AIM: How do geographers look at agriculture? Do Now: Draw a diagram showing how food travels from the farm to where it is sold.

So what? Agricultural investigation is concerned with economic, cultural, and biological relationships…

Agriculture “deliberate modification of the Earth’s surface through cultivation of plants and rearing of animals to obtain sustenance or economic gain. Agriculture thus originated when humans domesticated plants and animals for their use…”

A better definition “purposeful tending of crops and livestock.” [H.H. McCarty & J.B. Lindberg, A Preface to Economic Geography, (1966) p. 204.

An interesting issue Sugar In The Raw natural cane turbinado sugar is grown and cut exclusively in the tropics. There, nature's own sweetener is gently converted into the natural crystals that make Sugar In The Raw. – Sugar in the Raw Website In Jamaica, one can visit an active sugar plantation, and tour a museum made from an old plantation mansion.

One day, you visit this museum and then travel to a café a mile a way for lunch. Imagine sitting down at that café and ordering an unsweetened Iced Tea. You prefer it sweet but like having control over how sweet it is. How far do you think the sugar you used traveled in order to get from the plantation to your drink?

3154 Miles!!!

Steps in the Food System 1. Getting Ready to Grow Food 2. Growing the Food 3. Moving Food from the Field 4. Bring the food to a processing plant. 5. Process the food and sell it to a retailer. 6. Ship the food to the retailer. 7. Retailer restocks their shelves. 8. Customer buys food and brings it to where it will be consumed.

Agriculture & Rural Land Use – Key Topics Commercial Agriculture Subsistence Agriculture Primarily for purpose of selling products for money, often monocultures for economies of scale Primarily for direct consumption by a local population, usually small scale and low tech DISCUSSION: * How does commercial agriculture differ from subsistence production? * Is commercial agriculture equivalent to agribusiness?

Intensive Land Use Extensive Land Use Small-area farms or ranches High inputs of labor & high output per acre Rice paddies, southeast China Cattle ranch, northeast Colorado Extensive Land Use DISCUSSION: * How does "intensive" agriculture differ from "labor-intensive" and "capital-intensive" agriculture? Large-area farms or ranches Low inputs of labor & low output per acre

Large amount of human work is applied per unit of output Labor-Intensive Agriculture Large amount of human work is applied per unit of output Top picture – Labor-intensive corn raising in central Mexico. Bottom picture – Corn exported from capital-intensive U.S. farms to the Mexican market Capital-Intensive Agriculture DISCUSSION: * In what other areas of the developed world is productivity increased by utilizing capital vs. labor intensive practices? Large amount of capital (equipment and buildings used to produce other goods) is applied per unit of output

Subsistence – predominantly low-income regions Intensive subsistence – subtropical monsoon areas Shifting cultivation – tropical forests & savannas Nomadic herding – semiarid and arid lands Commercial – predominantly high-income regions Crop farming – more humid climates Livestock ranching - drylands

Probable culture-hearths of agriculture First Agricultural Revolution Invention of farming & domestication of livestock (8,000–14,000 years ago) + diffusion from several source regions = shift from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies DISCUSSION: * What types of technical innovations made the First Agricultural Revolution possible? Probable culture-hearths of agriculture

Second Agricultural Revolution Technological changes (starting 1600s in Western Europe; spread by 1800s to North America) Began with new methods: crop rotation, better horse collars Later innovations: replace human labor with machines, supplement natural fertilizers & pesticides with chemical Beginnings of commercialization of agriculture (production of surplus for trade); enabled widespread urbanization DISCUSSION: * How do machines like the one featured here boost agricultural production? * How does rotating crops assist in boosting agricultural production?

Is Farming worth it? Read; “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race” By Jared Diamond 1. What is the “progressivst view” What are 3 pieces of evidence that farming has actually hurt us? How much time do Bushmen spend foraging for food?

Bushmen of the Kalahari

Sustainable Agriculture Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals: environmental stewardship, farm profitability, and prosperous farming communities. Farmers who own work in sustainable agriculture try to limit their carbon footprint, recycle crop waste, and sell their crop at local markets.

AIM: How do farming practices vary around the world? Do Now: Copy the Vocabulary Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals: environmental stewardship, farm profitability, and prosperous farming communities. Farmers who own work in sustainable agriculture try to limit their carbon footprint, recycle crop waste, and sell their crop at local markets.

Read the Article: “How far does food travel to get to your plate?” Answer questions 1-5 on the handout.

Awesome Vocabulary Acre: An acre is a measurement of land. One acre comprises 4,840 square yards or 43,560 square feet. A square that is 208 feet and 9 inches long on each side could surround an acre. There are 640 acres in each square mile

How different would life in the USA have been if 40 acres and a mule had happened?

40 acres and a mule All freed slaves were supposed to receive 40 acres and a mule after the Civil War as a way to get a “leg up” on starting a life as a free person. How many soccer fields would that equal?

Geographers look at Agriculture in different ways Subsistence or commercial – (most important differentiation) Nomadic or sedentary Diversified or specialized Extensive or intensive This is how Professor Glasgow viewed agriculture.

Awesome Vocabulary Hectare: a hectare is a metric area measurement. It is 100 meters (109.36 yards) by 100 meters.

When and where did agriculture originate?

The Neolithic Revolution 10,000-6,000 years ago The earliest hearth was the Fertile Crescent in Southwest Asia.

Types of Cultivation Vegetative Planting – cutting, cloning and dividing roots (As an aside the apples we eat are from two trees. There is the tree that provides the root system and the trunk. The branches from which the fruit is obtained are from cuttings from other trees. The fruit thus born comes from two trees. Why? Fruit from trees grown from seeds are not very palatable. The combining of the fruit from two trees makes them worth eating.)

How grafting works

Wild Banana vs. Edible Banana

Question Agricultural Hearths. The first vegetative plantings were probably from SE Asia. Why? “The practice originated primarily in Southeast Asia according to Carl Sauer. Two other early centers of vegetative planting were in West Africa and in northwestern South America. From these hearths, the practice diffused to other regions.”

Explanation Primary food was via fishing which allows for a more sedentary lifestyle.

Seed agriculture. First seed agriculture probably had 3 hearths, Western India, north China & Ethiopia. “That agriculture had multiple origins means that, from earliest times, people have produced food in distinctive ways in different regions. This diversity derives from a unique legacy of wild plants, climatic conditions, and multiple preferences in each region.”

Classifying Agricultural Regions There are fundamental differences between agriculture in LDCs, where production is fundamentally for their own consumption, with MDCs, where much of the produce is sold. % of Farmers in Work Force: LDC’s c. 50% while MDC’s <10%. Differences in the use of machinery Differences in Farm Size

How do agricultural regions originate? The crop chosen is a result of a variety of factors: environmental, practical and psychological. Every region is unique and has its own reasons for their existence of their crops. The process of developing into recognizable regions are however similar.

How are animals domesticated?