chapter 5- human geo

Effects of Technology

Advances in food production technology in the mid-19th century through the early half of the 20th century led to better diets, longer life spans, and an increase in population. As the population increased, so did the pool for workers in the industry. Mass migration to the cities for jobs in factories led to a rise in urbanization.

Plantation Agriculture

Commercial agriculture involves producing crops for profit. One of the legacies of colonialism was the replacement of subsistence farming with commercial agriculture in many less developed regions. A plantation is a large commercial farm that specializes in one crop, usually found in the low-latitudes, and in hot and humid climates. Plantations are usually intensive and exploit cheap labour. Common plants are coffee, cocoa, rubber, sugarcane, bananas, tobacco, tea, and cotton.

Pastoral Nomadism

Pastoral nomadism is a form of subsistence farming (farming to support a family) practiced in the developing world. People travel from place to place with their herds of domesticated animals (cattle, camels, reindeer, goats, yaks, sheep, and horses). Nomads in different bioclimatic regions rely upon different animals depending on their culture and climate. Southcentral Asia and East Africa: cattle because they adapt to the hot climate in desert regions of the Middle East: camels, because they can survive without water for long periods in northern Siberia: reindeer, because they can survive in cold weather Transhumance: seasonal herding of animals from higher elevations in the summer to lower elevations in the winter

Explain how plants and animals diffused globally

Patterns of diffusion, such as the Columbian Exchange and the agricultural revolutions, resulted in the global spread of various plants and animals.

Animal Domestication

raising and caring for animals by humans for protection and food. Began when Central Asian hunters domesticated dogs. Later, agriculturalists in Southwest Asia kept goats and sheep.

Supply Chain

system of resources, producer, transportation, comunication, information, and consumers is a supply chain or commodity chain supply-chain businesses are owned by one corporation( often)

Multiple Markets

von Thünen assumed that farmers had one primary market, but they often have secondary markets as well

Non-Isotropic Plain

von Thünen's model assumed that land was an isotropic plain-but real land includes river, mountains, and other physical features that make it noninotropic

Irrigation

Irrigation is the process of diverting water from its natural course or location to aid in the production of crops. By 6,000 BCE, civilizations in Mesopotamia and Egypt used organized strategies to manage their water resources. By the 19th and 20th centuries, the successful use of large-scale irrigation contributed greatly to feeding the rapidly growing population of the world. Practiced worldwide, but used extensively in California's Central and Imperial Valleys

Describe how the von thunen model is used to explain patterns of agricultural production at various scales

Von Thünen's model helps to explain rural land use by emphasizing the importance of transportation costs associated with distance from the market; however, regions of specialty farming do not always conform to von Thünen's concentric rings.

Zone two

Von Thünen's second zone included forests. Wood was an extremely important resource in 1826, both as building material and as a source of fuel. Von Thünen thought that wood products would be close to market because they were not only important, but also heavy and difficult to transport. Wood can be stored for long periods of time, so it would not need to go to the city every day like dairy or produce.

Other changes in Technology

changes in technology has modified demand for products, like wood.

Climate and Agriculture

plants and animals are linked to the climate of a place even with human intervention, climate, soil types, and levels of precipitation still control the types of crops will be grown and types of animals raised climate determines the kind of agriculture that will take place most of earths land supports some type of agricultural activity (except high latitudes, and high altitudes)

Plant Domestication

the growing of crops that people planted, raised, and harvested, probably began after animal domestication. People first used vegetative planting, growing crops using pars of the stems or roots of existing plants. First seed cultivation took place in the Fertile crescent and/or Nile River valley; People began to plant on river plains, leading to planned irrigation Provided a reliable food source Grain Surplus Permanent settlement resulted Led to population increase

Rural settlement patterns

Clustered, dispersed, orlinear

Explain challenges and debates related to the changing nature of contemporary agriculture and food-production practices

Agricultural innovations such as biotechnology, genetically modified organisms, and aquaculture have been accompanied by debates over sustainability, soil and water usage, reductions in biodiversity, and extensive fertilizer and pesticide use. Patterns of food production and consumption are influenced by movements relating to individual food choices, such as urban farming, community-supported agriculture (CSA), organic farming, value-added specialty crops, fair trade, local-food movements, and dietary shifts. Challenges of feeding a global population include lack of food access, as in cases of food insecurity and food deserts; problems with distribution systems; adverse weather; and land use lost to suburbanization.

