GEOG - Module 7 | For Exam 3

Commercial Agriculture

Large-scale farming producing crops and livestock for profit on regional, national, or global markets using heavy mechanization and chemical inputs (e.g., massive corporate corn, soybean, or cattle operations).

Subsistence Agriculture

Small-scale, low-tech, self-sufficient farming focused on producing food for household and local consumption rather than profit (e.g., smallholder plots, neighborhood trade, local farmers markets).

Agricultural Labor Force (Direct vs. Indirect)

World Bank definition covers all working-age people in agriculture, hunting, forestry, and fishing. In the US, 5.2 million work directly on farms, while 22 million work in the broader food system (seed companies, agrochemicals, university researchers, equipment engineers).

US Agricultural Productivity Shifts

Mechanization pushed US food output to an all-time high while shrinking the farm labor force. Historically 1 farmer fed

US Farm Consolidation & Scale

The US has

Agribusiness

The integrated network of corporations providing goods, inputs, processing, and services to support industrial agriculture (e.g., John Deere, Monsanto/Bayer, Tyson Foods).

Economies of Scale

Cost-per-unit savings gained by increasing total production volume and spreading fixed equipment and input costs over larger agricultural outputs.

Five Components of Agribusiness

1) Inputs (seeds, fertilizers, tractors), 2) Primary Production (farms, ranches, fisheries), 3) Processing & Manufacturing (turning corn/potatoes into chips, crackers, or biofuels), 4) Distribution & Logistics (cold storage, warehousing, trucking), 5) Retail & Marketing (supermarkets, restaurants, exports).

Organic Agriculture & 4 Core Prohibitions

Crop and livestock farming without synthetic inputs. Strictly bans: 1) GMOs (seeds/feed), 2) Synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, 3) Sewage sludge (biosolids) as fertilizer, and 4) Ionizing radiation (irradiation) for preservation.

Organic Access & Food Inequality

Because certified organic foods cost more and supermarkets locate unevenly, access depends heavily on neighborhood wealth and geography rather than just individual consumer choice.

Chronic Undernourishment

Prolonged inability to consume enough calories and nutrients to maintain a healthy life; impedes childhood development, weakens immune systems, and destabilizes communities (e.g., 11% went hungry globally in 2016; contributes to

Five Global Causes of Hunger

1) Poverty trap (sickness prevents work/income), 2) Climate & weather extremes (droughts/floods destroying harvests), 3) War & displacement (farmers forced to flee land), 4) Unstable markets (sudden staple food price spikes), and 5) Food waste (1/3 of all global food is wasted).

Food Insecurity

Household-level limited or uncertain access to adequate food, affecting 48 million Americans (including 14 million children) annually (e.g., populations served by Feeding America food banks).

USDA Food Security Levels

1) High Food Security (no access problems), 2) Marginal/Medium (anxiety over food shortages, no diet change), 3) Low (reduced quality/variety of diet, same intake), 4) Very Low (disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake).

Food Desert

A low-income neighborhood or region with limited access to fresh, nutritious food, forcing reliance on gas stations and convenience stores selling processed, nutrient-poor food.

Food Desert Dual Thresholds (USDA)

1) Low-Income Threshold: 20%+ poverty rate OR median family income at or below 80% of area median. 2) Low-Access Threshold: 33%+ of population (or 500+ people) lives more than 1 mile from a supermarket in urban areas, or more than 10 miles (often 10-20 miles) in rural areas.

Spatial Causes of Food Deserts

Suburban zoning and land-use policies attract major grocery chains to wealthy suburbs while retailers avoid low-income urban areas (perceived lower spending power) and rural areas (low population density).

Urban Agriculture

Cultivating crops or raising small livestock within city limits on vacant lots, converted brownfields, or rooftops for self-consumption, community trade, or local retail in food deserts.

Food Sovereignty

The right of peoples and communities to culturally appropriate, ecologically sustainable food and democratic control over their own food systems (highlighted in the film Gather).

Four Pillars of Food Sovereignty

1) Local control of food production over corporate dictates, 2) Protection of Indigenous knowledge and heirloom seeds, 3) Fair/equitable systems prioritizing people over corporate profit, and 4) Ecologically sustainable farming protecting soil and water.

Food Security vs. Food Sovereignty

Food security focuses on reliable access regardless of source ("Do people have enough food?"); Food sovereignty focuses on democratic power and ownership ("Who decides what food is produced, how it is grown, and who has access?").

Nephi Craig (Gather Example)

White Mountain Apache chef who built Café Gozhóó using ancestral ingredients, showing how reclaiming traditional foodways fosters physical nutrition, cultural identity, and healing from historical trauma.

Yurok Youth & Salmon (Gather Example)

Young Yurok advocates fighting to remove hydroelectric dams and restore Klamath River ecosystems to save native Salmon populations, proving river restoration is a cultural survival issue.

Elsie DuBray & Bison (Gather Example)

Young Lakota scientist working with her family to restore native Buffalo (Bison) herds on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation by uniting Western science with Indigenous ecological knowledge.

Twila Cassadore & Gloscho (Gather Example)

San Carlos Apache elder teaching younger generations traditional foraging of wild desert plants/seeds and hunting Gloscho (desert woodrat) to preserve marginalized ancestral survival skills.

Food Sovereignty as Environmental Justice

Connects to EJ through: 1) Distribution (access to land/clean water/traditional foods), 2) Recognition (respecting Indigenous knowledge), 3) Participation (decision-making power over rivers/wildlife), and 4) Repair & Self-Determination (supporting Indigenous-led solutions).