Human Ecology Final
Tamar Haspel: What is the solution suggested by this author, who is also a farmer?
Get the large farms to stop polluting
Tamar Haspel: What are the pros and cons of large farms?
Pros: More efficient than small, diversified farms. Food grown on them is cheaper Cons: Farms pollute, and large, chemical-intensive commodity farms have damaged the environment Summary: large farms are sometimes environmentally unfriendly but raise large amounts of food efficiently and affordably.
How do farm subsidies lead to processed food being cheaper than fresh food?
Subsidies go to big farms to make processed foods.
. How does this concept (technology with a human face) apply to agriculture?
It would keep agriculture and nature in balance.
What was the goal of the Green Revolution?
To increase the world's food production in developing countries through the use of biotechnology.
1. What is the "myth of industrial agriculture" that Dr. Ikerd speaks about?
industrial agriculture could feed the world using biotechnology
How do farm subsidies lead to contamination of freshwater drinking sources?
CAFOs get subsidies which are highly polluting. The runoff goes into water system and causes algae blooms.
4. Compare and contrast centralization and decentralization. Which system is supported by Mahatma Ghandi and why?
Centralization - central authority, concentrated power, flows one way from top down. Large, industrial, environmentally short-sighted, economically inaccessible, non-transparent, aging labor force, vulnerable. Decentralization - dispersing power from central authority to local level - flows are back and forth. System of small, diverse, local farms. Small, alternative, environmentally responsible, cost-effective, community-oriented, accessible, resilient. Gandhi supports decentralization. "Production by the masses instead of mass production." Have machines help humans rather than humans serving machines.
Food, Inc. -- Food production has become big business and a handful of multinational companies own everything from "seedling to supermarket" What is meant by this?
Companies can get patents on crops. Monsanto owns the patent on GMO soybeans and effectively owns soybean seeds.
What are some of the externalities or hidden costs of cheap food on our health?
Sugar, fat, and salt (absent in nature) in processed foods leads to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke
Food, Inc. -- What are some of the social, health, and environmental impacts and safety concerns posed by 'concentrated animal feedlot operations' (CAFOs)?
Worker became allergic to antibiotics after they were put into chicken feed Hiring more undocumented workers since they technically don't have the right to complain about the job Companies keep farmers under their control because of farmer debt Not worried about the longevity of workers. Employees get infections from handling the raw meat. Treated like machines. Cutting wages, making sure no unions. Meat packing is one of the most dangerous jobs.
2. Does he believe that 60 years of industrial agriculture has done anything to alleviatehunger in the U.S. or the world?
"Failed system of production." It did increase efficiency and production and lowered the cost of food. It was well-intentioned, but it failed to feed the world. 60 years later of industrial agriculture, and the experiment failed, in the US and globally, - dollars are driving the system 1 out of 8 people worldwide are food insecure. He says that the goal of agriculture is not production but sustainability
Why does Bittman suggest imposing a tax on unhealthy, processed foods containing excess amounts sugar, salt and fat? How would it work to reduce consumption?
"Lifestyle" taxes on unhealthy foods (a penny an ounce) Uses price as a mechanism to affect people's decision
4. Who does Dr. Ikerd feel has enough power to bring about fundamental change in the foodsystem and disrupt the "corporate defenders of the status quo"?
"We, as the people, have to support policies toward sustainable food systems" Power of the people - political action
Sanchez states that Tropical Africa is ready for its own Green Revolution - an African Green Revolution. How is this different than the Green Revolution of the 60s?
Based on 4 criteria that blends the traditional with the technological could triple food production without harming the environment: Mineral and organic fertilizers that provide nutrients to the soil - agroforestry, low-till or no-till techniques. Small-scale irrigation technologies for collecting rainwater rather than dams. Biotechnology to fortify African food crops against drought and pests and increase nutritional content of staple foods. Corps of master farmers trained in current agricultural techniques, posted in villages to provide advice.
Explain Cuba's "miracle" agricultural program in terms of cultural adaptation being the most powerful adaptive mechanism humans possess and how it was able to save the people from starvation.
Drastic effort to convert every piece of arable land to organic agriculture. Prevented famine through urban agriculture movement: Farmers are now one of the highest paid workers and people from all fields are attracted to the profession In small cities/towns, urban gardens provide 80-100% of the fruits and veggies they need. Urban agriculture supplies food locally, eliminating long-distance transportation. Sustainable Practices: approach to farming without fossil fuels implemented. More manual labor was needed, making small farms needed and increasing the number of farms. made land fertile and productive again uses crop rotating, composting, and green manure (plowing young vegetation into soil) Uses crop interplanting Developed biopesticides and biofertilizers Fabric over crops helped block sun and pests Used animals (oxen) Land distribution: Small farms are the highest producers Many families moved to rural land People were exchanging things, and many gardens supplied things for free
Food, Inc. -- What are the unintended consequences of modern industrial farming?
E. Coli, salmonella, food posioning outbreaks in ground beef and other foods because of runoff from factory farms. Processing plants allow bad pathogens to spread widely.
5. Describe what a decentralized food production system would look like.
Establish a system of small, diverse, local farms and food hubs in communities across the US and globally, bringing food production to local communities giving equal access to healthy food.
2. When discussing industrial agriculture, why does the author Dale Allen Pfeiffer say, "In a very real sense, we are literally eating fossil fuels."?
Fertilizers and equipment run on fuel and are oil-derived.
4. Where does Dale Allen Pfeiffer fall on the Population Continuum we discussed in Part 1 of the course? Neo-Malthusian, Moderate, or High-Tech/Marxist?