Explain the connection between physical geography and agricultural practices

Agricultural practices are influenced by the physical environment and climatic conditions, such as the Mediterranean climate and tropical climates. Intensive farming practices include market gardening, plantation agriculture, and mixed crop/livestock systems. Extensive farming practices include shifting cultivation, nomadic herding, and ranching.

Economic Forces that influence Agriculture

Among many of the factors that influence the decisions farmers make about how to farm are the relative costs of land, labour, and capital. Because of these different costs, farmers balance the use of these resources differently. If the land is plentiful and costs little, they use it extensively. If the land is scarce or expensive, they use it intensely.

Physical geography influence on agriculture

Climate and landforms determine which crops can be grown and which animals can be raised in each region of the world. For example, coffee only grows well in low-latitudes.

Identify major centers of domestication of plants and animals

Early hearths of domestication of plants and animals arose in the Fertile Crescent and several other regions of the world, including the Indus River Valley, Southeast Asia, and Central America.

Explain the interdependence among regions of agricultural production and consumption

Food and other agricultural products are part of a global supply chain. Some countries have become highly dependent on one or more export commodities. The main elements of global food distribution networks are affected by political relationships, infrastructure, and patterns of world trade.

Women in Food Preparation

How people prepare food has changed as people changed where they live and work. As people moved from rural areas to urban areas, they grew less of the food they consumed and purchased more of it. Women spend less time preparing food than women in previous generations and are purchasing ready-made meals that simply need to be heated. The demand for these foods has grown so much that food companies are trying to develop visually appealing, tasty, healthy food products. Men have become more involved in food preparation in areas where there is a high amount of gender equality. People are also eating in restaurants more than ever. In 2015, Americans spent more eating out than on groceries.

Von Thunen's Land Use Model Zones

In 1826, Johann von Thünen, a farm owner in Germany, created an economic model that suggested a pattern for the types of products that farmers would produce at different positions relative to the market. He assumed that farming is an economic process, or that farmers will try to make a profit His model is based on the idea that there is only one central market situated on a flat, isotropic (flat)plain, and that all locations have the same advantages

Dispersed

In contrast to Europeans, North American farmers usually created dispersed settlements, a pattern in which farmers lived in homes spread throughout the countryside. In Canada and the US, the governments promoted westward expansion by giving farmers land (in the US 160 acres) if they agreed to reside on it for several years. As a result, agricultural villages were extremely rare in this region.

Gender Roles

In most cultures throughout history, males and females have had distinct roles in producing and preparing food. However, some of these roles have changed as technology has changed.

Linear

Linear settlements are patterns of houses and buildings following the lines of the road transport routes. Linear settlements are usually constructed for easy access to transportation routes for people and goods.

Mixed Crop and Livestock

Mixed crop and livestock farming is an integrated system common in developed regions, such as Midwestern US, northern Europe, and Canada. On these farms, the majority of the crops raised are fed directly to livestock. The livestock is fattened on these grains for eventual slaughter, or the grains are fed to dairy cows. The animal manure is used to help fertilize the crops. This is the most common type of agriculture in developed countries.

Terracing

One of the earliest human alterations of the landscape was terrace farming, in which farmers build a series of steps into the side of the hill. This creates flat surfaces, which have several benefits over steeply graded hillsides: Planting, tending, and harvesting crops is physically easier for farmers The land collects rainfall, rather than allowing it to run down a sloped hillside The reduction in water running down the hillside reduces soil erosion Practiced in E. Asia, N. Africa, and S. America

How does Infrastructure affect global agriculture

Poor infrastructure in developing countries makes if hard to get food crops to the market. Farmers in developing countries often do not have access to roads or other forms of transportation to move their crops to markets. Farmers in developed countries can ship their food products cheaply across the world.

