FPP - Food Production and Nutrition Deficiencies (Lesson)
Food Production and Nutrition Deficiencies
Agriculture to Feed the World
Agriculture is considered the most important human activity as it provides the majority of the food. Because of its importance, a significant percentage of the world's land area is used for agriculture. Approximately 11% of the total land area of the world, excluding Antarctica, is used for agriculture, this is an area about the size of South and North America combined. Agricultural areas have become anthropogenic (human-caused) ecosystems. When considering that humans have been engaging in agriculture for thousands of years and the exponential growth of the population, the impacts on the environment have been and will continue to be a challenge to the human race.
Percentage of Arable Land per Country (2006 CIA World Factbook data)
In reviewing the map above, you can see that the percentage of land that is arable land, land usable for agriculture, varies considerably among continents and countries. In the United States, the availability is still fairly good. Often too good, so that farmers are paid not to grow crops until there is a greater demand. Yet the growing human population and the use of food crops for fuel may change this demand very quickly.
Read over the Types of Agriculture below to investigate the fundamental agriculture methods.
Commercial Food Production
Producing food for the masses is highly dependent on the use of machinery and fossil fuels. The farm with a windmill is not how most of our food is produced. It is a highly technological process with many steps and players. There is a great separation between the farm and our table, so much so that many Americans have no idea where their food comes from. CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) produce the majority of our animal products and are far removed from the view of the average individual. And most elementary school students could not identify that bread is made from a plant.
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations
Review the diagram below to see a simplified model of how most food gets to us in this country.
The Green Revolution
The green revolution is the name coined by William Gaud for the period after World War II through the 1970s where there was a rapid development of new strains of crops with higher yields, new agricultural technologies, and a focus on the commercial production of food. Another goal of the green revolution was to increase production to decrease global starvation. The new hybrid strains that were developed during this time increased yields but also required greater use of fertilizers and much more water limiting their use in many impoverished regions.
Improved Irrigation
Irrigation, globally, has allowed crops to be grown where they were never grown before. California provides a large range of crops with a very high economic value and depends on an elaborate human-created water supply and irrigation system. Better irrigation techniques could continue to improve crop yield and reduce overall water use, as water demand is greatest for agriculture. Unfortunately, the most efficient irrigation methods, like drip irrigation, are also the most expensive and are unlikely to support agriculture in countries where there is the greatest need and hunger.
Use of Fertilizers
Traditionally, farmers combated the decline in soil fertility by using organic fertilizers, such as animal manure. These have the advantage of improving both the chemical and physical characteristics of the soil. Then the development of industrially produced fertilizers, commonly called "chemical" or "artificial" fertilizers, was a major factor in the great increases in crop production during the green revolution. A further advance was the development of the industrial processes to convert molecular nitrogen gas in the atmosphere to nitrate that can be used directly by plants. Artificial fertilizers have the benefit that nitrogen, phosphorus, and other elements can be combined in proportions that are appropriate for specific crops and specific locations.
What We Eat
There are over a half-million identified plant species on Earth but fewer than 3,000 are grown as crops with only 150 species cultivated on a large scale. Most of the world's food is provided by only 14 crop species. These crops are wheat, rice, maize (corn), potatoes, sweet potatoes, manioc, sugarcane, sugar beet, common beans, soybeans, barley, sorghum, coconuts, and bananas. The majority of the World's population gets most of its calories from wheat, rice, and maize. Further, most of the human population does not routinely have access to high-quality protein (meat).
New Crops
The development of new crops has been a continuing process in the history of agriculture. As people spread around the world, new crops were discovered and transported from one area to another. The process of introduction and development of new crops from wild plants continues and offers considerable potential. Although new crops are unlikely to replace current crop species as major food sources in this century, there is great interest in new crops to increase production in marginal areas and to increase the production of non-food products, such as oils.
Food Insecurity
The world food supply is also greatly influenced by social disruptions and social attitudes, which affect the environment and in turn affect agricultural supply. Social instability makes sustained agricultural yields difficult, perhaps as much as negative changes in weather. When the food supply is interrupted by diminished agriculture, social instability, or limited economic access, food insecurity follows.
Famine is defined as prolonged and severe food shortages in a geographic region. Famine has been a constant of humanity regardless of food production. It has been a global concern ever since it has been at levels to prevent it. Africa remains the continent with the most acute food shortages, due to adverse weather, drought most notably, and social instability. Poverty limits access to food locally by the cost and access, as well as globally as wealthy nations can always trade food regardless of the consequences of weather.
Food insecurity leads to undernourishment, either obviously during famines or through malnourishment, which is often slower and hidden. The impairments of malnourishment can lead to acute and chronic medical conditions and, perhaps the most insidious, lower productivity. The chronic lack of adequate calories and or nutrients lends itself to many significant and life-threatening diseases, the inability to be an effective and productive member of society, and the opportunity to move out of poverty. This becomes a perpetual cycle that people are unable to move out of until they have continuous food security.
People "starve" in two ways: undernourishment and malnourishment. Undernourishment results from a lack of sufficient calories in available food so that one has little or no ability to move or work and eventually dies from the lack of energy. Malnourishment results from a lack of specific chemical components of food, such as proteins, vitamins, or other essential chemical elements. Both are global problems.
Global Hunger Index (GHI) by Severity (2012)
The supply of protein has been the major nutritional-quality problem. Eating animals provides the easiest high-quality protein food source for people, but depending on animals for protein raises several questions of values, including many ecological ones. CAFOs supply most of our protein, but some cultures rely on the ocean for their high-quality protein. For an anti-meat perspective watch, PETA's video Meet your Meat or the Meatrix videos series (available in the sidebar).
Self Assessment: Flash Cards
Complete a set of interactive flashcards. Click here for the instruction and vocabulary sheet and use these flashcards to help you study.
Links to an external site.
Global Malnutrition
RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.