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FOOD UNIT Thomas Malthus: predicted a forced return to subsistence-level conditions once population growth had outpaced agricultural production. Population and growth size has a negative impact on the environment (deforestation, soil degradation, desertification due to unsustainable development). Food sources grow arithmetically. Population growth is exponential. Thus, the world’s carrying capacity will ultimately be depleted and lead to a future of scarcity, war, famine, conquest and disease. How can all of the people in the world be fed and starvation be avoided? RESULTS of POVERTY? WAR, CRIME,DISEASE. FAMINE/ Food insecurity • FAMINES IN ETHIOPIA, SOMALIA, IRELAND, CHINA, BANGLADESH. ETC. • Inability to bounce back from Natural Disasters (such as Haiti and earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, deforestation and soil degradation) • Increased debt to rich countries • Civil wars caused by poverty • Poor health • POVERTY CYCLE DEEPENS OVER MANY GENERATIONS • famine2012AWESOME.ppt Food Security • 'Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.' Textbook and internet work • • Chapter 10- pp235-242-Resource Development, Food and Hunger Sum up the “Four Laws of Ecology” and give examples you can think of in the world that illustrate each. • • Use the internet and pp248-259 in text to define and explain the significance of The Green Revolution, its successes and failures (look up its origins online and where and who invented it) GMOs/GMFs/ “Frankenfoods” pros and cons and laws about labelling in Canada. The USA and The EU Factory Freezer Trawlers, overfishing and loss of marine species IN THE WORLD’S OCEANS look up Shark-finning online and give details on the nations’ involved and various controversies surrounding it look up the sturgeon in the Caspian Sea and its use/abuse for caviar look up controversies surrounding sealing and whaling online look up the Collapse of the Newfoundland Cod Fishery and Brian Tobin’s Turbot War the relationship between Oil Drilling and Marine Industries (look up the Gulf Coast, Alaska and our own Georges Bank and its moratorium online), explain the pros and cons of aquaculture (The Blue Revolution). Look up the recent controversy involving Cook Aquaculture in Nova Scotia Look up online the Poverty/Hunger cycle and why it is often impossible to break Lookup “Golden Rice” online and explain what it is proposed to help eradicate and what its nutritional purpose is Research information on well known famines in China (1960 Mao era), India/Bangladesh (1970s and other), Soviet Union (Stalin era), Somalia (1990s) and Ethiopia (1980s), North Korea early 2000s Using the internet to look up the following hunger related diseases. Give definitions, symptoms, solutions, and location of where they most often occur: Kwashiorkor, Marasmus, Beriberi, Pellagra, Scurvy, Rickets If the world has enough food to feed the entire population, why is it not distributed properly so that everyone is well nourished? Look up Malthus in your textbook and summarize his theory. How could it be distributed? Who should pay for the distribution costs? What is Food Dumping? Which aspects of it are ridiculous? How does it impact small farms in LDC and LLDC countries? Watch Food Incorporated documentary: list some aspects that are unnatural, disgusting, cruel to animals, “GMF shocking” and unethical/immoral • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • The Green Revolution • The introduction and rapid spread of high yield wheat and rice. First large use of chemical pesticides (some of which are now banned due to being cancer causing like DDT) and high yield varieties of crops • Achieved by crossing of the different strains of major food crops to greater and larger yields that were more resistance to drought and disease. • mid 1960’s Rockefellar Foundation work in Mexico • Purpose: To meet the food needs of the developing world. • PBS NewsHour | PBS • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uem2ceZMx Yk • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04T23houM4s The Results…. • led to greater grain and rice production • higher food outputs for LDC’s • Helped stave off catastrophic famines! Malthus thought food supply could not keep up with population boom. This has lessened the impact. • Economic and food self-sufficiency resulted for some countries (Pakistan-wheat exporter, India-from 11 m tonnes to 27 m tons from 1965 to 1972, Mexico- double wheat yields, Philippines and Indonesia-rice previously imported) • Planting dates become more flexible and agriculture easier to manage. Criticisms of the Green Revolution • Rich farmers have the resources for fertilizer, pesticides, irrigation water, machinery, storage and transportation (gap between rich and poor farmers widen) • Colour, texture and tastes of new rice not well received. • More difficult to raise output of rice with biotechnology due to precise water control. • high yield varieties more costly to produce • Many HYVs require more labour than