Identify different rural settlement patterns and methods of surveying rural settlements

Specific agricultural practices shape different rural land-use patterns. Rural settlement patterns are classified as clustered, dispersed, or linear. Rural survey methods include metes and bounds, township and range, and long lot.

Shifting Cultivation

Subsistence agriculture in which farmers, usually in tropical climate regions, move from field to field is called shifting cultivation. It is also known as slash-and-burn agriculture and as swidden agriculture, because farmers sometimes clear the land by burning vegetation, a process that enriches nutrient-poor soil by adding nitrogen to it. On the cleared land, they plant and harvest crops until the soil becomes less fertile. Then the people move to another area of dense, wild vegetation and repeat the process.

Explain the consequences of the Green Revolution on food supply and the environment in the developing world

The Green Revolution was characterized in agriculture by the use of high-yield seeds, increased use of chemicals, and mechanized farming. The Green Revolution had positive and negative consequences for both human populations and the environment.

Hunting and Gathering

The earliest form of obtaining food. Gender role-specific: men hunted game or fish while women collected berries, nuts, and roots. Contemporary hunting and gathering are isolated groups in LDCs.

How do political relationships and trade networks affect global agriculture

The legacy of colonialism and neocolonialism affects global agricultural systems. Agribusinesses based in developed countries often control land and crop production in developing countries. Fair trade movements have tried to promote equality for the producers of crop in developing countries. Relationships between former colonies and their mother countries make trade easier.

Where farmers choose to locate

The model is based on two underlying assumptions: farmers will try to minimize distance and transportation costs. The cost of land is another factor, as well as a distance decay pattern between the cost of land and the distance from the market. His model showed similar distance decay patterns existed between intensity of land use and distance from market, as well as perishability of the product and the distance from the market.

First (Neolithic) Agricultural Revolution

The origin of farming marked by the first domestication of plants and animals. much of the farming that took place was subsistence farming

Explain geographic variations in female roles in food production and consumption

The role of females in food production, distribution and consumption varies in many places depending on the type of production involved.

Extensive Land-use Methods (Subsistence)

Usually in sparsely populated areas with access to local markets ex. pastoral nomadism and shifting cultivation minimal amount of machinery, but sometimes labor-intensive work on a large plot of land that might be owned communally

Intensive Land-use Method (Subsistence)

Usually near dense populated areas with access to local markets ex. farmers who grow a wide variety of crops such as corn and raise some livestock often labour-intensive production on small plots

Vertical inegration

company owns several smaller businesses involved in different steps in developing a product

Agribusiness

integration of various steps of production in the food processing industry includes large-scale commercial agriculture, but also steps of processing and research and development performed by transnational corporations (enormity of this system) large-scale operations are commercial, highly mechanized, and much of the raising of crops and animals involves chemicals and biotechnology

Changes in Transportation

the development of trains, cars, planes, and storage techniques such as refrigeration has allowed food to be transported much longer distances without spoiling than in 1826.

Economics influence on agriculture

the workings of supply and demand that influence the competing use of the land. Whether consumers want to purchase peaches or plums influences what the farmers will decide to grow.

Extensive Farming Practices

Agriculture that uses fewer inputs of capital and paid labour relative to the amount of space being used

Rural Survey Methods

1. English Surveying System= Metes and Bounds 2. American Surveying System= Townships and range 3. French Surveying System= Long-lot system

Intensive Farmin

Agriculture that involves greater inputs of capital and paid labour relative to space being used

Consequences of Agricultural Practices

Agricultural production and consumption patterns vary in different locations, presenting different environmental, social, economic, and cultural opportunities & challenges. Many agricultural practices, such as slash and burn, terraces, irrigation, deforestation, draining wetlands, shifting cultivation, and pastoral nomadism, alter the landscape.

Explain how economic forces influence agricultural practices

Agricultural production regions are defined by the extent to which they reflect subsistence or commercial practices (monocropping or monoculture). Intensive and extensive farming practices are determined in part by land costs (bid-rent theory). Large-scale commercial agricultural operations are replacing small family farms. Complex commodity chains link production and consumption of agricultural products.

