GEE 18 (Environmental Conservation)

…Let us continue our environmental journey…we are now on our third leg…this time we
will explore the state of our world food supply…

Chapter III: World Food Supply

 …World food supplies have increased dramatically over the past half
century. ..
…Despite the fact that human population has nearly tripled in that time…
food production has increased even faster…and we grow more than enough
food for everyone…
…Because of uneven distribution of food resources, there are still more
than 870 million people who don’t have enough to eat on a daily basis…
and hunger-related diseases remain widespread…Severe famine continue
to occur…
 …Most increases in food production in recent generations result from
“green revolution” where varieties of grains which grow rapidly in response
to fertilizer use and irrigation were grown…More recent innovations have
focused on genetically modified varieties… Some of these are being
developed for improved characteristics, such as vitamin production or
tolerance of salty soils…The majority of genetically modified crops are
designed to tolerate herbicides in order to improve competition with
weeds…
 …Meeting the needs of the world’s growing population will require a
combination of strategies…from new crop varieties to political stabilization
in war-torn countries…the aim is to produce enough food for all…
 …How we damage or sustain our environment while doing so to attain our
goal is the subject of this chapter…

Learning Objectives: At the end of the unit, students must have:

• described the relationship of the environment, agriculture and
biotechnology with food supply;
• presented virtually a sample of good agricultural practice in the
community that will help address global food security issue through an
interview.

Lesson 1: World Food Supply and the Environment

1
 GEE 18 (Environmental Conservation)

…before we start with our lesson proper, let us have a glimpse of these videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orxXHB-EV1M) on global food supplies and
can global food production keep up with population growth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m_fRD8N1ls

• World Food Supply is defined as a stock of food supplied or available for

use (Oxford Dictionary).

The Environment
Human beings are the product of the environment. They are an
important factor of the environment. It is the environment that helps us
for our survival, growth, development, reproduction and health. No
creature's existence is possible without the balance of the natural
elements. Thus, there must be a healthy environment for our sound
living. The healthier the environment the happier the living beings
including humans. Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/4776572

• The state of ecosystems also influences the abundance of pathogens, weeds

and pests, all factors with a direct bearing on the quality of available
cropland, yields and harvests.
• As the world population continues to grow geometrically, great pressure is
being placed on arable land, water, energy, and biological resources to
provide an adequate supply of food while maintaining the integrity of our
ecosystem.
• According to the World Bank and the United Nations, 1 to 2 billion humans
are now malnourished, indicating a combination of insufficient food, low
incomes, and inadequate distribution of food. This is the largest number of
hungry humans ever recorded in history
• In China about 80 million are now malnourished and hungry. Based on
current rates of increase, the world population is projected to double from
roughly 6 billion to more than 12 billion in less than 50 years (Pimentel et
al., 1994).
• As the world population expands, the food problem will become
increasingly severe, conceivably with the numbers of malnourished
reaching 3 billion.

2
 GEE 18 (Environmental Conservation)

Result of Overpopulation
• Increased fertilizer application and more water usage through irrigation
have been responsible for over 70% of the crop yield increase in the past.
Yields, however, have nearly stabilized for cereals, partly as a result of low
and declining investments in agriculture.
• In addition, fisheries landings have declined in the past decade mainly as a
result of overfishing and unsustainable fishing methods

Food Energy Efficiency

• *Food supply, however, is not only a function of production, but also of
energy efficiency.
o *Food energy efficiency is our ability to minimize the loss of energy
in food from harvest potential through processing to actual
consumption and recycling.
• By optimizing this chain, food supply can increase with much less damage
to the environment.
• The efficiency of food production from animals can be improved by
reducing the amount of energy lost to the surroundings. This can be done
by:
o Preventing animals in moving around too much.
o Keeping their surroundings warm

