1. Agriculture, Biotechnology, and the Future of Food
Chapter 10

2. Feeding the World More Food than People:
Current population is 7.2 billion
Expected to be 9 billion by 2050
We already produce more food per person
Food production is technology driven
Most arable lands are already in use and soils are in decline

4. Nutrition:
Undernutrition – not receiving enough calories
870 million are under nourished, mostly in developing nations
Food security – promising a safe, adequate, nutritious, and reliable food supply
50 million Americans are “food insecure”
Overnutrition – receiving to many calories
Mostly occurring in developed nations
Worldwide 400 million are obese
Malnourished – not receiving enough nutrients
Vitamins, minerals, and proteins
Disease can follow

6. Green Revolution:
Technology in the 1940s allowed for increased food production
Norman Borlaug received Nobel prize for contributions to agriculture
Developing countries were able to greatly increase crop yields
Green Revolution had mixed consequences
Positives for environment
Prevented some deforestation and conserved some land, biodiversity, and ecosystems
Negatives for environment
Pollution, loss of topsoil, decreased soil quality, increased monoculture, loss of biodiversity

8. Biofuels:
Biofuels – fuels derived for organic sources
Corn, algae, soybeans, palm oil
Ethanol – biofuel made from corn
Since 2007 subsidies have doubled production
Large amounts of corn being grown and sold for fuel not food causing riots in many nations

9. Sustainable Agriculture:
Sustainable agriculture – agriculture that doesn’t degrade or erode soil faster than it forms
Reduces pollution, protects genetic diversity
No-till and conservation are making agriculture more sustainable
Using less fossil fuel is important goal

10. Raising Animals for Food
Animal Products:
Food from crops makes up the majority of human diet
Most people eat animal products
Meat consumption is rising
As wealth increase consumption of meat, eggs, milk increase
Cropland is being converted to feedlots
Number of domestic animals raised for food increased from 7.2 billion in 1961 to 27.5 billion in 2011
Demand for meat expected to double by 2050

11. Food Choice is an Also an Energy Choice:
Eating plant based diet more efficient than eating meat based diet
90% of energy is lost from one tropic level to the next
Plant based diet can feed more people
Instead of feeding grain to livestock grain can be used to feed people directly
Land and water resources are needed to raise livestock
Chicken and eggs require the least
Beef requires the most
Different animal products have different ecological footprints

13. Feedlot Agriculture:
Feedlots – large areas where animals are raised
CAFO – concentrated animal feeding operation
Large warehouses or pens raising hundreds to thousands of animals at one time
Increases production, lowers costs
More than 50% of world’s pork and nearly all chicken is feedlot produced
45%of global grain goes to livestock
Positives of feedlot agriculture
Reduced need for grazing land
Increased food
Manure can be used for fertilizer

14. Negatives of feedlot agriculture
Excessive amounts of urine and manure to dispose of
Pollution of surface and groundwater and eutrophication possible, waterborne pathogens can lead to disease
So many animals leads to sickness and heavy use of antibiotics, evolution of antibiotic resistance microbes
Hormones and heavy metals feed to animals to encourage growth and meat volume which can be passed onto people
Feedlots produce odor and more greenhouse gas than vehicles

16. Seafood Aquaculture:
Fish populations worldwide are plummeting
Many population are on verge of collapse
Aquaculture – raising aquatic species in a similar way to land species
Open water pens or on land-based ponds

18. Positive impacts
Reliable food source
Can be sustainable
Reduces pressure of wild populations
Reduces bycatch
Energy efficient
Negative impacts:
Use of antibiotics necessary
Grain that could feed people directly is used to feed fish
Escaped fish could spread disease or compete for resources

19. Preserving Crop Diversity
Importance of Crop Diversity:
Native species protects against failure
Monoculture are vulnerable
Much genetic diversity has been lost
90% of diversity lost in fruits and vegetables crops in US

