California’s Cornucopia

Lecture 1

  • Cornucopia comes from Almathea’s horn (nourishing Goddess)

  • 25% of what we eat helps our brain

  • connected to culture, economics, climate, environment, and health

  • Four dimensions of food security:

    • physical availability of food

    • economic and physical access to food

    • food utilization (food safety, preparation, and diversity)

    • the stability of dimensions 1, 2, and 3 over time

  • Factors that contribute to food insecurity

    • low income or unemployment (insufficient funds)

    • limited access to food (underserved areas)

    • discrimination (minorities and race groups)

    • natural disasters (floods, hurricanes)

    • global events (pandemics, wars)

  • The food security experience

    • mild food insecurity- will find food but don’t know where

    • moderate food insecurity- compromising on quality and variety

    • severe food insecurity- hunger and go without food for days out of the year

  • malnutrition leads to poverty, low productivity, and poor physical/cognitive development

  • trust data- collected from internationally recognized and respected agencies

    • Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, World Bank

  • Hunger- uncomfortable to painful sensation caused by insufficient food energy consumption (=food deprivation)

  • Malnutrition- includes deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in the consumption of macronutrients (protein, fats, carbohydrates) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals)

  • Global Hunger Index (GHI)- data collected from agencies to collect parameters based on nourishment in children

  • Food insecurity, hunger, and malnutrition are not equally distributed worldwide

  • Worldwide food insecurity is higher in 2023 than 2015

  • 2022, food insecurity is higher for

    • families with children

    • women vs men

    • Black and Hispanic adults vs white adults

  • To correct hunger to feed 2050 population (>9B), more food must be produced

  • There are constraints to increasing food, including:

    • structural and systemic inequalities

    • agricultural to non-ag land use

    • desertification (ag land → desert)

    • climate change

  • Sustainable Agriculture should use technologies and farming practices that:

    • produce abundant and safe nutritious food

    • reduce harmful environmental inputs

    • minimize land use and water

    • protect genetic makeup of native species

    • enhance crop genetic fertility

    • foster soil fertility

    • provide safe conditions for farm workers

    • improve lives of poor and malnourished

    • maintain economic viability of farming and rural communities

  • CA’s economy is ranked #1 in the US

  • CA’s economy is 5th largest in the world

    • Only Japan, China, and Germany, plus India and UK have larger economies

  • Farm gate value = market value minus selling costs

  • California- 11.5% US Ag value

    • Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, Illinois

  • Crops vs Specialty crops

    • speciality crops are fruits veggies nuts horticulture and floriculture that are farmed for pleasure

  • Top commodities

    • Grapes

    • Lettuce

    • Almonds

    • Pistachios

    • Berries and Strawberries

    • Tomatoes

    • Carrots

  • CA produces > 400 different crops

  • A large portion of CA’a crops are specialty crops

  • CA is US’s primary producer (99%) of several specialty crops

  • Almonds and Alfalfa are the top acreage crops

  • CA’’s top international exports

    • Almonds, Pistachios, Wine (grapes), Walnuts, Rice, Table Grapes

    • Culinary nuts, grapes, rice