Global Trade Network

Agriculture products are part of a global. Some countries are highly dependent on export commodities. Global food distribution networks are affected by political relationships, infrastructure, and world trade patterns.

Green Revolution

Beginning in the mid-20th century advances in plant biology led to the Green Revolution—development of higher-yielding, disease-resistant, fast-growing varieties of grains. Biggest advances were in growing rice, corn, and wheat. Allowed farmers to double-crop and increased use of fertilizer and pesticides in developing nations in Asia and the Americas. Countries such as India developed large-scale irrigation systems.

Agricultural Hearths

Carl Sauer first to argue that agricultural hearths were independently established at various times and locations First Agricultural Revolution began in 5 centers/hearths; 1. Southwest Asia (10,000- 12,000 years ago) 2. Southeast Asia (10,000 years ago) 3. East Asia (9,500 years ago) 4. Sub-Saharan Africa (7,000 years ago) 5. Mesoamerica (5,500 years ago)

Clearing Trees and other vegetation

Deforestation, the removal of large tracts of forest, has occurred throughout human history. Northern and Central Europe was once heavily forested, now the region is mostly farmland and urban areas. Today it is practiced mostly in SE Asia, Africa, and the rainforests of S. America. Slash-and-burn agriculture is a way of clearing a forest that involves cutting down trees and burning their stumps. Small-scale slash-and-burn is beneficial to humans, large-scale damages the environment. Cutting down trees can result in problems like soil erosion and a decrease in rainfall Can also cause desertification (the transition of land from fertile to desert). In addition, deforestation can cause devastating global environmental change. In particular, the rainforests absorb so much carbon dioxide that shrinking them leads to an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, which contributes to worldwide climate change.

Bid-rent theory

Economic theory that refers to how the price and demand on real estate changes as the distance towards the CBD increases

How are some countries dependent on export commodities

Emphasis on growing crops for export can create economic and environmental problems in developing countries. Farmers in developing countries often grow luxury crops at the expense of local food crops. (Food crops must be imported at higher prices.) Farmers in developing countries often use poor farming practices that lead to water pollution, soil erosion, deforestation, and salinization of the soil. (Monocropping often leads to environmental and sustainability problems.)

Negative Impacts

Environmental Damage Soil erosion Drained land of natural nutrients New chemicals emitted led to polluted drinking water, species extinct and heath issues

Explain how agricultural practices have environmental and societal consequences

Environmental effects of agricultural land use include pollution, land cover change, desertification, soil salinization, and conservation efforts. Agricultural practices—including slash and burn, terraces, irrigation, deforestation, draining wetlands, shifting cultivation, and pastoral nomadism—alter the landscape.

French Surveying Systems

French settlers in North America emphasized the value of access to a river for water and trade. So that many farmers could have some river frontage, they developed the French long-lot system, in which farms were long thin sections of land that ran perpendicular to a river. The best examples of this system in North America occurs in Quebec and Louisiana.

Positive Impacts of Green Revolution

Global food production increased Increased yields More food= less hunger, lower death rates, growing population High rates of investment higher yields led to lower food prices

Impact of Large-Scale Farms

Globalization has accelerated the growth of agribusiness during the latter half of the 20th century. Competition in agricultural products and services has encouraged largescale farming operations, thus eliminating many small-scale operations. Even "family-owned and operated farms" are corporations far larger than the farms of the past.

Agricultural products being a part of the global supply chain

Globalization has create interdependence between countries. Larger countries with developed agricultural areas export food products to smaller less developed agricultural countries. (United States, Brazil, China, and Argentina are top exporters of food) Countries with climate advantages export luxury crops to wealthy countries. (Coffee, sugar, tea, and bananas are major exports for low latitude countries.) Southern hemisphere countries provide food products to the Northern hemisphere during winter months.

