Unit 3: Food and Agriculture Flashcards

A collection of vocabulary flashcards derived from lecture slides covering global food supply trends, soil health, erosion types, modern agricultural inputs, GMOs, and sustainable farming methods.

Food Security

Having reliable access to enough safe and nutritious food every day.

Famines

Widespread food shortages leading to severe hunger, social crisis, and economic chaos.

Amartya Sen's Observation on Famine

The rule stating that major famines do not occur in democratic nations with a free press.

Great Chinese Famine

The deadliest famine in history ($1959-1961$), caused by political policies and drought, resulting in $20$ to $50$ million deaths.

Malnourishment

A health condition caused by a lack of specific essential nutrients.

Kwashiorkor

A severe child malnutrition disorder caused specifically by a lack of protein.

Marasmus

A severe form of malnutrition caused by a lack of both protein and calories.

Goiter

A swollen thyroid gland caused by an iodine deficiency in the diet.

Harvard Food Pyramid

A nutrition guide built on daily exercise, prioritizing whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats.

Obesity

Being severely overweight, defined as more than $20\text{\%}$ over ideal body weight.

Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO)

An industrial farm where thousands of animals are housed in crowded conditions and fed corn and soy for rapid growth.

Aquaculture

Farming aquatic organisms like fish in controlled water environments for food.

Soil

A complex, living mixture of minerals, organic matter, water, air, and organisms.

Idealized Soil Profile

A cross-section of soil showing distinct layers: organic matter, topsoil, eluviated layer, subsoil, and parent rock.

Sheet Erosion

Soil loss occurring when thin, uniform layers of topsoil are washed away by water.

Rill Erosion

Soil loss occurring when small streams of running water carve small channels in the soil surface.

Gully Erosion

Soil loss occurring when small water channels expand into large gullies or ravines.

Streambank Erosion

The washing away of soil along the banks of streams on farmland.

Waterlogging

Soil saturation with water that deprives plant roots of oxygen and kills them, drowning

Salinization

The accumulation of toxic salts in soil as irrigation water evaporates.

Green Revolution

The 20th-century agricultural boom that dramatically increased crop yields using modern crop varieties, synthetic fertilizers, irrigation, and pesticides.

Genetic Engineering

Directly inserting a gene from one organism into the DNA of another.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

Living organisms whose DNA has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.

Bt Crops

Crops genetically engineered with bacterial genes to produce their own natural insecticide.

Roundup-Ready Crops

Genetically engineered crops modified to survive spraying with glyphosate herbicide.

Sustainable Agriculture

Farming methods designed to produce food while protecting and restoring the environment.

Contour Plowing

Plowing along the natural curves of sloped land to slow water runoff and soil erosion.

Strip-farming

Growing different crops in alternating strips along land curves to prevent soil erosion.

Terracing

Cutting flat steps into steep hillsides to retain water and hold soil in place.

Cover Crops

Plants like clover or rye planted after harvest to hold and protect the soil from erosion.

Locavore

A consumer who primarily buys and eats food produced locally.

Organic (O) layer

decomposing leaves and organics

Topsoil (A)

organic matter, organisms, roots and inorganic minerals

Elvviated (E)

“washed out layer” has clay and humi acids leached to lower layers

Subsoil (B)

enriched in clays and other materials, leached from upper layers

what layer does most of our foos come from

Topsoil, which is rich in organic matter and nutrients, is essential for food production.

what are the two types of degradation

soil and chemical

is water or wind the leading cause of soil loss

water is the leading cause of soil loss or erison

What can wind erosion lead to

deserification

What are major elements needed by plants

nitrogen, potassium, phosphours, calcium, magenisem, and sulfur