Feeding the People of the World�Chapter 9.1

Environmental Science

BHS

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.

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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.