Hunting and Gathering (Early Hearths)

Hunting and gathering are the earliest known ways that people obtained food to eat. They relied on these methods until about 12,000 years ago, around 10,000 BCE, when they began to use agriculture, the process by which humans alter the landscape in order to raise crops and livestock for consumption and trade. There have been three revolutions that have changed agriculture

Technological Improvements

In 1962, one farmer fed an average of 26 people. By the early 21st century, one farmer fed an average of 155 people. This improvement is attributed to technological advancements in transportation, fertilizers, and harvesting equipment, and a deeper understanding of the science of plants and animals. Advances in refrigeration created cool chains, which are transportation networks that keep food cold throughout a trip. Fruits, vegetables, and even flowers from the tropics could be delivered fresh to the temperate climates of North America for relatively low prices.

English Surveying Systems

In England, fields often had irregular shapes that reflected the location of physical features and traditional patterns of use. Plot boundaries were described using the metes and bounds system. Metes were used for short distances and often referred to features of specific points, such as "from the oak tree, 100 yards north, to the corner of the barn." Bounds cover larger areas, and were based on larger features, such as streams or roads.

Market Gardening

In the United States, commercial gardening and fruit farming, known as market gardening, is found mostly in California and the Southeast in order to take advantage of long growing seasons. This type of farming is also called truck farming because the products were traditionally driven to urban areas and sold. However, most produce today is sold to companies for canning or freezing. Fruits and vegetables grown in the US as the result of truck farming include lettuce, broccoli, apples, oranges, and tomatoes.

The Bid Rent Curve

In the case of von Thunen's model, a bid rent curve, also known as a bid price curve, can be used to indicate the starting position for each land use relative to the market, as well as where each land-use would end. Each line on the graph indicates the farmer's willingness to pay for land at various distances from the market.

Zone one

In the zone closest to the market, von Thünen suggested that horticulture, a type of agriculture that includes market gardening and truck farming and dairying would occur. These products are perishable, and farmers would need to get them to market quickly and frequently

Problems with large-scale irrigation

It can disrupt the natural drainage of water and reduce the normal regeneration of soils caused by natural flooding. It can result in salinization-increasing the salt content-of soil, which can result in decreases in crop yields and soil fertility It can pump so much groundwater to the surface that it causes land submergence (the collapse of land resulting from the removal of underground water that supports the surface land) Draining of wetlands to increase farmland decreases biodiversity in both plants and animals

Economic factors that influence farming

Large-scale farming usually practices monoculture or monocropping, which is the raising of a single cash crop on large plots of land. (As opposed to double cropping or intercropping) Family farmers in developed countries and subsistence farmers in developing countries cannot compete with large-scale operations because large-scale farming produces food at cheaper per-unit cost.

Large-Scale Replacing Small-Scale Farms

Large-scale farms usually practice monoculture, which is the raising of a single cash crop on large plots of land. Family farmers in developed countries and subsistence farmers in developing countries cannot compete with large-scale farming operations because large-scale farming produces food at a cheaper per unit cost. As a consequence of globalization and the Green Revolution, many subsistence farmers have lost available land and now work for agribusiness enterprises. A suitcase farm is one in which no one lives on the farm and the labor is performed by migrant workers or by farmers that live nearby (common in US)

Livestock Ranching

Livestock ranching is the commercial grazing of animals confined to a specific area. Similar to pastoral nomadism, livestock ranching is found in areas that are too dry for growing crops in large quantities. Ranching is a prevalent agricultural activity in the western United States, the pampas of Argentina, southern Brazil, and Uruguay; parts of Spain and Portugal; China; and central Australia.

What are the side effects of modern food production

Modern farming methods have made healthy diets possible for billions of people. However, each change to the natural ecosystem to increase food production has come with costs: Farmers have replaced forests with fields. In order to farm the same field year after year, farmers use chemical fertilizers which wash into rivers and lakes. Farmers have grazed animals in areas too arid to support crop production. Herders must prevent overgrazing or desertification can occur.

Explain the advances and impacts of the Second Agricultural Revolution

New technology and increased food production in the second agricultural revolution led to better diets, longer life expectancies, and more people available for work in factories.

What Von Thunen did not consider

Non-Isotropic Plain, Multiple Markets, Changes in Transportation, Other Changes in Technology

Land usage and Farming Advances

Paralleling changes in technology were changes in the law. The Enclosure Acts were a series of laws enacted by the British government that enabled landowners to purchase and enclose land for their own use that had previously been common land used by peasant farmers. Farms became larger, production became more efficient, producers raised crops to sell for profit rather than simply for their own consumption, and people were forced off the land, which created a workforce for the growing factories.

