1. Integration of Science & Policy LSU Chancellor Michael Martin Photo from media.2theadvocate.com Baton Rouge Mayor-President Kip Holden Photo from media.2theadvocate.com Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (Republican) Photo from Wikipedia U. S. President Barack Obama (Democrat) Photo from Wikipedia

2. Photo of Hutchinson from Yale Peabody Archives The most practical lasting benefit science can now offer is to teach man to avoid destruction of his own environment, and how, by understanding himself with true humility and pride, to find ways to avoid injuries that at present he inflicts on himself with such devastating energy. (1943) Integration of Science & Policy is not new… G. Evelyn Hutchinson (1903 – 1991)

3. "Eat food [not highly-processed, food-like material]. Not too much. Mostly plants." Recommended books Images of book jackets from Amazon.com

4. Photo from Wikipedia Michael Pollan (b. 1955) The Botany of Desire (2001) The Omnivores Dilemma (2006) In Defense of Food (2008) Food Rules: An Eaters Manual (2009) Books Featured in the Movie Food, Inc. The Omnivores Dilemma

5. Image of U. S. Department of Agriculture Food Pyramid from Wikipedia The Omnivores Dilemma When you can eat just about anything nature has to offer, deciding what you should eat will inevitably stir anxiety, especially when some of the potential foods on offer are liable to sicken or kill you (Pollan 2006)

6. Photo of combine harvesting corn from http://www.veganforum.com Our modern diet Industrial agriculture has supplanted a complete reliance on the sun for our calories with… a food chain that draws much of its energy from fossil fuels i.e., the industrial food chain (Pollan 2006)

7. Photos of Chicken McNuggets® (c. 1997) and ice cream (gelato) from Wikipedia Our modern diet The corn (and petroleum)-based origin of much of our food is cryptic

8. Image of corn (Poaceae: Zea mays) & photo of Friesian-Holstein cow from Wikipedia Record-setting yields through artificial selection

9. Images from Wikipedia Record-setting yields require heavy inputs of fuel, fertilizers, antibiotics, etc. When humankind acquired the power to fix N, the basis of soil fertility shifted from a total reliance on energy of the sun to a new reliance on fossil fuel (Pollan 2006) N 2 + Energy from = Ammonia (NH 3 ) Oil

10. Photo of corn monoculture from Wikipedia Record-setting yields require heavy inputs of fuel, fertilizers, antibiotics, etc. Fertilizer opens the way to monoculture… fixing N allowed the food chain to turn from… biology… [to] industry… humanity began to sip petroleum It takes more than a calorie of fossil fuel energy to produce a calorie of food (Pollan 2006)

11. Image of most recent Farm Bill logo from: www.ky.nrcs.usda.gov; statistics from Batie (2009) Case study: U.S. Farm Bills U.S. farm policy dramatically impacts the environment (e.g., ecosystem services), economics (globally through trade), human health, etc… Farms & ranches are managed by <2% of the U.S. population, yet the lands account for ~50% of total acreage

12. Image of most recent Farm Bill logo from: www.ky.nrcs.usda.gov; statistics from Batie (2009) Case study: U.S. Farm Bills At least 10 omnibus bills (provisions that amend or modify other existing laws, or that establish new laws) that became acts of Congress since mid-20 th century Food, Conservation & Energy Act of 2008

13. Photo from www.countryliving.com Case study: U.S. Farm Bills Owing to changes in farm bills since ~1950s, instead of supporting farmers, the government was now subsidizing every bushel of corn a farmer could grow… In October 2005 it cost ~$2.50 to grow a bushel (8 gallons) of corn in Iowa, but Iowa grain elevators were paying $1.45/bushel; the U.S. government more than made up the difference through direct subsidy payments This is a system designed to keep production high and prices low Pollan (2006) Who especially benefits from this subsidy?

14. Photo from http://uwstudentweb.uwyo.edu Case study: U.S. Farm Bills The glut of surplus corn: floods world markets with cheap corn – contributing to the demise of farmers overseas (thereby increasing poverty)

15. Photo from Wikipedia Case study: U.S. Farm Bills The glut of surplus corn: makes Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) economically viable

16. Case study: U.S. Farm Bills The glut of surplus corn: fuels food corporations with cheap material with which to make cheap, unhealthy processed food We break down [corn]… into… component parts [e.g., high-fructose corn syrup] and then reassemble them into high-value-added food systems (Pollan 2006) Photos from Wikipedia

17. Case study: U.S. Farm Bills The glut of surplus corn: contributes to obesity and diet-related disease (e.g., type II diabetes) When yields rise, the market is flooded… price collapses… clever marketers… figure out [how]… to induce the human omnivore to consume the surfeit of cheap calories (Pollan 2006) Photos from Wikipedia

18. Case study: U.S. Farm Bills The glut of surplus corn: contributes to obesity and diet-related disease (e.g., type II diabetes) It behooved our hunter-gatherer ancestors to feast whenever the opportunity presented itself, allowing them to build up reserves of fat against future famine… it is the amped-up energy density of processed foods that gets omnivores like us into trouble (Pollan 2006) Photos from Wikipedia

19. Alternatives? Industrial organic is not much different from traditional industrial agriculture Image from http://extoxnet.orst.edu

20. Alternatives? Local organic Photo from http://activerain.com

21. Alternatives? Minimal packaging (often associated with minimal processing & minimal travel distance) Photo of sweet corn from Wikipedia & photo of processed, canned corn from www.generalmills.com Vs.