Feeding the World

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts related to nutrition, agricultural practices, food security, and sustainability discussed in the lecture on Feeding the World.

Undernutrition

A condition where nutritional needs are not met, affecting 3 billion people worldwide.

Malnourished

Lacks the correct balance of proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals.

Chronic Hunger

A state where not enough calories are ingested, leading to increased disease susceptibility and poor brain development in children.

Overnutrition

A condition characterized by excessive caloric intake and improper foods, leading to health risks like Type II diabetes and heart disease.

Food Security

A situation where people have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food.

Kwashiorkor

A severe lack of protein that causes edema, most common in developing nations.

Anemia

A condition resulting from a lack of iron, recognized as the most widespread nutritional deficiency.

Conventional Agriculture

Agricultural practices that utilize machinery and less human labor, enabling high levels of production.

Monocropping

Growing a large amount of a single species of plant, beneficial for efficiency but leads to vulnerability.

Shifting Agriculture

A farming method involving rotating fields to allow soil recovery but causing environmental impacts like erosion.

Nomadic Grazing

The practice of moving herds to find productive grazing grounds, with low environmental impact but low yields.

Green Revolution

A period marked by huge agricultural advancements using industrial techniques to improve food production.

Energy Subsidy

The fossil fuel energy and human energy input required per calorie of food produced.

Bioaccumulation

The accumulation of substances, like pesticides, in living organisms over time.

Pesticide Treadmill

The cycle of developing pesticides, pests becoming resistant, and then creating new pesticides.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

Organisms whose DNA has been altered to exhibit traits not naturally theirs, leading to enhanced agricultural productivity.

Sustainable Agriculture

Farming practices that meet current food and fiber needs while enhancing soil quality and minimizing resource use.

Integrated Pest Management

A strategy that uses a mix of techniques to minimize pesticide use and manage pest populations.

Organic Agriculture

A method of farming that excludes synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, focusing on natural processes.

Waterlogging

A condition where soil remains underwater for long periods, impairing root growth because roots cannot obtain oxygen.

Salinization

A form of soil degradation that occurs when the small amount of salts in irrigation water becomes highly concentrated on the soil surface through evaporation.

Intercropping

The practice of planting two or more crop species in the same field at the same time to promote synergistic interactions, such as nitrogen fixation.

Crop Rotation

An agricultural technique in which crop species in a field are rotated from season to season to maintain soil fertility and disrupt pest cycles.

Agroforestry

An agricultural technique in which trees and vegetables are intercropped, allowing trees to act as windbreaks and reduce soil erosion.

No-Till Agriculture

A farming method in which farmers do not turn the soil between seasons, which helps reduce topsoil erosion and maintains soil microbiome health.

CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation)

Large indoor or outdoor structures designed to raise animals at very high densities, maximizing production efficiency but increasing waste management challenges.

Fishery

A commercially harvestable population of fish within a particular ecological region.

Bycatch

The unintentional catch of nontarget species, such as sharks, sea turtles, or dolphins, during commercial fishing operations.

Aquaculture

The farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, shellfish, and seaweeds in controlled environments to alleviate pressure on wild fisheries.

Desertification

The process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture.