Factors Affecting Food Supply and Production Food Supply Chain Factors Affecting Food Supply and Production Environmental and Biotechnology

Biotechnology in Food Production

Biotechnology i) Bovine Growth Hormone Can be injected into cows to have them increase mile production by 8-17%

Biotechnology rBGH is banned in Canada, Japan, and Australia

Biotechnology Concerns Cancer risk: Colon, Prostate, Breast Antibiotic Resistance A tool for factory farms: in the US 22% of cows injected with rBGH

Biotechnology ii) Packaging to produce spoiling Plastic wrap and other food packing can help prevent food from spoiling

Biotechnology Natural antibiotic substances combine with biodegradable polymers to create food wraps that prevent biofilm formation Some are even edible! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVYpmXR Hu00

Biotechnology iii) Golden Rice Engineered in 2005, produced 23 times the B- carotene of original rice Can be used to combat vitamin A deficiency

Environmental Factors and Food Supply

Environmental i) Pesticides The industrial age introduced manufactured pesticides and fertilizers

Environmental Pros: Control Disease Can lead to increased food production Saves 8% of crops annually Cons: Can kill beneficial insects Runoff chemicals can run into streams/lakes 1-5 million people affected by poisoning

Environmental ii) Irradiation: Process of treating food with radiation, process slowly halts spoilage

Environmental iii) Fertilizer: Added to soil to supply one o more nutrient (P,N, K) Conservative estimations guess that 30-50% of crop yields are due to commercial fertilizer

GMOs