5.2_Terrestrial_Food_Production_Systems_and_Food_Choice

5.2 Terrestrial Food Production Systems and Food Choices

Significant Ideas

  • Sustainability Influences: Terrestrial food production systems are influenced by socio-political, economic, and ecological factors.

  • Consumer Role: Consumers play a role through support of different terrestrial food production systems.

  • Inequitable Food Supply: Food availability is unequal and suitable land for production is unevenly distributed, creating potential for conflict.

What Do These Mean to You?

  • Proverbs:

    • "Abundance does not spread, famine does" - Zulu proverb.

    • "This is a sad hoax...now he eats potatoes made partly of oil" - Howard T. Odum, highlighting the shift in food dependency.

Types of Farming Systems

  • Subsistence Farming:

    • Farming for personal or local community consumption.

    • No surplus produced.

    • Mixed crops cultivated manually, low technology and chemical input.

  • Commercial Farming:

    • Also known as cash cropping, occurs on a large scale for profit.

    • Monoculture practices; high technological and chemical input.

  • Extensive Farming:

    • Lower stocking density, involving low inputs and outputs.

  • Intensive Farming:

    • Higher stocking density, characterized by high inputs and outputs.

Different Types of Farming Systems (2008)

  • Extensive or Intensive:

    • Related to subsistence or commercial practices.

Other Farming Descriptors

  • Arable Farming: Cultivation of crops on suitable land.

  • Pastoral Farming: Keeping livestock (e.g., sheep, cattle) on less arable land.

  • Mixed Farming: Combination of crops for animal feed, using animal waste to enrich soil.

Agriculture: MEDCs versus LEDCs

  • Commercial Farming: More common in More Economically Developed Countries (MEDCs).

  • Subsistence Farming: Generally found in Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs).

  • Evaluative Question: Which farming method is more sustainable, and why?

Malnutrition

  • Global Issue: 925 million lack sufficient energy from food (under-nourishment).

  • Distribution: 2% in MEDCs, 98% in LEDCs (Asia, Africa, Oceania);

    • 200 million affected are children.

  • Unbalanced Diet: Adequate energy but lacking essential nutrients, leading to a critical resource issue.

Food Production in MEDCs and LEDCs

  • MEDCs: High food supplies for a small population; associated problems include obesity.

  • LEDCs: Low food supply struggles for large populations, high food costs; food production is often for foreign currency, making local farms non-competitive.

Choice of Food Production Depends On

  • Climate: Natural or artificially controlled (e.g., greenhouses).

  • Culture and Religion: Influence food types and preferences.

  • Political Factors: Government actions like subsidies and tariffs affect production, along with socio-economic elements through market forces.

Evaluate the Options Given to Farmers

  • Guidance on potential strategies for improving the outlook for LECD farmers:

    • Pros and cons of recommended solutions.

    • Consider alternative solutions.

To Do on Page 249

  • Reflect on personal food choices and the influencing factors (climate, culture, politics).

To Do on Page 250

  • Study and compare the agricultural production trends represented in visual data.

Undernourishment vs. World Food Supply

  • Distribution of Low Income Food Deficient Countries (LIFDCs):

    • Mostly in Africa, with some in South Asia.

    • Common factors include LEDC status and hot climates.

  • Challenges faced by high per capita calorie consumption countries: obesity, cardiovascular problems, and low nutrient diets.

Trade in Bush Meat

  • Reflect and discuss the increasing trade of bush meat, consider ethical and ecological implications.

Growing Crops

  • Monoculture: Cultivating a single species.

  • Crop Rotation: Technique for soil fertility maintenance.

Efficiency of Farming Systems

  • Assessment of various products and their efficiency (Output/Input) including dairying, pigs, cereals, etc.

Intensive vs. Extensive Food Production

  • Analyzing diverse cultivation methods, particularly rice production comparisons.

Increasing Sustainability of Food Supplies

  • By 2050, food production must increase by 70% to feed 2 billion more people.

  • Under-nourished populations require higher quality food.

Factors That Cause Degradation

  • Soil Erosion: Loss of topsoil.

  • Salinization: Excessive salt accumulation.

  • Desertification: Human activity-induced dry land degradation.

  • Urbanization: Effects on agricultural land.

How to Improve Sustainability

  • Strategies to enhance food production systems:

    • Maximize yields via technology and pest control.

    • Promote GMO use and efficient resource recycling.

    • Reduce food waste across MEDCs and LEDCs.

    • Shift dietary habits toward less meat and lower trophic level foods.

Meat Consumption Global Wide

  • Data on per capita meat consumption across countries in 2009.

Exam Question

  • Influence of food production choices on the ecological footprint of a defined society.

Answer Exam Question

  • Define ecological footprint and its agricultural implications, including productivity, consumption types, and resource inputs.

Debate Preparation

  • Research and prepare for debates from ecocentric, anthropocentric, and technocentric perspectives.

Tasks Overview

  • Engage with exercises and discussions on improving sustainability in food production.