20. Seed Banks:
Seed banks – institutions that store and preserve various seed types
1400 seed banks worldwide storing 1 to 2 million distinct types of seeds
Svalbard Global Seed Vault
As known as the doomsday seed vault where millions of seeds are stored in case of a global catastrophe

21. Insects:
Some insects are pests, some are critical
There are 800 crops that need insects for pollination
Pollination – fertilization of female plant sex cells by male plant sex cells
Done by wind or animals (birds, bats, insects)
Bees provide $3 billion in pollination services every year just in the US
100 crops, nearly 1/3 of US diet, rely on bees for pollination

22. Colony collapse disorder – entire beehive disappears
Cause is unknown, but pesticides are suspected
Reducing pesticide use, planting flowering plants may help restore bee populations
10/12/2016 – 7 species of honeybees were placed on the Endangered Species List

23. “Pests” and Weeds”:
Pest – an organism that damages crops
Weed – any plant competing with crops
Poisons exist that kills specific nuisance species
Insecticide, pesticide, herbicide, fungicide
Worldwide use has quadrupled since 1960
US alone applies 900 million lbs. of pesticides each year
Resistance develops over time, toxicity increases as resistance develops, non target organisms are killed
Pest populations become more difficult to control

25. Biological Control:
Biological control (Biocontrol) – using a pests predator of parasites as a means of control
Parasitic wasps are a common control group
Control pests without chemicals
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) – a soil bacterium that kills some species of caterpillars, fly, and beetle larvae
Biocontrol risky, they can become pests especially if biocontrol is from foreign ecosystem
Biocontrol harder to halt than pesticide use
Biocontrol must be carefully planned and regulated

26. IPM:
Integrated pest management (IPM) – using mixed techniques to control pests
Monitoring pest population
Biocontrol
Chemicals, only if needed
Crop rotation
Using transgenic crops
IPM can increase crop yields, reduce pesticides, and save money

27. Organic Agriculture Organics:
Organic agriculture – agriculture practices using no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides and relying on biological methods like composting and biocontrol
Organic Food Production Act 1990 – established standards for organic products
In 2000, USDA issued criteria for products labeled organic
Farmer have lower input costs, more income from crop sales, pollution and soil degradation are reduced
Consumers have concerns about health effects of pesticides

29. Organic Agriculture is Booming:
Farmers can't meet demand
Worldwide sales tripled between 2000 and 2010
Nearly 2 million ha in US and 37 million ha worldwide are organic, but still less than 1% of total agricultural land
Two-thirds of all organic agricultural lands are in developing nations
European Union subsidizes farmers converting to organic farming
US offers no support for converting farmers, farmers lose income
Organic farming is as profitable as conventional farming

30. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO):
Biotechnology – applying biological science for the creation of products coming from organisms
Biotechnology has created medicines, cleared pollution, dissolved blood clots
Genetic engineering – manipulating genetic material by adding, deleting, or modifying DNA
GMO have had their recombinant DNA (DNA patched from multiple organisms)

32. Genetic Engineering:
Traditional breeding changes organisms through selective breeding
Done by selectively breeding for specific traits which allows genes to combine naturally
Genetic engineering mixes genes of different species
Done in the lab, directly combining genes

33. Genetically Modified Food
GM Food:
GM food is big business
90% of US corn, soybean, cotton, and canola are GM
Benefits of GM food
Bigger crop yield, lower costs
Less irrigation, deforestation, and land conversion
Less greenhouse gas produced through no-till farming
Less need for insecticides or herbicides

34. Impacts of GM food
People, lawmakers, scientists are becoming concerned over possible impacts to human health
Escape of transgenes and their impact on non-target organisms
Pests could become resistant
Integrity of native species could be ruined

35. Local Agriculture:
Farmers’ markets – produce and meats provided from local farmers
Most food travels hundreds of miles
Community-supported agriculture (CSA) - consumers pay in advance guaranteeing farmers an income and ensuring fresh food for themselves