1. How can we produce food more sustainably ?
1.1. Nature Controls the Populations of Most Pests
1.1.1. Nature Controls the Populations of Most Pests
1.1.1.1. interferes with human welfare by competing with us for food, invading our homes, lawns, or gardens, destroying building materials, spreading disease, invading ecosystems, or simply being a nuisance.
1.1.1.2. Pesticides vary in their persistence
1.1.1.2.1. the length of time they remain deadly in the environmen
1.1.2. We Use Pesticides to Help Control Pest Populations
1.1.2.1. pesticides - chemicals used to kill or control populations of organisms that we consider undesirable
1.1.2.1.1. to create biopesticides to kill some pests
1.1.2.2. Some synthetic pesticides, called broad-spectrum agents, are toxic to beneficial species as well as to pests
1.1.2.2.1. called selective, or narrow-spectrum, agents, are each effective against a narrowly defined group of organisms
1.1.3. Synthetic Pesticides Provide Several Benefits
1.1.3.1. They have saved human lives
1.1.3.2. They can increase food supplies by reducing food losses due to pests.
1.1.3.3. They can help farmers to increase their profits.
1.1.3.4. They work fast. Pesticides control most pests quickly, have a long shelf life, and are easily shipped and applied.
1.1.3.5. When used properly, the health risks of some pesticides are very low, relative to their benefits, according to some scientific studies.
1.1.3.6. Newer pesticides are safer to use and more effective than many older ones.
1.1.4. Synthetic Pesticides Have Several Drawbacks
1.1.4.1. They accelerate the development of genetic resistance to pesticides in pest organisms
1.1.4.2. They can put farmers on a financial treadmill
1.1.4.3. Some insecticides kill natural predators and parasites that help to control the pest populations
1.1.4.4. Pesticides are usually applied inefficiently and often pollute the environment.
1.1.4.5. Some pesticides harm wildlife
1.1.4.6. Some pesticides threaten human health.
2. How can we improve food security ?
2.1. Improving food security by reducing poverty and chronic malnutrition, producing food more sustainably, relying more on locally grown food, and cutting food waste.
2.2. Use Government Policies to Improve Food Production and Security
2.2.1. Whether farmers have a good or bad year depends on factors over which they have little control, including weather, crop prices, pests and diseases, interest rates on loans, and global food markets.
2.2.2. Governments use two main approaches to influence food production
2.2.2.1. control food prices by putting a legally mandated upper limit on them in order to keep them artificially low.
2.2.2.2. provide subsidies by giving farmers price support, tax breaks, and other financial support to help them stay in business and to encourage them to increase food production
2.3. Other Government and Private Programs Are Increasing Food Security
2.3.1. Studies by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) indicate that ½ to ⅔ of nutrition-related childhood deaths could be prevented at an average annual cost of $5–$10 per child.
2.3.2. Growing Power’s Will Allen argues that instead of trying to transfer complex technologies such as genetic engineering to less-developed countries, we should be helping them to develop simple, sustainable, local food production and distribution systems that will give them more control over their food security.
2.3.3. Sustainable agriculturalists and National Geographic Emerging Explorers Cid Simones and Paola Segura work with small farmers to show them how to grow food more sustainably on small plots in the tropical forests of Brazil.
2.3.4. In return, each family must teach five other families and thus help to spread more sustainable farming methods.
2.3.5. Another person who is working toward this goal in Africa is National Geographic Explorer Jennifer Burney
2.4. We Can Grow and Buy More Food Locally and Cut Food Waste
2.4.1. One way to increase food security is to grow more of our food locally or regionally, ideally with certified organic farming practices
2.4.2. In addition, many people are participating in community supported agriculture (CSA) programs in which they buy shares of a local farmer’s crop and receive a box of fruits or vegetables each week during the summer and fall.
2.4.3. Such eco-farming could be one of this century’s challenging new careers for many young people.
2.4.4. GREEN CAREER: Small-scale sustainable agriculture
2.4.5. According to the USDA, around 15% of the world’s food is grown in urban areas, and this percentage could easily be doubled.