He says population is a problem → Neo-malthusian
Was the Green Revolution a success? Explain your answer.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Green Revolution was promoted as a solution to world hunger through a rise in agricultural production, but results have been mixed. Between 1950 and 1984 world grain production increased by 250% and the world saw a 70% population increase Nearly 1B remain undernourished. In India, most of the population remains malnourished. GMOs have lower protein content so even if the population is fed they are malnourished. Farmers abandoned traditional agriculture and used monocropping → loss of biodiversity. Poor farmers go into greater poverty because they can't afford industrial agriculture. They cannot buy expensive grain and lose their farms. Land-grabs by corporations for commercial use. high energy use reached the point of marginal returns
3. Why does Dr. Ikerd believe that small farms "can feed the world" and what percentage ofthe people in the world are fed by small farms currently?
Increases sustainability of food production system. Supports farming as a way of life. community controls its food system - self-sufficient, self-reliant, increased resilience less chemical dependence, use of fossil fuels better soil and water quality increased food safety, food security decreases "food desert" phenomenon - helps deliver healthier foods as alternatives to unhealthy processed foods local foods eliminate food miles reduction in GHG emissions reduced threat of agroterrorism 70-80% of perople fed by small family farms - globally small family farms constitute 98% of all farms
What are the characteristics of modern industrial agriculture?
Large-scale, 2000+ acres Monocrops, genetically modified seeds (GM), High Yield Varieties (HYV) "Commodity" crops - wheat, soybeans, corn Owned and operated by corporations "Big business" Highly mechanized Large amounts of external inputs Federal subsidies
3. What are the unintended consequences of industrial agriculture?
Loss of biodiversity Soil erosion, polluted water Antibiotic resistance
How did the Green Revolution intend to meet its goal?
Monocropping (uniformity of crops and limited variety) for efficiency Pros of monoculture: higher crop yield (HYV) using less land vaccinated with genes for desirable traits -disease, pest and drought resistance Reduced resilience on herbicides and pesticides and irrigation
Food, Inc. -- Is modern industrial agriculture a sustainable method of food production?
No, because they focus on efficiency and have a few companies only growing a few varieties which is precarious. It is heavily dependent on petroleum. It cannot deal with shocks such as spikes in oil prices.
Would the United States be willing to learn from the Cuban model in order to increase our own resilience and be better prepared to withstand a future natural hazard or man-made disaster? Why or why not?
Politics would dictate whether we can learn from Cuba the US probably would not accept it from a government like Cuba
6. Give an example of a centralized system.
Power in the food industry is consolidated into a small handful of conglomerated multinational food corporations.
1. What does economist E.F. Schumacher mean by "Technology with a Human Face"? What is he calling for?
Promoted proposals for human-scale, decentralized and appropriate technology. Felt that our tech was anti-nature. Rather than having technology which makes human hands and brains redundant (by doing work for us), it should help us become more productive. Wanted intermediate technology or self-help technology - small, appropriate technologies that empower people, in contrast to "bigger is better". It employs more people, establishes self-reliance, and self-sufficiency at the local and state level.
Tamar Haspel: What are the pros and cons of small farms?
Pros: Small farms bring benefits to their communities by contributing to the sense of community and can keep space open, reminding people where their food comes from. Cons: Small, diversified farms are less efficient than large ones. Food grown on them is more expensive Summary: small farms are inefficient but are more likely to grow healthful foods and might be more environmentally friendly
What parts of the world did the Green Revolution focus on?
Technology brought to developing regions of the world, such as India, Pakistan, China, and Latin America.
Would the U.S. population be able to undergo cultural adaptation of this magnitude as Cuba did? Why or why not?
The United States is too large, but potentially on a smaller scale (on a state by state basis)
Food, Inc. -- How has Monsanto, a chemical manufacturer, involved itself in food production, and why do they keep farmers under surveillance and even threaten some of them?
They sold Roundup Ready soybeans which contained their patented gene which was resistant to Roundup (which killed weeds). They investigate anyone caught saving seeds for patent infringement. Even if a farmer did not plant GMO crops, there may be contamination through pollination and the farmer is still held accountable and must prove he did not violate the patent.
How would an African Green Revolution affect the women and the birth rate? Please explain.
Women grow 80% of the food. Easier farming would allow them to work off the farm and earn more money. Women will become more educated Women's empowerment leads to lower population growth and advances in children's health and education. The birth rate would decrease and SOL would increase.
To reduce consumption of unhealthy processed foods, like soda, French fries, donuts, potato chips, etc., is the government justified in stepping in and regulating multinational food companies in the name of the public good - in this case, public health? considering in the U.S, 1 in 3 people have diabetes, and 1 in 3 children are overweight? Why or why not?
opinion question--no
In what ways does technology with a human face connect to and support small-scale farming?
technology with a human face, that Schumacher also called intermediate or appropriate technology, scales down technology (small-scale farms) to a form that allows humans to use their hands, brains, and creative skills to do the work that is now done by (super) technology (large-scale, industrial agriculture), machines, computers, etc. This, of course, has negative impacts on the environment and humans (anti-nature), as a result of being chemical and resource dependent (pesticides, fertilizers, water, fossil fuels, GHG emissions). Technology with a human face, or appropriate/intermediate technology is conducive to decentralization, human-scale technologies- in this case, a network of small-scale, localized, diversified farms to produce food, using human labor. This type of agriculture would be less chemical and resource dependent, so it doesn't harm the environment or human health, but promotes fresh, healthy food, working in balance with nature and not anti-nature, and allows humans to do meaningful, satisfying work that they can take pride in.
Why do McDonald's fries taste so good? (from the optional Schlosser article)
the scent is very important. salt, fat
