve rain forsests
What were some concerns of the Rockefeller projects?
Wealthy farmers benefited because they could afford special fertilizers
Loss of genetic diversity
Soil loss ability to grow food after multiple harvests
Small farmers lost their jobs
Developed countries benefited by selling pesticides
What is biotechnology with regards to food?
The application of biological processes to creat GMOs to increase food production
Explain the concerns of GMOs.
- super bugs (immune to pesticides)
- its new, so unknown long term side effects
- GMO seeds lose ability to product crops in the log term
- “terminator seed” gene could escape and devastate the gene population
What percentage of Canadian farmers
Grow food organically?
1.5%
What are the pros of of organic farming?
No pesticides, GMOs or herbicides are used
What are the cons of organic farming?
- more expensive, so less affordable
- use of manure could lead to water contamination
- need bigger pieces of land to create lower crop yields
Whats a locavore?
An individual that only eats foods that has been grown locally
What is a freegan?
A person who eats only what other people throw out
What is monoculture?
Growing one crop of large plots of land because it is more profitable and efficent
What are the negatives of monoculture?
Heavy reliance on pesticides, loss of biodiversity, habitat destruction
What is colonialism?
Europe colonizing the world
What is the Mercantile System?
Colonies provided natural resources to European countries to put on sale
What are examples of biotechnology in real life?
Enviropig - doesn’t let off greenhouse gases
Franken Fish- grows extremely large to produce more food
What is neo-colonialism? How can it use foreign aid?
- Developed after WWII
- strong counties dominate weak country by using money and trade
- country gives foreign aid to manipulate them (i.e. WTO giving Madagascar money to not cut down the rain forests and set-up reserves)
What is keynesian economics? Give examples
The government has to prevent unemployment during hard times by increasing spending
I.e. Roosevelt’s New Deal, Harper’s Canada Action Plan, Obama’s Stimulus package
What are the three economic systems?
Free market, mixed market, command market
What is neoliberalism? Who created it?
Promotes free market and minimal government intervention (privatization of crown corporations)
Created by adam smith - founder of modern economics
What is keynesian economics also known as?
Progressive thought
What is the Global 500?
Largest 500 companies in the world published by Forbes Magazine each year
What is captialization?
The total value of a country’s stock
What are the BRIC nations?
Brazil, India, Russia, China
What is free trade?
Trade without restriction
What is the WTO?
- form in 1995
- promotes free trade
Whats the FTAA?
- free trade agreement of the americas
- proposed free trade agreement of every country in the americas except Cuba
what is APEC?
- asian-pacific economic cooperation
- an organization of pacific-rim countries
- free trade agreement has been proposed
What is the Doha Round?
- trade meetings of the WTO that begun in 2001
- focused on economic globalization
What is the EU?
FTA formed in 1992 That has its own rapid-response military forced
What is the history behind NAFTA?
1989 - Canada and Amercia had FTA
1992 - mexico joined, turned into NAFTA
What countries does Canada have bilateral FTAs with?
Chile, Costa Rica, Israel
What are multinational corporations?
Influential corporations that operate in 2+ countries
Also known as transnational companies
What was the first multinational corporation?
Knights Templar in the 12th century
What are the pros of multinational corporations?
Lower prices, CSR, employment in developing countries, innovation, economic boost, greater product variety
What are the cons of multinational corporations?
Outsourcing, abasement of foreign workers, abundance of power, environmental exploitation
How is foreign aid given?
ODA (official developmental aid)
- aid by gov
PDA (public developmental aid)
- aid by non-government organizations
How do NGOs get funding?
- Donations from individuals
- Foundations set-up by rich people
- Government donations
What is bilateral aid?
Money that goes from government to goverment
What is multilateral aid
Money that goes to an NGO who uses it to pay for programs in other countries
Why do donors provide assistance through aid?
Historical, religious, political, and cultural motives
What is famine?
Severe short term shortage of food cause by temporary failure of food
Productions or transportation that leads to starvation
How did the international debt crisis happen?
- Loans not Grants
o Martial plan – Americans gave money to poor countries to not turn communist
o 1957 – US switches to loans instead of grants - Rising Oil Prices
o 1970s – OPEC forms and oil prices increase rapidly - Glut of “Petro”dollars
o Banks willing to lends lots of money in order to pay interest back to rich oil countries - High Inflation
o Developing countries now need to pay more interest
o Makes it harder to pay principal - Falling Commodity Prices
o Reduce countries’ ability to repay loans - Declining Exchange ate
- Poor Leadership / Corruption
- Trade Inequalities
- Lack of Control
What is the Gini index?
measures income disparity
What are the major levels of the Gini Index?
0 - evenly distributed
0.40 – warning level
1 – one person owns all
What is income redistribution?
Taxing the people and distributing it among the citizens
