Enviro 8.1

cash crops

Food and fiber crops grown to sell for profit rather than for use by local families or communities.

cisgenic organism

An organism that received DNA from a close relative, DNA that could have been acquired via traditional breeding.

fertilizer

A natural or synthetic mixture that contains nutrients that is added to soil to boost plant growth.

food desert

A locale where access to affordable, fresh, and nutritious food is limited or nonexistent.

food security

Having physical, social, and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food.

food self-sufficiency

The ability of an individual nation to grow enough food to feed its people.

food sovereignty

The ability of an individual nation to control its own food system.

genetic diversity

The heritable variation among individuals of a single population or within a species as a whole.

genetically modified organism (GMO)

Organism that has had its genetic information modified to give it desirable characteristics such as pest or drought resistance.

Green Revolution

A plant-breeding program in the mid-1900s that dramatically increased crop yields and paved the way for mechanized, large-scale agriculture.

industrial agriculture

Farming methods that rely on technology, synthetic chemical inputs, and economies of scale to increase productivity and profits.

intragenic organism

An organism whose own DNA has been edited.

malnutrition

A state of poor health that results from inappropriate caloric intake (too many or too few calories) or is deficient in one or more nutrients

monoculture

A farming method in which a single variety of one crop is planted, typically in rows over huge swaths of land, with large inputs of fertilizer, pesticides, and water.

pesticide

A natural or synthetic chemical that kills or repels plant or animal pests.

pesticide resistance

The ability of a pest to withstand exposure to a given pesticide; the result of natural selection favoring the survivors of an original population that was exposed to the pesticide.

transgenic organism

An organism that contains genes from another species.