2.4.6. It would have rooftop solar panels for generating electricity, and the building would capture and recycle rainwater for irrigating its wide diversity of crops.
3. How can we protect crops from pests more sustainably ?
3.1. Producing food more sustainably by using resources more efficiently, sharply decreasing the harmful environmental effects of industrialized food production, and eliminating government subsidies that promote such harmful impacts.
3.2. Many Farmers Are Reducing Soil Erosion
3.2.1. Land used for food production must have fertile topsoil, which takes hundreds of years to form.
3.2.2. sharply reducing topsoil erosion is the single most important component of more sustainable agriculture and one of the most important ways to increase our beneficial environmental impact.
3.2.3. The cover crop traps topsoil that erodes from the row crop and catches and reduces water runoff
3.2.4. Alley cropping, or agroforestry, is another way to slow the erosion of topsoil and to maintain soil fertility.
3.2.5. This reduces water loss by evaporation and helps retain and slowly release soil moisture.
3.2.6. The USDA estimates that by using conservation tillage on 80% of U.S. cropland, farmers could reduce topsoil erosion by at least 50%.
3.3. CASE STUDY: Soil Erosion in the United States
3.3.1. We Can Restore Soil Fertility
3.3.1.1. The best way to maintain soil fertility is through topsoil conservation, especially through methods that keep topsoil covered with vegetation.
3.3.1.2. green manure, consists of freshly cut or growing green vegetation that is plowed into the topsoil to increase the organic matter and humus available to the next crop
3.3.1.3. compost, produced when microorganisms break down organic matter such as leaves, crop residues, food wastes, paper, and wood in the presence of oxygen.
3.3.1.4. Crop rotation is one way to reduce such losses.
3.3.1.5. The use of these products has grown more than ninefold since 1950, and it now accounts for about 25% of the world’s crop yield.
3.3.1.6. While these fertilizers can replace depleted inorganic nutrients, they do not replace organic matter.
3.3.2. We Can Reduce Soil Salinization and Desertification
3.3.2.1. The problem is that most of these solutions are costly
3.3.2.2. We cannot control the timing and location of prolonged droughts caused by changes in weather and climate patterns.
3.3.2.3. We can also work to decrease the human contribution to projected climate change, which could increase the severity of droughts in larger areas of the world during this century.
3.3.2.4. It is possible to restore land suffering from desertification by planting trees and other plants that anchor topsoil and hold water
3.3.3. Some Producers Practice More Sustainable Aquaculture
3.3.3.1. The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) has developed aquaculture sustainability standards, but it has certified only about 4.6% of the world’s aquaculture production operations.
3.3.3.2. In the long run, making aquaculture more sustainable will require some fundamental changes for producers and consumers.
3.3.3.3. One change is for more consumers to choose fish species that eat algae and other vegetation rather than other fish.
3.3.3.4. Aquaculture producers can avoid this problem by raising plant-eating fishes such as carp, tilapia, and catfish, as long as they do not try to increase yields by feeding fishmeal to such species, as many of them are doing.
3.3.3.5. One advocate of sustainable seafood consumption is Barton Seaver, a conservationist and National Geographic Fellow.
3.3.4. We Can Produce Meat and Dairy Products More Efficiently
3.3.4.1. A more sustainable form of meat production and consumption would involve shifting from less grain-efficient forms of animal protein, such as beef, pork, and carnivorous fish produced by aquaculture, to more grain-efficient forms, such as poultry and plant-eating farmed fish. A growing number of people have one or two meatless days per week.
3.3.4.2. According to agricultural science writer Michael Pollan, if all Americans picked one day per week to have no meat, the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions would be equivalent to taking 30 to 40 million cars off the road for a year.
3.3.5. We Can Make a Shift to More Sustainable Food Production
3.3.5.1. Modern industrialized food production has yielded huge amounts of food at affordable prices, but to a growing number of analysts, it is unsustainable, because it violates the three scientific principles of sustainability.
3.3.5.2. It relies heavily on the use of fossil fuels and thus adds greenhouse gasses and other air pollutants to the atmosphere and contributes to climate change.