3
 GEE 18 (Environmental Conservation)

Food and the SDGs

 Food is at the core of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the
UN's development agenda for the 21st century.
o The second of the UN's 17 SDGs is to "End hunger, achieve food
security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable
agriculture."
o Achieving this goal by the target date of 2030 will require a
profound change of the global food and agriculture system.
o Some of the components of this goal are:
1. Ending hunger, and ensuring access by all people to safe,
nutritious food;
2. Ending all forms of malnutrition;
3. Doubling the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-
scale food producers;
4. Ensuring sustainable food production systems;
5. Increasing investment in agriculture;
6. Correcting and preventing trade restrictions and distortions in
world agricultural markets;

4
 GEE 18 (Environmental Conservation)

7. Adopting measures to ensure the proper functioning of food

commodity markets.

World Food and Nutrition

• Food production has grown faster than population, but chronic hunger
remains widespread.
o Despite repeated predictions that runaway population growth would
lead to terrible famines, world food supplies have more than kept up
with increasing human numbers over the past two centuries.
o Although population growth slowed to an average 1.7 percent per
year during that time, world food production increased an average of
2.2 percent per year. o Increased use of irrigation and fertilizers,
improved crop varieties, and better distribution systems have
improved the nutrition of billions of people.
o Because of uneven distribution of food resources, however, there are
still more than 870 million people who don’t have enough to eat on a
daily basis, and hunger-related diseases remain widespread.
• Famines are political as well as environmental. Chronic hunger and
malnutrition can be silent and often invisible, affecting individuals, families,
and communities on an ongoing basis.
o Famines are characterized by large scale food shortages, massive
starvation, social disruption, and economic chaos.
o Famines characteristically involve mass migrations, as starving
[people travel to refugee camps in search of food and medical care.
o Severe famines continue to occur, although most result more from
political and social causes (or a combination of political and
environmental conditions) than from environmental causes alone
• Overeating is a growing world problem. While hunger persists in many
areas, over a billion people consume more food than is healthy on a daily
basis.
o Epidemics of weight –related illnesses are spreading to developing
countries, as they adopt diets and lifestyle of wealthier nations.
o Obesity is a health risk because it can cause or complicate heart
conditions, diabetes, hypertension and other diseases.
o In the United States the death rate from illnesses related to obesity
is approaching the death rate associated with smoking. Obesity is
quantified in terms of the body mass index (BMI), calculated as
weight/height2.
o For example, a person weighing 100 kg and 2 m tall would have a
body mass of (100 kg/4 m2) or 25 kg/ m2.
o Health officials consider a BMI greater than 25 kg/m2 overweight:
over 30 kg/m2 is considered obese.
 Globally nearly 2 billion adults (15 and older) are overweight,
according to a 2011 world watch study.
 This number represents 28 percent of the world’s adult
population. More than twice as many people are overweight
than underweight (870
million). About 10 percent of adults are obese (BMI greater
than 30 kg/m2). This trend is no longer limited to richer
countries.

5
 GEE 18 (Environmental Conservation)

• A balanced diet is essential for health. Getting the right nutrients is also
important.
Many preventable diseases are caused by vitamin deficiencies.
o Generally, eating a good variety of foods, provides the range of
nutrients you need. In general, it’s best to have whole grains and
vegetables, with only sparing servings of meat, dairy, fats and
sweets.
o The Harvard food pyramid emphasizes fruits, vegetables, and whole
grains as the basis of healthy diet.
 Malnourishment is a term for nutritional imbalance caused by
a lack of specific dietary components or an inability to absorb
or utilize essential nutrients.
 Anemia (low hemoglobin levels in the blood, usually caused by
dietary iron deficiency) is the most common nutritional
problem of the world. More than 2 billion people suffer from
iron deficiencies, especially women and children. Red meat,
eggs, legumes, and green vegetables all are good sources of
dietary iron. Protein deficiency can cause conditions such as
kwashiorkor and marasmus.
• Kwashiorkor is a West African word meaning “displaced child” (A young
child is displaced –and deprived of nutritious breast milk-when a baby was
born. Children with these deficiency have often puffy-discolored skin and
bloated belly. Marasmus (from the Greek “to waste away “is caused by
shortages of both calories and protein. A child suffering from severe
marasmus is generally thin and shriveled. Children with these deficiencies
have low resistance to infections and may suffer lifelong impacts on mental
and physical development. Iodine is essential for regulating metabolism
and brain development. Chronic iodine deficiency causes goiter (a swollen
thyroid gland, stunted growth, and mental impairment. Vitamin A
deficiencies affect 100-14 million children at any given time At least
350,000 go blind every year from the effects of this vitamin shortage. Folic
acid, found in dark green, leafy vegetables, is essential for early fetal
development. Ensuring access to leafy greens can be one of the cheapest
ways of providing essential vitamins.

