Download food and agriculture

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following is a likely scenario for an organic farm?
a. use of synthetic pesticides
b. use of synthetic fertilizers
c. use of genetically engineered seeds
d. use feed additives
e. use of feed that contains no antibiotics
2. Which of the following is the PRIMARY cause of food insecurity?
a. insufficient food resources being produced globally
b. rapid climate change
c. Poverty
d. political disputes over natural resources
e. poor organization of government agencies
3. The term malnutrition refers to people who
a. eat less than the basic minimum number of daily calories
b. eat balanced meals
c. eat too much
d. suffer from lack of protein and other key nutrients
e. eat too much protein
4. Which of the following problems with nutrition do you think is most prevalent in the United States?
a. Malnutrition
b. under nutrition
c. Micronutrition
d. chronic hunger
e. Overnutrition
5. Which of the following types of agriculture is most characteristic of developing countries?
a. plantation agriculture
b. traditional agriculture
c. industrialized agriculture
d. minimum-tillage agriculture
e. high-input agriculture
6. Which of the following types of agriculture is most characteristic of developed countries?
a. plantation agriculture
b. traditional agriculture
c. industrialized agriculture
d. minimum-tillage agriculture
e. maximum-tillage agriculture
201
7. What proportion of food products sold on U.S. supermarket shelves contains some form of
genetically engineered crop?
a. 20%
b. 30%
c. 50%
d. 60%
e. 70%
8. Which of the following would not be used to describe polyculture?
a. Plants mature at various times.
b. The plot of land is left unmanaged for long periods of time.
c. Fertilizer use and water use are reduced.
d. Pesticides are rarely needed.
e. It produces higher yields than high-input monocultures.
9. Monoculture is a method of growing food that is utilized solely in
a. industrialized agriculture
b. Polyculture
c. traditional subsistence agriculture
d. traditional intensive agriculture
e. both industrialized agriculture and traditional intensive agriculture
10. Since 1950, aquaculture production has
a. declined by half
b. increased almost seven-fold
c. increased over 40-fold
d. stayed exactly the same as the wild fish catch
e. declined by about 10%
11. Our economic systems promote unsustainable forms of industrialized agriculture because
a. they so successfully provide healthy food to our populations
b. they do not include most of the harmful environmental and health costs of such food
production in the market prices
c. they are so effective in cutting costs
d. they provide so many jobs
e. the food production is so efficient
12. Most soil erosion is caused by
a. wind and moving water
b. Photosynthesis
c. earthquakes
d. volcanoes
e. excess heat
13. Which of the following can lead to desertification?
a. conservation tillage
b. severe and prolonged drought
c. crop rotation
d. polyculture farming
e. terraced crop arrangements
202
14. Which one of the following items is a major disadvantage of animal feed lots?
a. Less land is required to feed the animals.
b. Use of antibiotics can increase genetic resistance to microbes in humans.
c. Soil erosion is reduced.
d. Overgrazing is reduced.
e. Biodiversity is protected.
15. Killing wild predators is an example of a(n) ______________problem caused by industrialized food
production.
a. biodiversity loss
b. soil
c. human health
d. air pollution
e. water
16. Strains of genetically modified food crops can hybridize with wild crop varieties when
a. The process is carefully controlled in an agricultural lab.
b. Pollen blows from the genetically modified crop and spreads among wild varieties.
c. Pollen is transferred by the farmer from one crop to the other.
d. It is not possible for a genetically modified plant to hybridize with a wild species.
e. More than one of these answers is correct
17. According to champions of pesticide, pesticides
a. work fast
b. increase profit for farmers
c. save lives and work fast
d. increase food supplies and profit for farmers
e. work fast, increase profit, save lives, and increase food supplies
18. Which of the following approaches would be the least beneficial in trying to reduce insect damage?
a. rotating crops
b. genetic engineering of crops
c. planting monocultures
d. bringing in natural enemies
e. planting polycultures
19. Biological control of pests
a. costs more money than pesticides to use
b. is toxic to use
c. is fast-acting
d. is not toxic to use
e. has never been very effective
20. An integrated pest management program attempts to
a. increase inputs of fertilizer and irrigation water
b. reduce crop damage to an economically tolerable level
c. increase pesticide use
d. decrease yields and increase costs
e. increase the development of disease-resistant pests
203
21. Switching to integrated pest management in the United States
a. will be easy to do because it is very simple
b. is hindered by government subsidies for using chemicals and by opposition from chemical