3.3.5.3. Many experts support a shift to organic farming because it sharply reduces the harmful environmental and health effects of industrialized farming, improves the condition of topsoil, and reduces pollution of air and water.
3.3.5.4. Another important component of more sustainable agriculture would be to rely less on conventional monoculture and more on organic polyculture.
3.3.5.5. Another key to developing more sustainable agriculture is to shift from using fossil fuels to relying more on renewable energy for food production- an important application of the solar energy principle of sustainability that has been well demonstrated by the Growing Power farm.
3.3.5.6. You could also grow some of your own food- channeling your inner farmer and getting your hands dirty by raising some organic vegetables in your backyard, in a window box, or in a shared neighborhood garden.
4. What is food security and why is it difficult to attain ?
4.1. Define food security and food insecurity.
4.1.1. Food security
4.1.1.1. the condition under which all or most of the people in a population have daily access to enough nutritious food to live active and healthy lives.
4.1.2. Food insecurity
4.1.2.1. living with chronic hunger and poor nutrition, which threatens their ability to lead healthy and productive lives.
4.2. The root cause of food insecurity
4.2.1. Poverty
4.2.1.1. poor people from growing or buying enough food to meet their needs, they chronic hunger don’t get enough vitamins and minerals.
4.2.2. Other obstacles
4.2.2.1. war, corruption, political upheaval, bad weather (such as prolonged drought, flooding, and heat waves), and climate change.
4.3. Distinguish between chronic undernutrition (hunger) and chronic malnutrition
4.3.1. Chronic undernutrition
4.3.1.1. People who cannot grow or buy enough food to meet their basic energy needs suffer.
4.3.2. Chronic malnutrition
4.3.2.1. a condition in which they do not get enough protein and other key nutrients.
4.3.3. Make them more vulnerable to disease and hinder the normal physical and mental development of children.
4.4. The effects of diet deficiencies in vitamin A, iron, and iodine
4.4.1. In less-developed countries, at least 250,000 children younger than age 6 go blind every year from a lack of vitamin A. Within a year, more than half of them die
4.4.2. Having too little iron (Fe) causes anemia, which causes fatigue, makes infection more likely, and increases a woman’s chances of dying from hemorrhage in childbirth.
4.4.3. Chronic lack of iodine can cause stunted growth, mental retardation, and goiter—a severely swollen thyroid gland.
4.5. What is overnutrition and what are its harmful effects?
4.5.1. Overnutrition
4.5.1.1. occurs when food energy intake exceeds energy use and causes excess body fat.
4.5.2. Health problems
4.5.2.1. lower life expectancy, greater susceptibility to disease and illness, and lower productivity and life quality.
5. How is food produced ?
5.1. Three systems supply most of the world’s food
5.1.1. Croplands.
5.1.1.1. Produce grains (rice,wheat,corn)
5.1.1.1.1. 77% of world’s food
5.1.2. Provided by rangelands, pastures, and feedlots
5.1.2.1. produce meat & meat products.
5.1.3. Fisheries & aquaculture
5.1.3.1. supply fish and shellfish
5.2. Industrialized agriculture
5.2.1. heavy equipment, fossil fuel, commercial fertilizer/pesticides, money
5.3. Plantation agriculture
5.3.1. use in tropical less developed countries (bananas, coffee, vegetables, soybeans).
5.4. Traditional subsistence agriculture
5.4.1. supply energy from the sun with the labor of humans and animals
5.5. Traditional intensive agriculture
5.5.1. higher crop yields by increasing their inputs of human and draft animal labor, animal manure for fertilizer and water
5.6. Polyculture
5.6.1. many grow several crops on the same plot, relies on solar energy & natural fertilizers