American Surveying Systems

The English colonists in America also used metes and bounds. However, in 1785, the US switched to a system based on surveying rather than landscape features. The government organized land into townships and ranges, areas six miles long and six miles wide. Each square mile, or section, consisted of 640 acres, and it could be divided into smaller lots, such as half sections or quarter sections.

Zone Four

The fourth zone was used for grazing of livestock, like beef cattle. They could be further away from the market because they could walk to market when it was time for them to be slaughtered. Land is cheapest the furthest from the city, so farmers could afford to buy more land for their grazing animals.

The Hinterland

The land surrounding the model is called the hinterland, or an uncharted area. The wilderness bounded the outer margins of von Thünen's isolated state. These lands, he argued, would eventually develop rent value, as the population of the state increased. The hinterland also separates cities, and provides an obstacle to movement.

Zone Three

The third zone were crops such as wheat and corn. Though valuable, they did not perish as quickly as vegetables and milk, and were not difficult to transport (like wood). Grains could also be stored for long periods of time, so trips to the market were infrequent.

Commodity Chains and Consumption

The transformation of agriculture into a large-scale agribusiness entity has resulted in a complex system of connecting producers and consumers at a global scale. This complex and enormous system enables someone who lives in a small American town to consume bananas from Ecuador, coffee from Brazil, chocolate from Switzerland, and apples from Honduras. This transformation may be attributed to advancements in biotechnology, mechanization, transportation, and food preservation. A commodity chain is a process used by corporations to gather resources and transform them into goods and then transport them to consumers.

Land Value

The value of land is influenced by its relationship to the market. Because the land in the ring closest to the market is the most expensive, farmers could only afford to farm on a small scale (had to use land intensively). Slaughterhouses were located inside the central city, so farmers in the outermost rings only had to get their animals to market and did not have to worry about transportation costs.

Clustered

Throughout European history, rural residents commonly lived in nucleated or clustered settlements, groups of homes located near each other in a hamlet or village. Clustered settlements fostered a strong sense of community and were convenient for sharing services, such as schools and churches. However, farmers spent part of each day walking to and from their fields, and watching over crops and animals was difficult.

Conservation Efforts of Agricultural Practices

To counter the damaging effects of destroying the natural landscape and the various flora and fauna that inhabit it, people are finding ways to preserve or restore ecosystems. At a global scale, people around the world in the 1980s joined a "Save the Rainforest" movement that supported agricultural practices that did not damage the Amazon.

Extensive Land-use Methods (Commercial)

Usually near transportation centers with access to processing centers Ex. livestock ranching, grain farming minimal amount of labour and machinery on a large expanse of land

Intensive Land-use Method (Commercial)

Usually near urban centers or transporation hubs ex. truck farming and dairy farming large amounts of labour and machinery often on large amounts of land

Women in Food Production

Women have played a major role in agriculture since people first started farming. Today, they make up about 40% of the world's agricultural labour force. In regions where the majority practice subsistence farming, the figure is 70% of the labour force. In many areas of the developing world, men migrate to urban areas in search of employment, while women stay at home and work their farms with their children, Where farming has modernized and machines have been introduced, women have become less involved with the fieldwork. In large-scale agriculture, women have taken on newer roles. They now work in management, sales, distribution, and research.

Second Agricultural Revolution

began in the 1700s and used advances of Industrial Revolution to increase food supplies and population growth involved the mechanization of agricultural production, advances in transportation, development of large-scale irrigation, and changes to consumption patterns of agricultural goods. Innovations such as the steel plough and mechanized harvesting greatly increased food production

Diffusion of Agriculture

over 1000s of years agriculture spread widely leading to increased trade among cultures Silk Road- routes connecting Rome with China people traded silk, rice, and other goods Dramatic shifts in agriculture was after Christopher Columbus (1492) Columbian Exchange was the global movement of plants and animals between Afro-Eurasia and the Americas