…let us move on with our lesson…

Lesson 2: Agriculture, Biotechnology and Food Supply

Land, People and Agriculture

• Land is an essential natural resource, both for the survival and prosperity
of humanity, and for the maintenance of all terrestrial ecosystems.

6
 GEE 18 (Environmental Conservation)

• Increased demand, or pressure on land resources, shows up as declining

crop production, degradation of land quality and quantity, and competition
for land.
• 11 % of the total land area of the world is in agriculture.
• When the population doubles, the production of agriculture must also
double, just to meet the present level of per capita food consumption

Sources of Food
1. Food from Crops
• The three primary factors that affected recent increases in world crop
production are (FAO, 2003; 2006):
• Increased cropland and rangeland area (15% contribution in 1961–
1999);
• Increased yield per unit area (78% contribution); and
• Greater cropping intensity (7% percent contribution). The use of
fertilizers accounts for approximately 50% of the yield increase, and
greater irrigation for another substantial part (FAO, 2003)
2. Food from Fisheries and Aquaculture
• Aquaculture, freshwater and marine fisheries supply about 10% of world
human calorie intake – but this is likely to decline or at best stabilize in
the future, and might have already reached the maximum.
• At present, marine capture fisheries yield 110–130 million tons of
seafood annually. Of this, 70 million tons are directly consumed by
humans, 30 million tons are discarded and 30 million tons converted to
fishmeal.
3. Food from Meat
• Meat production increased from 27 kg meat/capita in 1974/1976 to 36
kg meat/capita in 1997/1999 (FAO, 2003), and now accounts for around
8% of the world calorie intake (FAOSTAT, 2009). In many regions, such
as in the rangelands of Africa, in the Andes and the mountains of
Central Asia, livestock is a primary factor in food security.
• Meat production, however, also has many detrimental effects on the
environment, apart from being energy inefficient when animals are fed
with food-crops. The area required for production of animal feed is
approximately one-third of all arable land
4. Food from Animal Feed
• It takes, on average, 3 kg of grain to produce 1 kg of meat, given that
part of the production is based on other sources of feed, rangeland and
organic waste (FAO, 2006). Currently, 33 % of the cropland area is thus
used for livestock (FAO, 2006 livestock long shadow). In addition, about
16,000 liters of virtual water are needed to produce 1 kg of meat
(Chapagain and Hoekstra, 2008).
• Hence, an increased demand for meat results in an accelerated demand
for water, crop and rangeland area. Meat production is energy
inefficient and environmentally harmful at industrial scales and with
intense use of feed crops such as maize and soybeans. Chicken
production is among the most energy-efficient, although still more
energy-demanding than cereal
5. Food - or Feed - from Waste
 By using discards, waste and other post-harvest losses, the supply of
animal and fish feed can be increased and be sustained without
7
 GEE 18 (Environmental Conservation)

expanding current production, simply by increasing energy efficiency

and conservation in the food supply chain.

