SUST 2000 EXAM 2

3 major ways food connects with our environment

food choices transform landscapes, environmental problems enter our food supply, town and country… the rural — urban divide

agrarian myth of food production

food production is renewable

Neolithic revolution

10,000 BCE, beginning of human “cultural ecology”, intensive gathering, controlled burning, crop rotation, a sense of place-based community, maladaptation, disease of civilization, class hierarchy and place based precocity

Columbian Exchange

1492-1800s Colonialism as ecosystem engineering Food Culture = exchange

Industrial Revolution

1910s to present, Production, Productivist ideology, Factory Farms, Consumption

Green Revolution

1940s to 1980s, globalization of industrial agriculture, plant breeding, irrigation - dams, synthetic fertilizer, agrochemical and pharmaceuticals, norman borlaug, bioaccumulation, DDT, rachel carson

4 Main components of the Green Revolution

plant breeding, irrigation, synthetic fertilizer, agrochemical and pharmaceuticals

3 main critiques of Green Revolution

Technological Treadmill— requires farmers to invest in new technology to stay competitive

Pesticide Treadmill — chemicals vs. biological controls

Biomagnification up the food chain — bioaccumulation and unintended consequences of purposive social actions

Ecological Farming

respected nature, the land, healthy relationship

Industrial Farming

convenience, mass-produced, standardized, wrapped, durable, mobile, reduction of biodiversity, monocropping

Ethical questions surrounding both GMOs and organic agriculture

GMO questions: Is it natural? Is it sustainable? Can it be equitable?

Sustainable questions: Is it scalable? What is natural? Is it just for the privileged?

How are industrial food ways and chains becoming consolidated?

vertical integration, ownership of supply chain supplied by a few major companies, leverage points - behind the brands campaign

What company manages food services on AU’s campus?

Aramark

5 biggest environmental problems caused by food and agriculture

greenhouse gases, land use, freshwater use, eutrophication, biodiversity

How does the distance travelled by food versus eating red meat compare, in terms of their GHG emissions?

The production of red meat still creates way more GHG emissions than eating food from across the world. Carbon footprint not really about food miles, is about the production - about the beef

Locavore

eat local consider food miles, is about the production

Flexitarian

semi-vegetarian diet is one that is primary vegetarian with the occasional inclusion of meat or fish

Freegan

dumpster divers, a person who rejects consumerism and seeks to help the environment by reducing waste, especially by retrieving and using discarded food and other goods

What are some ways to produce beef-type products that don’t use cattle?

Faux veggie burgers - beyond burger, lab grown meat, ground up insects as protein ingredients

Food policy approaches: farm subsidies

corn ethanol, food or fuel debate, food dumping, renewable?, law of unintended consequences

Food policy approaches: pastureland vs. vertical farming

disconnected to nature

Food policy approaches: alternative food movement

Urban gardening, community supported agriculture, really about community-building

Food policy approaches: food waste

Can it scale up? unsold food laws, composting/food recycling, freegans, dumpster divers

Food policy approaches: consumerism-based reform

clean labels

Food desert

an urban area in which it’s difficult to buy affordable or good quality fresh food

Pro’s of vertical farming

efficient land use, higher yields

Con’s of vertical farming

high startup and operational cost

Pros of eating and raising insects

high in protein and nutritional

Cons of eating and raising insects

potential chemical contamination from pesticides and environmental risks

What makes a crop organic?

grown and processed without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides

What is a GMO?

an organism whose genetic material (DNA) has been altered using genetic engineering techniques

How is roundup ready corn detrimental?

associated with an increase in glyphosate use, which has been linked to health and environmental issues, including the development of superweeds 

What is golden rice and how is it beneficial?

genetically modified rice that contains betacarotene 

How do nitrogen fixing plants work?

by forming a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria (like Rhizobia) that convert atmospheric nitrogen into a usable form for the plant

How is synthetic fertilizer different from non-synthetic fertilizer with respect to GHG emissions?

synthetic fertilizers have higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to non-synthetic (organic) fertilizers due to both their production and application processes

what does organic architecture use?

natural materials like wood, stone, and earth, and often combines them with man-made materials like steel and glass

Gray Infrastructure

traditional, engineered systems designed to manage water by quickly collecting and moving it away from an area

Green Infrastructure

a network of natural and semi-natural areas and other green features that provide environmental, social, and economic benefits

Sprawl

uncontrolled expansion of low-density, car-dependent development into surrounding rural areas

Nature Deficit Disorder

a reduced connection between people and the natural world

What are the 3 Es of sustainability for green infrastructure design? 

Environment, Economy, and Equity

What trends are we seeing with world human population movement before the 1950s with
respect to urban and rural development?

a major shift from predominantly rural populations to increasingly urban ones

What trend are we seeing with world human population movement since the 1950s with
respect to urban and rural development? What transformation happened in the 1950’s to cause this?

massive shift of population from rural to urban areas

bio-capacity

the ability of an ecosystem to produce useful biological materials and absorb waste generated by humans

ecological overshoot

when humanity's demand for natural resources exceeds the planet's ability to regenerate them

urban growth boundary

a planning tool that establishes a line to separate urban and rural areas, controlling urban sprawl by limiting city expansion and preserving surrounding natural and agricultural lands

complete street

integrating green infrastructure

biophilia

the hypothesis that humans have an innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other life forms

productive landscapes

areas designed to be economically and ecologically functional, integrating elements like agriculture, forestry, and energy infrastructure with community and ecological benefits

adaptive reuse

the process of repurposing an existing building for a new function, rather than demolishing it

Se’s only ‘living building’ location

The Kendeda Building at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia

Kendeda Building

net-positive energy and water systems, use of passive design strategies, and innovative water conservation methods, including on-site water treatment and a 330 kW solar canopy

Cultural commodification

using a place’s culture and the culture artifacts to make a large enough profit to support part of the area’s economy

Economic leakage

when money does not stay in the local economy for host location

Demarketing 

price — charge higher prices at peak times to discourage use as well as yield higher revenues

place and distribution — eliminate info about certain places, how to reserve places, etc 

95-5 Rule in national parks

95%