Transcript FOOD UNIT - hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca

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
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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.
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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
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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
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• 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!
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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