Food Resources
G. Tyler Miller’s
Living in the Environment
13th Edition
Chapter 13
Dr. Richard Clements
Chattanooga State Technical Community College
Key Concepts
 Methods of producing food
 Increasing food production
 Environmental effects of food production
 Increasing sustainability
How Is Food Produced?
Sources of food
Primary plants:
wheat, corn, and rice
Primary animals:
beef, pork, and chicken
Major Types of Agriculture
Traditional subsistence
Traditional intensive
Plantation
Industrialized (high-input)
See Fig. 13-3 p. 280
World Food Production
Industrialized agriculture
Plantation agriculture
Shifting cultivation
Nomadic herding
Intensive traditional agriculture
Fig. 13-2 p. 279
No agriculture
Producing Food by GreenRevolution Techniques
 High-input monoculture
 Selectively bred or genetically-engineered
crops
 High inputs of fertilizer
 Extensive use of pesticides
 High inputs of water
 Increased intensity and frequency of
cropping
Green Revolutions
Fig. 13-6 p. 282
First green revolution
Second green revolution
(developed countries)
(developing countries)
Major International agricultural
research centers and seed banks
Producing Food by Traditional
Techniques
Intercropping
Polyvarietal cultivation
Agroforestry (alley cropping)
Polyculture –like a home garden
Food Production
Rapidly increasing
Prices decreasing
Shortages in developing countries
Approaching limits on meat production
Nutrition
Undernutrition
Malnutrition
Overnutrition
Refer to Fig. 13-11 p. 286
Refer to Solutions p. 289
Environmental Effects of Food
Production
Biodiversity loss
Soil
Air pollution
Water
Human health
See Fig. 13-13 p. 288
Increasing World Crop Production
 Crossbreeding and artificial selection
 Genetic engineering (gene splicing)
 Genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
 Continued Green Revolution techniques
 Introducing new foods
 Working more land
See Fig. 13-16 p. 291
Producing More Meat
 Rangeland
 Pasture
 Efficiency
Kilograms of grain needed per kilogram of body weight
Beef cattle
7
Pigs
Chicken
Fish (catfish
or carp)
4
2.2
2
 Adaptations of rangeland plants
Fig. 13-25
p. 298
 Range condition and management
 Environmental consequences (Connections p. 299)
CAFO’s (confined animal feeding
operations)
Farm Water Use
•Drip
• Center Pivot
•Sprinkler
Catching and Raising More Fish
Fisheries
Fishing methods (See Fig. 13-30 p. 303)
Sustainable yield
Overfishing
Commercial extinction
Aquiculture
Fish farming and ranching
Aquaculture
•Farms (marine
cages) –raise and cultivate fish
and harvest when reach desired age or
size.
•Ranch –raise juveniles, then
release to grow to adulthood in wild
waters, then recapture when return to
spawn (ex: salmon) *farm raised vs
wild caught. (uncommon)
Government Agricultural Policy
Artificially low prices
Subsidies
Elimination of price controls
Food aid
Solutions: Sustainable Agriculture
Low-input agriculture
Organic farming
See Fig. 13-36 p. 308
More benefits to the poor
Increasing funding for research in
sustainable techniques
Solutions: Soil Conservation
Conventional-tillage
 All topsoil is turned under and exposed
to erosion and the elements.
Conservation tillage
 Minimum or no-till –either loosely break
the surface or use special planting equipment
to put seeds into earth without exposing
topsoil.
Refer to Fig. 10-26 p. 224
Solutions Cont.d
•Cropping methods
•Strip
•Contour
•Terrace
•Windbreaks
•Land Classification
Soil Restoration
Organic fertilizer
Animal manure
Green manure
Compost
Crop rotation
Commercial inorganic fertilizer
Soil Conservation
• 1985 Farm Act – strategy to reduce soil erosion in the
US
• Reduce erosion & restore fertile land
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Conservation tilling – disturb soil as little as possible
Terracing – reduce erosion on slopes
Contour farming – plant along contours of gentle slopes
Strip cropping – planting alternate strips of crops
Alley cropping – planting between shrubs and trees
Wind breaks – planting a row of trees or shrubs on perimeters
Gully reclamation – fast growing vines and shrubs