manufacturers
c. is difficult because it only works for a few pests
d. is strongly opposed by environmentalists
e. is easy to accomplish but is opposed by organic farmers
22. In the United States, the use of synthetic pesticides has increased 10-fold between 1942 and 1997.
For the same time period, the crop loss to insects has
a. declined by 10%
b. increased by 2%
c. almost doubled by 10% to 13%
d. stayed at exactly the same percentage
e. declined by 50%
23. Government subsidies to fishing fleets
a. promote overfishing
b. promote the reduction of aquatic biodiversity
c. promote overfishing and reduction of aquatic biodiversity
d. reduce the use of bottom-trawling harvests
e. are currently less than $100,000 per year
24. Which of the following is central to most of the efforts to conserve topsoil?
a. an emphasis on agricultural practices that enhance monocultures
b. annual crop rotations
c. keeping the soil covered by vegetation
d. preventing insect pests from destroying valuable crops
e. conversion of croplands into pasturelands or feedlots
25. In alley cropping:
a. Crops are planted between hedgerows of trees or shrubs that are used for fruits or
fuelwood.
b. Terraces are built to prevent swift water runoff.
c. Plowing runs across slopes.
d. Special tillers are used so the topsoil is not disturbed.
e. A row of crops alternates in strips with another row of crops.
26. Which of the following is not one of the three major types of organic fertilizer?
a. green manure
b. sewage sludge
c. compost
d. animal manure
e. All of these are major types of organic fertilizers.
27. The process least likely to conserve soil nutrients is
a. crop rotation
b. fertilizing with compost
c. fertilizing with green manure
d. fertilizing with animal manure
e. irrigation
204
28. Aquaculture would be more sustainable if
a. consumers chose to eat fish species that are primary consumers instead of secondary
consumers
b. consumers chose to eat top predators
c. fish farms were located near mangrove forests
d. fish farms were located near estuaries
e. chemical pesticides were used to control common fish diseases
29. Which of the following is a characteristic of polyaquaculture?
a. Only herbivorous fish are raised.
b. Only carnivorous fish are raised.
c. Fish and shrimp are raised in ponds along with algae, seaweed, and shellfish.
d. Fish are raised in estuaries where the flushing action of rivers keeps the wastes moving
away from the fish.
e. Multiple kinds of shellfish (crab, shrimp, mussels) are raised in the same pond.
30. Which choice reflects the correct sequence of animal efficiency at converting grain into protein,
from the most efficient animal to the least?
a. fish, chicken, pigs, beef cattle
b. chicken, fish, beef cattle, pigs
c. pigs, chicken, fish, beef cattle
d. beef cattle, fish, chicken, pigs
e. These animals are all equally efficient at converting grain into protein.
31. The largest contributor to the ecological foot print of most individuals in affluent nations is
a. recreational hunting and fishing
b. vacations via air travel
c. residential heating
d. meat production and consumption
e. purchasing more clothing and accessories than are needed
32. You spend an evening with friends who have invited you for dinner and are gourmet cooks. During
the conversation over dinner, you learn that the food being served was all locally grown and
purchased through a CSA that your hosts participate in. Your hosts could be called
a. environmental activists
b. bioprospectors
c. omnivores
d. backyard gardeners
e. locavores
33. Which of the following are ways that individuals can support sustainable agriculture through their
choices and behaviors?
a. waste less food
b. eat locally grown food and meat
c. waste less food and compost food wastes
d. waste less food, eat less meat, compost food wastes and eat locally grown food
e. use a drip system for watering in your own garden
205
TRUE/FALSE
1. There are sufficient food resources being produced to meet the basic nutritional requirements of
every person on the planet. TRUE
2. Overgrazing by cattle can ultimately result in water pollution. TRUE
3. Malnourished individuals may become more prone to infections, and eventually may develop a
specific deficiency disease. TRUE
4. Per unit area, the application of synthetic pesticides is higher on typical crop fields than it is on the
average lawn.
FALSE
5. Since 1942 the use of synthetic pesticides has increased 10-fold. In spite of this fact, food supply
damage due to pests has increased during that time. TRUE
6. Research shows that, on average, low-input polycultures produce higher crop yields than high-input
monocultures.
TRUE
7. Polyculture lessens the need for fertilizer and water.
TRUE
8. World grain production per capita has increased consistently between 1961 and 2009.
FALSE
MATCHING
Indicate whether the processes listed below are used in industrialized agriculture or organic
agriculture.
a. industrialized agriculture
b. organic agriculture
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
globally export-oriented
no genetically modified seeds
represents a shift away from the sustainability principle of reliance on solar energy
growth hormones used to produce meat
crop rotation
locally oriented
depends on non-renewable fossil fuels
uses antibiotics to produce meat
greater use of renewable energy sources
synthetic inorganic fertilizers
produces about 80% of the world’s food
biological pest control
206