the traditional counterparts (irrigation and fertilization) • Contamination of watersheds by nitrates and phosphates, long term destroyed soil • Loss of biodiversity-4 strains of wheat produce 3/4 of Canada’s crop. • If farmers only rely on a few strains of a plant, a new disease can wipe out a large portion of the harvest Solutions to food supply… • Maintain genetic banks where seeds from a great diversity of plants can be frozen and stored to be used later. • Control population as China has with restrictive one child policy (Ted Turner of CNN has called for a Global One Child Policy) • Genetically modified foods (GM) that won’t rot. Not popular • Get more protein from the sea BUT AVOID OVERFISHING… What About the Terms Genetic Engineering/Genetically Modified? Genetic engineering is the basic tool set of biotechnology Genetic engineering involves: Isolating genes Modifying genes so they function better Preparing genes to be inserted into a new species Developing transgenes What is a transgenic? Concept Based on the Term Transgene Transgene – the genetically engineered gene added to a species Ex. – modified EPSP synthase gene (encodes a protein that functions even when plant is treated with Roundup PESTICIDE) Transgenic – an organism containing a transgene introduced by technological (not breeding) methods Ex. – Roundup Ready Crops (owned by Monsanto, as seen in “Food Inc”) Why are transgenics important? We can develop organisms that express a “novel” trait not normally found in the species (arctic apple altered to prevent ripening/browning) Extended shelf-life tomato (Flavr-Savr) Herbicide resistant soybean (Roundup Ready) Agriculture Transgenics On the Market Insect resistant cotton – Bt toxin kills the cotton boll worm • transgene = Bt protein Source: USDA Insect resistant corn – Bt toxin kills the European corn borer • transgene = Bt protein Normal Transgenic Herbicide resistant crops Now: soybean, corn, canola Coming: sugarbeet, lettuce, strawberry alfalfa, potato, wheat Source: Monsanto Virus resistance - papaya resistant to papaya ringspot virus Biotech chymosin; the enzyme used to curdle milk products Source: Chr. Hansen bST; bovin somatotropin; used to increase milk production (remember “Food Inc”WAl-MART STOPPED Bst Milk) Source: Rent Mother Nature Next Generation of Ag Biotech Products Golden Rice – increased Vitamin A content by adding carotene (effort to fight childhood blindness but not without controversy) Sunflower – white mold resistance Source: Minnesota Microscopy Society Edible Vaccines Transgenic Plants Serving Human Health Needs • Works like any vaccine • A transgenic plant with a pathogen protein gene is developed • Potato, banana, and tomato are targets • Humans eat the plant • The body produces antibodies against pathogen protein • Humans are “immunized” against the pathogen • Examples: Diarrhea Hepatitis B Measles A Popular Term We Need To Know GMOs - Genetically modified organisms • GMO - an organism that expresses traits that result from the introduction of foreign DNA • Originally a term equivalent to transgenic organism •Also called GMFs or “Frankenfoods” What is a Genetically Modified (GM) Food? • Foods that contain an added gene sequence • Foods that have a deleted gene sequence • Animal products from animals fed GM feed • Products produced by GM organisms Why are foods genetically modified? Genetic engineering offers a rapid and precise method of altering organisms as compared to traditional methods that are slow and inaccurate. Common GM Foods Vegetables Tomatoes Potatoes Rice Cheese Meat How is genetic modification possible? The components of DNA are the same in all organisms. Sequences that code for proteins can be moved from one organism to another. How can DNA be moved from one organism to another? Its quite simple, REALLY!!! How can DNA be moved from one organism to another? ►Find an organism with the desired trait ►Isolate the gene sequence that codes for the desired trait ►Insert the gene sequence into the genome of the plant cell Possible Benefits of GM Foods Easing of world hunger Development of crops that can be grown in marginal soil Reduced strain on nonrenewable resources Development of drought resistant crops Development of salttolerant crops Development of crops that make more efficient use of nitrogen and other nutrients Possible Benefits of GM Foods Reduced use of pesticides and herbicides ►Development of pest resistant crops ►Reduced herbicide use is better for the environment and reduces costs for farmers Possible Benefits of GM Foods Improved crop quality Development of frost resistant crops Development of disease resistant crops Development of flood resistant crops Improved nutritional quality Development of foods designed to meet specific nutritional goals Who makes sure GM foods are safe? Government agencies regulate GM foods GM foods are required to be labeled only if the nutritional value is changed or a new allergen is introduced. Possible Risks of GM Foods Insects might develop resistance to pesticide-producing GM crops Herbicide-tolerant