Please get out objectives #1-3 for a stamp and make improvements using a different colored pen.Please read the board!

““The way we eat has The way we eat has changed more in the past changed more in the past 50 years than in the past 50 years than in the past

10,000 years.”10,000 years.”

MonocultureMonoculture

Remember the lesson of the Inca!Remember the lesson of the Inca!

MonocultureMonoculture

PolyculturePolyculture

PolyculturePolyculture

Why corn?Why corn?

Corn, wheat, soy and rice…60% of human food supply

What 3 crops provide most of the What 3 crops provide most of the world’s food?world’s food?

Subsidy or SubsidizeSubsidy or Subsidize

assistance paid to a business or economic sector

Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors to prevent the decline of that industry

Crops subsidized in the U.S.:Corn, rice, wheat, milk, soybeans, sugar,

tobacco, cotton

CornCorn

Cheap corn = lots of corn!

Broken down in lab into lots of chemicals used in food.

Subsidies make the unhealthy food cheap.

Reason #3 to protect Reason #3 to protect biodiversity: Agriculturalbiodiversity: Agricultural

Of 80,000 known edible plants on the planet, we depend on 20 species to provide 90% of global food supply.

Corn, rice, soy and wheat are 60% alone!

Remember the Remember the lesson of the Inca!lesson of the Inca!

Subsidies encourage monoculture.What are the consequences?

Pests and diseases Pests and diseases generally are plant-generally are plant-specificspecific.. Examples –

Boll weevil attacks cotton plants

Rust fungus attacks corn

Yellow rust fungus attacks wheat

How many of these contribute to How many of these contribute to CCD?CCD?

Monoculture:Increased reliance

on pesticidesIncreased reliance

on inorganic fertilizer

Loss of diversity:◦Crop varieties◦Loss of edge habitat

with flowering plants

Conventional agriculture Conventional agriculture relies heavily on relies heavily on

petroleumpetroleum

Weighing in at 1,250 pounds (567 kilograms), Marina Wilson's champion steer Grandview Rebel is ready for auction at a county fair in Maryland. Raising this steer has taken an agricultural investment equal to 283 gallons (1,071 liters) of oil, represented here by the red drums. That includes everything from fertilizers on cornfields to the diesel that runs machinery on the farm. Overall, it takes three-quarters of a gallon of oil to produce a pound of beef

What went into that pea?What went into that pea?

Garden pea Canned pea

Fossil Fuels in food productionFossil Fuels in food production

Farm equipment: tractor, harvesterIrrigation pump – electricity (coal, natural

gas)Pesticides – derived from oilfertilizer – derived from natural gasDry grain for shipping - electricityTransport – field to factory to distribution

point to store to home

Deep Economy – Bill McKibbenDeep Economy – Bill McKibben

“Between 1910 and 1983, US corn yields grew 346%.

Energy consumption for agriculture increased 810%.”

“The average bite of American food has traveled more than 1,500 miles before it reaches your lips, changing hands an average of six times along the way.”

Check for understandingCheck for understanding

Why is so much corn grown in the US?What three crops account for 60% of our

food supply?What are the dangers of monoculture?Why do monocultures require so much

pesticide?How is our industrial food system

dependent on fossil fuels?