5.7. Organic agriculture
5.7.1. crops are grown without the use of pesticides
5.8. Green revolution
5.8.1. higher yields from existing cropland
5.8.1.1. Plant monocultures of selectively bred crops.
5.8.1.2. Large amounts of water, synthetic fertilizers, and pesticides.
5.8.1.3. Multiple cropping
5.9. Traditional crossbreeding
5.9.1. a slow process, 15 years or more
5.9.2. combine traits only from species that are genetically similar
5.10. Genetic engineering
5.10.1. the process of directly altering an organism's DNA to produce the desired crops
5.10.2. more precise, takes about half as long, usually costs less
5.10.3. possible for plant or animal cells to acquire genes from other organisms
5.11. Second gene
5.11.1. using genetic engineering to develop genetically improved strains of crops and livestock animals. Use gene splicing
5.11.2. alter an organism's genetic material (adding, deleting, or changing segments of its DNA). Produce desirable traits or to eliminate undesirable by transfer genes between different species
5.11.3. genetically modified organisms
5.12. Meat production
5.12.1. Between 1950 and 2010 meat production increase by six-fold
5.12.2. Average consumption/person doubles and likely will double again by 2050
5.13. Feedlots and CAFOs
5.13.1. An industrialized factory farm system, raising large numbers of animals bred to gain weight quickly
5.13.2. Concentration animal feeding operations
5.14. A fishery
5.14.1. Particular aquatic species suitable for commercial harvesting
5.15. Aquaculture (fish farming)
5.15.1. Fish and shellfish are also produced through aquaculture
5.15.2. Raising fish in freshwater ponds, lakes, reservoirs, and rice paddies, and in underwater cages in costal lagoons and estuaries or offshore in deeper ocean waters
5.16. Industrialized food production requires large inputs of energy
5.16.1. Energy used to grow, store, process, package, transport, refrigerate, it takes about 10 units of fossil fuel energy to put 1 unit of food energy on the table in the US.
5.17. It result in a net energy loss because today's systems for producing, processing, transporting, and preparing food are highly dependent on fossil fuels, and together, they result in large net energy loss.
6. What environmental problems arise from industrialized food production ?
6.1. Soil erosion, desertification, irrigation, water shortages, air and water pollution, climate change, and loss of biodiversity may limit future food production
6.2. Producing Food Has Major Environmental Impacts
6.2.1. industrialized agriculture has allowed farmers to use less land to produce more food, it is environmentally and economically unsustainable
6.2.1.1. Protect biodiversity in many areas by reducing the destruction of forests and grasslands for farming
6.2.2. Many analysts point out that industrialized agriculture has greater overall harmful environmental impacts than any other human activity and that these environmental effects may limit future food production
6.2.2.1. According to a 2010 study by 27 experts assembled by the United Nations Environment Programme
6.2.2.2. Agriculture uses massive amounts of the world’s resources (70% of the freshwater removed from aquifers and surface waters, worldwide )
6.2.2.3. Agriculture also uses about 38% of the world’s ice-free land, emits about 25% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, and produces about 60% of all water pollution
6.2.3. Many analysts view today’s industrialized agriculture as environmentally and economically unsustainable, in the long run. However, proponents of industrialized agriculture argue that its benefits outweigh its harmful effects.
6.3. Topsoil Erosion Is a Serious Problem in Parts of the World
6.3.1. the fertile top layer of many soils, called topsoil, is a vital component of natural capital, be- cause it stores the water and nutrients needed by plants
6.3.2. Topsoil renewal is one of the earth’s most important ecosystem services
6.3.3. Topsoil nutrients recycle endlessly as long as they are not removed faster than natural processes replace them
6.3.4. soil erosion - the movement of soil components, especially surface litter and topsoil
6.3.5. Some topsoil erosion is natural, but much of it is caused by human activities
6.3.5.1. Flowing water
6.3.5.2. Wind also loosens and blows topsoil particles away
6.3.5.3. remove soil-holding grasses, trees, and other vegetation through activities such as farming , deforestation, and overgrazing
6.4. Drought and Human Activities Are Degrading Drylands
6.4.1. desertification
6.4.1.1. the process in which the pro- ductive potential of topsoil falls by 10% or more
6.4.1.2. can be moderate (with a 10–25% drop in productivity), severe (with a drop of 25–50%), or very severe (with a drop of more than 50%)
6.5. Excessive Irrigation Has Serious Consequences
6.5.1. irrigation water in dry climates lead to the gradual accumulation of salts in the upper soil layers—a soil degradation process called soil salinization. It stunts crop growth, lowers crop yields, and can eventually kill plants and ruin the land.
