“This…is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.“
- Morpheus, the Matrix (1999)
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 Producing enough food has become a greater challenge as the human population reaches passes 7 billion.
 Food energy is measured in calories.
 Undernutrition occurs when someone does not eat enough calories (2200 kcal* is the norm).
 Adults need on average 1000 calories per day to simply survive.
 Average of 2200 calories needed for a normal, healthy life.
 *kcal vs “cal”
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 Chronic Hunger and Food Security
 About 925 million people are considered chronically undernourished or malnourished.
 Most of these are in developing countries.
 This is about 13% of the world’s population.
 Poverty is the greatest threat to food security ability to obtain sufficient food on a daily basis.
 Theoretically, there should be enough food to supply about
3000 kcal/day to everyone.
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 A famine is when large-scale undernourishment occurs in a population.
 Most of the population is eating less than the daily minimum calories needed (1000 calories)
 Drought causes more than half of famines.
 Other significant causes: war and bad governance.
 Ex: North Korea was reluctant to request foreign assistance after severe flooding in the 1990s.
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 Aid from rich countries often can help alleviate famines in the short term.
 Drawbacks to foreign assistance:
 Population must crowd together in “food camps” to receive supplies.
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Lack of sanitation
Quick spread of diseases
 Foreign aid tends to be short-lived as people’s attention moves elsewhere.
 Ex: Indonesian tsunami of 2004, Hurricane Katrina of 2005, Haiti earthquake of 2009, Pakistan floods of 2010
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- nutritional imbalance caused by a lack of specific dietary components or an inability to absorb or utilize essential nutrients
 3 billion people suffer from vitamin, mineral or protein deficiency.
 Results in illness, reduced mental capacity, developmental abnormality, stunted growth, death
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 Undernutrition – Insufficient caloric intake.
 Malnutrition - Nutritional imbalance caused by lack of specific dietary components.
 Overnutrition – A daily intake of calories that is too high, leading to obesity.
 The most common dietary problem in wealthy countries.
 Up to 64% of all adult Americans are overweight.
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 Iron deficiency is the most common dietary imbalance in the world.
 Leads to anemia – insufficient oxygen transported to the brain, muscles, and organs due to low red blood cell count.
 Symptoms include fatigue, dizziness, headache
 Increases risk of death in childbirth
 Good sources of iron: Red meat, eggs, beans, and some green vegetables (spinach, broccoli)
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Iodine deficiency is another very common type of malnutrition, especially in rural developing areas.
 Iodine is required for production of thyroid hormones, which control the body’s rate of metabolism.
 Chronic lack of iodine can slow all parts of normal development, including body size and brain function.
 Lack of iodine can also cause a goiter, or a swollen thyroid gland.
Good sources of iodine: seafood and plant crops from iodine rich soils.
Source: Miller Environmental
Science, 13 th Edition
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 Kwashiorkor - occurs mainly in children whose diet lacks high-quality protein
 Reddish-orange hair, bloated stomach
 Marasmus - “To Waste
Away” - caused by a diet low in protein and calories
 Very thin, shriveled
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 People in rich countries eat too much meat, salt, sugar and saturated fat and not enough fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
 On average, we consume 33% more calories than we need.
 62% of Americans are overweight.
 Obesity is spreading around the world as other people adopt Western lifestyles.
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 An estimated 90% of the world’s food calories come from 14 species of plants.
 Three of those crops deliver a majority of world’s nutrients: wheat, corn, and rice.
 Main nutrient component of these foods is carbohydrates.
 The major food staples are all plants.
 Cheaper and easier to produce.
 Why? Remember the energy pyramid?
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 Meat and dairy products are all high in protein, iron, and come from animals.
 As incomes rise in developing countries, food choices shift towards higher-quality and more expensive foods.
 60% of production occurs in lesser developed countries.
 Meat requires a high amount of grain to produce.
 15 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of meat.
CAFO’s – concentrated animal feeding operations. Produce tremendous amount of waste. Requires constant antibiotics.
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 Much of the food produced in the developed world is the result of industrialized agriculture.
 Dependent on the use of heavy equipment, fuel, fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation.
 Most food is grown as a monoculture, or single-crop farming.
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 The industrialization of agriculture applies to the raising of livestock, both for meat and dairy.