Soil and Agriculture

• Soil is non-renewable resource. It is a thin, fragile layer of life – supporting
material.
• Soil is important because life and civilization depends on soil and water
resources. o It supplies plants and animals with all the resources they
need.
• Soil quality defines whether soils are in good condition for their current
use. The physical, chemical and biological characteristics of different soils
vary a great deal, so that different soils are suited to different uses.
• Where a soil’s characteristics match those needed for its current use, then
we can say that soil is of good quality. This measure of quality relates to
several aspects of a soil: a. Fertility refers to the amount of humus (organic
matter)
b. Physical condition (for example, whether it has become compacted)
c. Composition (whether it contains beneficial soil life, such as bacteria
and earthworms)
d. Sometimes soil quality is also referred to as ‘soil health’.
o Soil health is the capacity of the soil to sustain plant and animal
growth, air and water quality.

Soil Degradation
• UN reports in 2001 that 1.7 billion tons of crop soil is lost worldwide due to
erosion.
• Reasons for soil degradation are:
1.Erosion 4. Pollution
2.Desertification 5. Changes in soil chemistry
3.Increases in salt level 6. Loss of organic matter

 We must take it upon ourselves to practice good soil management and

protect our soils.

The Green Revolution and Genetic Engineering

• Most increases in food production in recent generations result from “green
revolution”.
o The green revolution replaced traditional crop varieties and growing
methods throughout the developed world, and nearly half of all
farmers in the developing world were using green revolution seeds,
fertilizers, and pesticides by 1990s.
 Varieties of grains, which grow rapidly in response to fertilizer
use and irrigation. Miracle varieties were spread around the
world.
o The success of these methods is one of the main reasons world food
supplies have more than kept pace with the growing human
population over the past few decades.
• Most green revolutions breeds really are “high responders” meaning that
they yield more than other varieties if given optimal level of fertilizers,
water, and pest control.

8
 GEE 18 (Environmental Conservation)

o Without irrigation and fertilizer, on the other hand, high responders

may not produce as well as traditional varieties.
o New methods and inputs are also expensive. The green revolution is
credited with feeding the world, but it is also accused of driving
poorer farmers off their land, as rising land values and falling
commodity prices squeeze them from both sides.
• Genetic engineering involves removing genetic material from one organism
and splicing it into the chromosomes of another. o This technology
introduces entirely new traits, at a much faster rate compared to cross-
breeding methods.
o It is now possible to build entirely new genes by borrowing bits of
DNA from completely unrelated species, or even synthesizing
artificial DNA sequences to create desired characteristics in
genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
• Most recent innovations have focused on genetically modified varieties.
o Some of these are being developed for improved characteristics,
such as vitamin production or tolerance of salty soils.
o The majority of genetically modified crops are designed to tolerate
herbicides, in order to improve competition with weeds

...let us now move on with our lesson…

Lesson 3: Agricultural Biotechnology and Food Supply

9
GEE 18 (Environmental Conservation)

10
GEE 18 (Environmental Conservation)

11
GEE 18 (Environmental Conservation)

12
 GEE 18 (Environmental Conservation)

…let us move on with our lesson…

13
 GEE 18 (Environmental Conservation)

Lesson 4: The Global Issue of Food Security

• Nearly a billion people across the world experience the effects of food
insecurity.
• According to the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID), food security means having, at all times, both physical and
economic access to sufficient food to meet dietary needs for a productive
and healthy life.
• Put more simply, families are able to afford and obtain enough nutritious
food. A family is food secure when its members do not live in hunger or fear
of hunger.
• Both in the United States and in developing nations, food insecurity is often
linked to poverty. Shifts in the global economy, including rises in global
food and oil prices, can affect food security throughout the world, with
especially severe effects in low-income countries.

Three main aspects of food security as defined by the World Health

Organization (WHO)

o The first aspect of food security is food availability, having a

sufficient supply of food available on a consistent basis.
o This food can be either locally produced or imported from other
places.
o In some cases, communities may be unable to produce their own
food locally because of inappropriate agricultural technologies or
practices; lack of natural resources or productive land; climate
constraints; emergency situations like natural disasters; or health
constraints, such as HIV/AIDS, that prevent people from engaging
in labor.
o Communities may be unable to import food from other places
because of issues like lack of foreign exchange, political unrest, or
lack of transportation.