6.6. Agriculture Contributes to Air Pollution and Climate Change
6.6.1. Agricultural activities, including the clearing and burning of forests to raise crops or livestock, create a great deal of air pollution
6.6.2. Livestock production generates 18% of all greenhouse gas
6.6.3. Fertilizer use releases nitrous oxide, increasing atmospheric temperatures
6.7. Food and Biofuel Production Systems Have Caused Major Losses of Biodiversity
6.7.1. Clearing and burning forests leads to the loss of natural biodiversity
6.7.2. the increasing loss of agrobiodi- versity—the genetic variety of animal and plant species used on farms to produce food
6.8. There Is Controversy over Genetically Engineered Foods
6.8.1. Genetically modified (GM) food production is controversial, with benefits/drawbacks
6.8.1.1. Producers and investors see genetically modified (GM) food production as a potentially sustainable way to solve world hunger problems
6.8.1.2. Some critics recognize the potential benefits of GM crops but they point out that most of the GM crops developed so far have provided very few of these benefits.
6.8.2. Genetically engineered crop yields seem to be no higher than for traditional strains
6.8.2.1. Genetic engineering could help to improve food security for some, controversy has arisen over the use of this technology
6.8.3. Some critics consider it potentially dangerous “Frankenfood” that would allow a small number of seed companies to patent genetically modified crops and control most of the world’s food production, and thus food prices
6.8.4. The report also summarized findings indicating that GM crops with built-in toxins, such as Bt toxins, widely used to fend off insects in corn production, could threaten human health by triggering an inflammatory response leading to diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. In addition, herbicideresistant genetically engineered crops have led to increased herbicide use and to herbicide-resistant superweeds, some of which can rapidly grow more than 2 meters (7 feet) tall.
6.8.5. The Ecological Society of America and various critics of genetically engineered crops call for more controlled field experiments and long-term testing, to better understand the ecological and health risks, and stricter regulation of this rapidly growing technology
6.9. There Are Limits to Expansion of the Green Revolutions
6.9.1. Population growth, water availability, and climate change limit irrigation’s potential
6.9.2. Deforestation speeds up climate change, increases topsoil erosion, and lowers biodiversity
6.9.3. several factors have limited the success of the green revolutions and may limit them even more in the future
6.9.3.1. Without large inputs of water and synthetic inorganic fertilizers and pesticides, most green revolution and genetically engineered crop varieties produce yields that are no higher (and are sometimes lower) than those from traditional strains. These high inputs also cost too much for most subsistence farmers in less-developed countries. Scientists point out that where such inputs do increase yields, there comes a point where yields stop growing because of the inability of crop plants to take up nutrients from additional fertilizer and irrigation water. This helps to explain the slowdown in the rate of growth in global grain yields since 1990
6.9.4. Can we expand the green revolutions by irrigating more cropland ?
6.9.4.1. Since 1978, the amount of irrigated land per person has been declining, and it is projected to fall much more by 2050. One reason for this is population growth, which is projected to add 2.6 billion more people between 2013 and 2050. Other factors are limited availability of irrigation water, soil salinization, and the fact that most of the world’s farmers do not have enough money to irrigate their crops. In addition, projected climate change during this century is likely to melt some of the mountain glaciers that provide irrigation and drinking water for many millions of people in China, India, and South America.
6.10. Industrialized Meat Production Has Harmful Environmental Effects
6.10.1. Cheap meat produced by industrialized agriculture has harmful environmental and health costs not included in pricing – violating full-cost principle of sustainability
6.10.2. Fishmeal and fish oil, food sources for farmed fish (often contaminated with toxins), come from wild fish caught from the oceans – biomagnified in human food web; depletes wild fish populations
6.10.3. Proponents of industrialized meat production point out that it has increased meat supplies, reduced overgrazing, and kept food prices down. But feedlots and concentrated animal feeding operations use large amounts of water to grow feed for livestock and to wash away their wastes.