crops may crosspollinate weeds, resulting in "superweeds" Possible Risks for GM Foods Certain gene products may be allergens, thus causing harm to human health There may be unintended harm to wildlife and beneficial insects Photo courtesy of T. W. Davies, Cal. Acad. of Sciences. The Golden Rice Story • Vitamin A deficiency is a major health problem • Causes blindness, Influences severity of diarrhea, measles • Vitamin A deficiency is a lack of vitamin A in humans. It is common in developing countries but rarely seen in developed countries. Night blindness is one of the first signs of vitamin A deficiency. Night and complete blindness can also occur. Approximately 250,000 to 500,000 malnourished children in the developing world go • blind each year from a deficiency of vitamin A, approximately half of which die within a year of becoming blind. The United Nations Special Session on Children in 2002 set the elimination of vitamin A deficiency by 2010. Night blindness is the difficulty for the eyes to adjust to dim light. •Affected individuals are unable to distinguish images in low levels of illumination. People with night blindness have poor vision in the darkness, but see normally when adequate light is present. For many countries, the infrastructure doesn’t exist to deliver vitamin pills. Improved vitamin A content in widely consumed crops an attractive alternative. Vitamin A deficiency also diminishes the ability to fight infections. In countries where children are not immunized, infectious disease like measles have higher fatality rates. Vitamin A deficiency is estimated to affect approximately one third of children under the age of five around the world. It is estimated to claim the lives of 670,000 children under five annually. Approximately 250,000-500,000 children in developing countries become blind each year owing to vitamin A deficiency, with the highest prevalence in Southeast Asia and Africa. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), vitamin A deficiency is under control in the United States, but in developing countries vitamin A deficiency is a significant concern. Final Test of the Transgenic Consumer Acceptance RoundUp Ready Corn Before After The Blue Revolution/AQUACULTUREan answer to overfishing http://www.worldwildlife.org/thre ats/overfishing The Blue Revolution • Modern technology has allowed us to obtain food from the sea in many fish varieties increased seventeen fold in the last fifty years • Aquaculture, or the growing or harvesting of marine plants and animals for human consumption, is predicted to overtake the traditional wild fishery What it can do… • Protein source for the one billion chronically malnourished people worldwide. • Relieve pressure on land so that soil degradation does not occur. • Stop overfishing on our oceans and allow natural fish stocks to replensih before there are more dead zones and extinction in oceans. It’s not perfect: Concerns • In Nova Scotia, the government is allowing more aquaculture. Environmentalists, tourism operators and fisheries people seem to be ok with when they are kept in tanks located on land but oppose the use of pens in coastal areas. Why? This is because • Exploitation of the traditional wild fishery (ATLANTIC COD) • Aquaculture destroys land along coasts • Water pollution and Wetland loss • • Spread of fish disease from farmed fish into natural ones Natural fisheries could be negatively impacted by any diseases or pollution that might come from the “raised” species. • Already there have been outbreaks of sea lice and sea anemia disease in some caged salmon. • Toxic waste from salmon feedlots can pollute formerly pristine bays. • Lobster and lobster larvae have been harmed and displaced. • Escaped salmon from feedlots weaken the strain of wild salmon when they breed with them • Cooke Aquaculture Videos Voices for our Coast: Aquaculture Rally - YouTube Overpopulation and sustainable resources. • Some say we have sufficient food to adequately feed everyone on Earth. Yet we still have starvation in a world where wheat sits in Canadian grain elevators because there is not enough money for farmers to sell it on a free market and make a sufficient profit. POVERTY AND WEIGHT ISSUES in the MDCs • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MJnm 5X9NN0 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZxjb4 gB93A Big Questions to wrap up course • Is the world REALLY overpopulated? • Are the world’s resources sustainable for the future? • Is money and profit as our driving forces destroying the world? • Are we depleting the world’s resources, ruining the ecosystems through our chemicals and human destruction of forests, soil and reefs, and jeopardizing our future generations? • Is the planet heading to a catastrophe due to Climate Change and the increased gap between the “HAVES” AND “HAVE NOTS”? The 4 laws of ecology! • • • • 1. Nature knows best 2. Everything must go somewhere 3.There are no free lunches 4. Everything must go somewhere. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= uwCABmP3uQ4