Chapter 9: Food

Section 9.1:

Feeding the People of the World

Agriculture Facts

•It requires 2,640 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of edible beef.•The grain and soybeans used in the production of meat consumed annually by the average American could feed 7 people.•More than 70% of the U.S. grain harvest is fed to farmed animals, as is 33% of the entire world's grain harvest.

Farm animals slaughtered in the U.S. during 1998:

Cows 35.6 million Calves 1.50 million Hogs 101 million

Sheep 3.86 million Eggs 79.7 billion

Chicken 7.76 billion Turkeys 284 million

Humans must consume organic molecules produced by other

organisms in order to survive.

The human body uses food as a source of

energy and as a source of materials for building

and maintaining the body.

When people do not get enough to

eat, they can become sick

and even die.

When starving people die, it is

usually the result of

diseases that their bodies cannot fight.

Even if people consume enough calories in their

diet, they may still suffer from malnutrition, a

condition caused by not consuming enough

necessary nutrients.

About 50% of deaths

among children

under 5 are associated

with malnutrition.

Diseases Linked to Malnutrition

Rickets – Vitamin D Deficiency Wernicke-Korsakoff’s Syndrome –

Vitamin B1 Deficiency Pellagra – Vitamin B3 Deficiency Scurvy – Vitamin C Deficiency Anemia – Iron Deficiency Iodine – Thyroid Disease

Why are people starving?

Because the world’s population is increasing

rapidly, more food is needed each year.

World food production has been

increasing for several decades, but the

amount of food per

person is no longer

increasing

If everyone in the world received an equal share of all the food produced,

no one would have enough to stay healthy.

However, the world’s food is not divided equally.

Causes of Unequal Food Distribution

Wealthy people have the abundance of food.

Availability of food due to transportation.

Droughts or periods when rainfall is less than average.

People can survive a crop failure if there is enough food saved from previous seasons, however, if the drought is combined with

war or poor transportation, a famine could occur.

The Green revolution

The introduction

of new grains and

new farming

techniques was called the Green

Revolution.

The Green Revolution allowed far more people to be adequately fed due to the new grains having a much greater yield (amount produced

per unit area).

Problems of Green Revolution

New varieties did not grow well without the right kind of fertilizers and pesticides.

Many subsistence farmers could not afford the necessary equipment and chemicals – limiting new grains to large farms.

Use of large amounts of fertilizers and pesticides polluted the environment.