6.10.4. Analysts also point out that meat produced by industrialized agriculture is artificially cheap because most of its harmful environmental and health costs are not included in the market prices of meat and meat products, a violation of the full-cost pricing principle of sustainability.
6.10.4.1. In 2008, the FAO reported that overgrazing and erosion by livestock had degraded about 20% of the world’s grasslands and pastures. The same report estimated that rangeland grazing and industrialized livestock production caused about 55% of all topsoil erosion and sediment pollution, and fully one-third of the water pollution resulting from the runoff of nitrogen and phosphorus from excessive inputs of synthetic fertilizers
6.10.4.2. Industrialized meat production uses large amounts of energy (mostly from oil), which helps to make it one of the chief sources of air and water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
6.10.5. The Environmental Working Group has estimated that production of meat and meat products generates 10–20 times more greenhouse gases per unit of weight than does production of common vegetables and grains. Another growing problem is the use of antibiotics in industrialized livestock production facilities
6.10.6. In 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimated that about 80% of all antibiotics sold in the United States (and 50% of those in the world) are added to animal feed. This is done to try to prevent the spread of diseases in crowded feedlots and CAFOs and to promote the growth of the animals before they are slaughtered
6.10.7. According to FDA data and several studies, this plays a role in the rise of genetic resistance among many disease-causing bacteria. Such resistance can reduce the effectiveness of some antibiotics used to treat humans for bacterial infections, and it can promote the development of new, more genetically resistant infectious disease organisms
6.10.7.1. Finally, according to the USDA, animal waste produced by the American meat industry amounts to about 130 times the amount of waste produced by the country’s human population. Globally, only about half of all manure is returned to the land as nutrient-rich fertilizer—a violation of the chemical cycling principle of sustainability. Much of the other half ends up polluting aquatic systems, producing foul odors, and emitting large quantities of climate-changing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
6.11. Aquaculture Can Harm Aquatic Ecosystems
6.11.1. Advantages
6.11.1.1. High efficiency
6.11.1.2. High yield
6.11.1.3. Reduces over- harvesting of fisheries
6.11.1.4. Jobs and profits
6.11.2. Disadvantages
6.11.2.1. Use of fish oil and fishmeal on fish farms depletes wild fisheries
6.11.2.2. Large waste output
6.11.2.3. Loss of mangrove forests and estuaries
6.11.2.4. Dense populations vulnerable to disease
6.11.3. Figure above lists the major benefits and drawbacks of aquaculture, which in 2012 accounted for about 42% of all seafood produced for human consumption. Some analysts warn that the harmful environmental effects of aquaculture could limit its future production potential
6.11.4. One major environmental problem associated with aquaculture is that about a third of the wild fish caught from the oceans are used to make the fishmeal and fish oil that are to fed to farmed fish. This is contributing to the depletion of many populations of wild fish that are crucial to marine food webs—a serious threat to marine biodiversity and ecosystem services.
6.11.5. Another problem is that some fishmeal and fish oil fed to farm-raised fish is contaminated with long-lived toxins such as PCBs and dioxins that are picked up from the ocean floor. Aquaculture producers contend that the concentrations of these chemicals are not high enough to threaten human health, but some scientists disagree
6.11.6. Fish farms, especially those that raise carnivorous fish such as salmon and tuna, also produce large amounts of wastes, including pesticides and antibiotics used on fish farms. Yet another problem is that farmed fish can escape their pens and mix with wild fish, possibly disrupting the gene pools of wild populations. Major seed companies are now pushing to use patented, genetically modified soybeans as the primary feed for farm-raised fish and shellfish.
6.11.7. This could increase water pollution because fish that are fed soy tend to produce more waste than those that are not fed soy. It would also give a small number of seed companies control over much of the world’s seafood production, along with seafood prices. And it could encourage more deforestation and loss of biodiversity wherever soy plantations replace tropical forests