Geography and Agriculture: Von Thunen’s Model Mr Kuhn

Who Was Johann Heinrich von Thunen? Johann Heinrich von Thunen was a economist, geographer, and farmer who was born in Northern Germany Before making his now famous model, he created a formula which explained how to use land most efficiently in terms of city/state organization In 1842, Johann Heinrich von Thunen published his model in “The Isolated State”

What is the Model? Von Thunen’s Model was created to make an efficient system of land use based on four rings The system was based on four rings based around the market or city and focused on how to keep farmed goods fresh and in doing so improve their value In the center was the city, followed by dairy and gardens, followed by natural forests, followed by grain farming, and lastly by livestock ranching

Market/City At the center of Von Thunen’s model was the city or market Most important to the entire model is the city as this is the place where the majority of people live and thus most of the profits take place in this area In 2010, just 250 cities were responsible for 84% of the GDP in the United States Cities and Marketplaces were even more important when this model was created as there were far fewer

Gardening and Dairy Von Thunen argued that the land closest to the city should be reserved for farmers responsible for items that spoil quickly Von Thunen classified these items in two categories: Gardens: Vegetables, fruits, and other grown items that spoil quickly once removed from the ground or tree Dairy: Liquid milk should be placed extremely close to city followed shortly by solid dairy products such as cheese It is important to note that unlike today, there was no refrigerated means of transportation and houses did not have refrigerators (The first refrigerator for domestic use was created in 1913)

Forest Perhaps the only ring that no longer exists in Von Thunen’s model is a living forest When Von Thunen created his model wood was extremely important for building, heating houses, and cooking food In addition to being very useful, wood was also very difficult to move before modern technology so it was important that it was close to the city For these reasons, the forest was the second ring in Von Thunen’s model

Grain Farming Grains include wheat, rice, oats, barley, ect Grain was placed far way from the city center for many reasons Most importantly, grains are very durable and can survive long distances before they begin to spoil Secondly, grains are generally light and not bulky in terms of transportation so they could be carried more conveniently than wood

Livestock Ranching Livestock ranching was placed furthest away from the city as meat could be preserved and needed large farming plots to take place Even today, the closer one is to the city center, the more expensive the land is to buy With the amount of land needed it was not practical to place livestock close to the city Moreover, many farmers could walk/herd their animals closer to the city where the slaughterhouses were located

Challenges and Assumptions While Von Thunen’s Model is extremely important and is still studied today it is not perfect Von Thunen’s Model does not consider: The soil quality and climate of a city The landscape of the land including mountains, plains, and water Other trading partners a city may have (Von Thunen identifies his city as a “Isolated State”) Farmers considering either elements aside from pure profit

Today in the text… Intensive vs Extensive Farming Modern Challenges to the Model California and the Garden State America Has Way too Much Corn Sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup Subsidies, Obesity, and Mexican Coke