• The second aspect of food security is food access, having sufficient

resources to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet.
o Even when a sufficient supply of food exists to feed everyone, food
may not always be accessible to everyone. o People need to have
sufficient incomes and resources in order to obtain food. There
are a number of factors that can affect a person's economic
access to food, including lack of job opportunities that can
provide sufficient income, or lack of training or business
knowledge for success with income generating activities.
• The final aspect of food security is known as food utilization, or
consuming a nutritious diet.
o This means that people make appropriate use of food, based on
knowledge of basic nutrition and care, and have access to water
and sanitation for preparing food and maintaining proper
hygiene.

14
 GEE 18 (Environmental Conservation)

o Nutrition education can be an important part of improving food

utilizationmaking sure people are aware of the variety of foods
their bodies need to maintain good health.
o In many parts of the world experiencing food insecurity, people
may consume sufficient quantities of starchy staple foods like
potatoes, rice, maize, and cassava, but insufficient quantities of
protein, oils, dairy, fruits and vegetables that make up a balanced
diet.
o Changing this may not only require nutrition education, but also
increasing food availability through improved agricultural
practices and resources.
• Disease prevention and management, including proper sanitation and
hygiene practices, are also important for proper food utilization.
o Undernourished human bodies are more susceptible to illnesses
like diarrheal disease and pneumonia.
o But with proper nutrition, sanitation, and hygiene, many diseases-
especially those caused by food and waterborne contaminants-are
less likely to occur.
• Food security is an issue both globally and at home in the United States.
According to recent data from the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA), approximately 14.7% of U.S. households experience
low or very low food security.
o This equates to nearly 50 million people in the United States,
including about 17 million children. In response to food
insecurity, the U.S. government offers food assistance to low
income families through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP).
o This allows provides families with electronic benefits they can use
like a debit card to purchase breads, cereals, fruits, vegetables,
meat, and dairy products from approved stores.
o The federal government also funds school breakfast and lunch
programs. Some community-based organizations, such as food
banks, help address families' immediate food needs, while others
work to address the root causes of food insecurity, improve local
access to nutritious food, and provide community-based nutrition
education.
• Looking at food security globally, the number of people experiencing
food insecurity in the United States and other developed nations makes
up only about two percent of the global total.
o The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
states that 925 million people in the world are undernourished.
o The largest percentage of undernourished people live in Asia and
the Pacific Islands, followed by Sub-Saharan Africa. o
Fortunately, there is enough food in the world today for everyone
to have the nourishment they need for a healthy and productive
life.
o A key factor in addressing the world's food security challenges is
improving the availability, access, and utilization of food across
global communities.

15
 GEE 18 (Environmental Conservation)

• Peace Corps Volunteers work with communities in many different

capacities to address food security challenges.
o The support communities in developing irrigation systems to
increase agricultural yields, in developing sustainable new food
sources through practices like fish farming, and in helping
communities improve the processing and marketing of their food
products.
o They also provide assistance with school garden projects,
agricultural microenterprises, and nutrition education initiatives.
o Explore the stories on Paul D. Coverdell World Wise Schools
program's Global Issues page to learn more about how Peace
Corps Volunteers' work in education, agriculture, income
generation, health and nutrition is helping communities increase
their food security.

…knowing the state of our world food supply, we are now into a quest for environmental
resource conservation …to ensure that food is enough for all… and that there will still be
enough left for the next generation…

Learning Task

 Interview local farmers (at least 5) in your locality/barangay about their

agricultural practices. From the interview result, classify the
agricultural practices as good or bad (matrix form). Pick one good
agricultural practice and present the benefit of this practice to: a)
agricultural yield, b) people, and the 3) environment.
o Does this agricultural practice help address global food security
issue?

16