FSN 201

Foraging

Searching for food in nature.

Animal husbandry

Keeping animals for food/products (meat, eggs, milk, wool).

Industrial agriculture

Use of monocropping, GMOs, and technology.

Monocropping

Producing only one crop at a time.

Seed sovereignty

The right of farmers to save, sell, or use their own seeds.

Biodiversity

Variability among living organisms from all ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part.

Extraction

The transfer of one or more components of biological feed from its source into a liquid component.

Traditional agriculture

Worked with nature’s cycles and uses sun for energy, waste was used for fertilizer, selective breeding.

Modern agriculture

Can be organic or GMO, relies more on fossil fuels, and often uses monocrop practices.

Genetic engineering (GMOs)

Allows for more precise breeding of specific genes to enhance crops than traditional plant breeding.

Green Revolution

A period in the 1960s when food production increased due to new seeds and chemical pesticides/fertilizers (more food but more resistant to chemicals and more expensive)

Permaculture

Learning to live in one place rather than migrating, thrives on biodiversity.

Organic farming

Produce grown without certain pesticides, fertilizers, sewage, GMOs, or growth hormones.

Regenerative farming

Cycling crops that replenish nutrients in the soil.

Conventional farming

Everything that isn’t certified organic or GMO.

Sustainability issues of food production and impact of organic

High food waste and water need making food production unsustainable. Organic uses less energy, produces less greenhouse gases, and are more sustainable.

How is world food demand going to change and can we meet this need?

Food demand expected to grow 1.1% per year. 60% increase in production is needed. Reduce food waste, meat consumption, land degradation, destruction of fisheries, reliance on petroleum, and increase genetic diversity and rain-use efficiency.

High food security

Household with no problems or anxiety about accessing adequate food.

Marginal food security

Households with problems or anxiety about accessing adequeate food but the quality, variety, and quantity was not substantially reduced

Low food security

Household reduces the quality, variety, and desirability of their diets.

Very low food security

Eating patterns of one or more household members were disrupted and food intake reduced because lack of money and resources

US malnutrition vs global

Primarily characterized by obesity rather than undernutrition.

SNAP

National food stamp program for low-income individuals and families.

WIC

Program for women and children, serving those 130-185% below the federal poverty level.

Thrifty Food Plan

USDA plan for the cost of groceries to feed a family of four, used to determine SNAP benefits. It requires individuals to have a high nutritional literacy to shop for nutritious foods on a budget. It also doesn’t take into account the difference in cost in different states.

How food policy determines how we eat in the US

Its cheaper to produce convenience foods than fresh whole foods due to subsidies and industrial agriculture practices, leading to a reliance on processed foods.

Systemic racism in food access

Impacts education and the workforce, disproportionately affecting Black and Hispanic households.

How obesity and hunger co-exist in the US

Result of income variability and the low cost of convenience foods.

Federal food programs vs charity

Provide support to prevent hunger but may perpetuate dependency on government aid, so reforms are necessary