 The traditional method of raising animals in open pasture is now largely a relic of the past, replaced by highlymechanized large-scale operations.
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 Dairy cows are special breeds chosen for high milk production.
 About half of the U.S. dairy cows are raised in confined indoor pens.
 As with other mammals, cows only produce milk for about 10 months after giving birth.
 Must be continuously impregnated to continue milk production.
 Female calves are kept within the herd
 Male calves are usually sent to veal crates.
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 The advantage of raising dairy cattle indoors is that all aspects of their growth, feeding, and behavior can be monitored and controlled.
 Cows leave their pens twice a day to be milked mechanically.
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 The disadvantage is the rapid spread of disease due to the crowding and high amounts of waste manure.
 To prevent this, antibiotics are commonly administered to the cattle.
 Nearly half of all antibiotics used in the U.S. are used in farm animals.
 Farms may also inject their cattle with Bovine Growth
Hormone (BGH) to increase milk production.
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 There are significant consequences to the use of additive hormones and antibiotics in cattle feed.
 Overuse of antibiotics is increases the risk of bacteria evolving resistance to the antibiotic. When this occurs, the antibiotic becomes unusable.
 The use of BGH has multiple effects:
 The overall health of the cows is affected:
 Increased likeliness of mastitis (infection of the udders)
 Increased rate of lameness
 Reduced fertility
 There are also effects on the milk itself:
 Increased growth hormone in the milk
 Increased pus in the milk, causing it to go sour more quickly 28

 The majority of hens (~95%) that supply eggs are raised in battery cages.
 These are small cages with slanted floors to drain waste.
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Hens are confined within small cages their entire life.
USDA recommendations for cage size:
 Cages are usually 16 inches wide and contain 4 hens.
 The highly restricted movement of the hens leads to unusually aggressive behaviors.
 Beaks are cut or seared off to prevent fighting.
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 Chicks that are hatched are sorted by gender; females are kept; the males are killed and discarded.
 The layer hens are subject to near constant light to encourage greater egg production.
 Fatigue and mineral depletion are common .
 Egg production begins to decline when the hens reach about 12 months.
 At this point they are slaughtered and used in processed foods (soup, flavoring, pet foods, etc)
 The use of antibiotics and growth hormones is illegal in all poultry.
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 Broiler hens are chickens bred and raised specifically for meat.
 They have much larger thighs and breasts than normal; making them very heavy and often unable to stand or walk normally.
 Broiler chickens are raised in pens instead of cages to prevent bruising.
 Beaks and toes are removed to prevent fighting.
 The chickens reach their slaughter weight in about 2 months.
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 Pigs are very sensitive animals, prone to sunburn and heat stress.
 As a result, they are primarily raised indoors in temperature-controlled “hatch pens”.
 Tails are usually cut off at birth to prevent biting – a common issue in overcrowded pens.
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The “Smoking Fry” experiment
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The factory farming process makes food much cheaper than conventional methods.
One big downside is an increase in the number of food recalls.
2010 Recalls
 228 million eggs ( Salmonella )
2009 Recalls
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Nestle Toll House cookie dough ( E.coli )
Pistachios ( Salmonella )
Products containing peanut butter / paste ( Salmonella )
2008 Recalls
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Beef recall ( cattle were not inspected properly )
Maple Leaf brand deli meats ( listeriosis )
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Cage Free
 Chickens are not kept within cages, but may still be highdensity indoor pens.
Certified Humane
 Chickens are uncaged and
“must be able to perform natural behaviors such as nesting”.
 Organic
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No unnatural feeds or feed additives given to animals.
No additives in the final product.
Does not address treatment of animals
 Free Range
 Animals are kept outdoors and allowed to roam.
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Seafood is the biggest protein source in many island and coastal countries.
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Annual catches of ocean fish rose by 4% annually between 1950-1988.
Many areas of ocean are now so overharvested that large-scale fishing is unsustainable.
 If current practices continue, the world’s fisheries will be exhausted by 2048.
Nearly half of seafood harvested is now farmed.
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 Aquaculture supplies food, but it
 uses wild populations to stock and feed captive populations
 destroys mangrove forests and wetlands used as nurseries for all marine species
 allows the spread of disease
 releases large quantities of feces, antibiotics and other pollutants
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