Environmental Science PowerPoint Lecture

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Environmental Science PowerPoint Lecture
Principles of Environmental Science - Inquiry and
Applications, 1st Edition by William and Mary Ann
Cunningham
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Chapter 7 - Topics

• Nutrition and Food Supplies
• Major Food Sources
• Introduce Soils (covered in book)
• Ways We Use and Abuse Soil
• Other Agricultural Resources
• New Crops and Genetic Engineering
• Sustainable Agriculture

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Objectives of Chapter 7

• Describe world food supplies and some causes of
  chronic hunger in midst of growing food surpluses
• Explain some major human nutritional requirements
  and consequences of nutrient deficiencies
• Differentiate between famine and chronic
  under-nutrition, and understand relation between
  natural disasters and social and economic forces
  triggering food shortages

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Historical view of health strong environmental
links
Field macrobioarchaeology looking at indicators
of health by examining skeletons (e.g.
cemetaries) for 7 basic indicators of health, in
the western hemisphere from 5000 BC to late
nineteenth century (ref The Backbone of History.
Health and Nutrition in the Western Hemisphere.
Edited by Richard H. Steckel and Jerome C. Rose.
Cambridge University Press. 2002) .

• Age at death
• Stature
• Arthritis
• Dental health dental decay and tooth loss
  indicate nutrition
• Osteoporosis indicate degree of regular
  strenuous activity, quality of life
• Trauma. Patterns healed fractures indicate
  activities including living on difficult terrain,
  hazardous occupations, extent of warfare,
  interpersonal violence
• Infections (extracting DNA from pathogens to
  identify) differences in contact with bacteria
  level of resistance. People living larger
  groups more problems infections

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Spanish Conquest traumatic for history of natives
in Ecuador - introduction of Old World diseases
to population not getting enough food (Book
reference The Backbone of History. Health and
Nutrition in the Western Hemisphere. Edited by
Richard H. Steckel and Jerome C. Rose. Cambridge
University Press. 2002) 1524-1527 smallpox
epidemic 1531-1533 measles, possibly plague
1546 plague, possibly typhus 1558 smallpox,
measles, possibly influenza 1585-1591 smallpox,
measles, possibly mumps 1604 unidentified
epidemic 1606 diphtheria 1611 measles, and
typhus 1612 scarlet fever, measles, typhus 1614
typhus, diphtheria 1618 measles, dysentery 1634
typhus 1644-1645 German measles, diphtheria
1648-1649 smallpox, german measles 1667 typhus
1676-1677 smallpox 1680 plague 1683 plague etc.
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Implications of examining over 13,000 skeletons
and health index connection between political
development and agriculture, Steckel Rose 2002
said life became nasty, brutish and short for
the typical person with the rise of agriculture,
government and urbanization. The hunter-gatherers
and those living in dispersed settlements were
the healthiest groups (Book reference The
Backbone of History. Health and Nutrition in the
Western Hemisphere. Edited by Richard H. Steckel
and Jerome C. Rose. Cambridge University Press.
2002)
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Environmental Health Hazards with Non-sustainable
Industrialization
In some parts of Eastern Europe former USSR,
90 children suffer from environmentally linked
diseases.
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Iron deficiency anemia, Vitamin deficiencies,
Mineral deficiencies, Toxicities, Poor resistance
to disease
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Importance of Diet

• At least half of all Americans are considered
  overweight.
• Strong correlation between cardiovascular disease
  and the amount of salt and animal fat in ones
  diet
• Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, complex
  carbohydrates, and dietary fiber have beneficial
  health effects.
• Eating too much food has negative effects on
  health.

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Part 1 Nutrition, Food Supplies
World grain production 1950-2000
Average daily diet1950 2,0002000 3,500
calories / person
2002 India enough food but cities 36 children
stunted, 40 underweight
1 billion people chronically undernourished
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Cunningham, Cunningham 2004
All of these are food sources for humans
Energy Pyramid
What is a decomposer food source for humans?
MUSHROOMSCHEESEWINE, BEER
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Mycorrhizal symbiotic relationships between
fungus and tree. Sporocarps tasty and favorite of
humans Japanese, Germans etc. will pay a lot of
money for them
Similar to truffles collected using pigs, dogs
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Part 1 Nutrition, Food Supplies
World food supply 1960-1998
Asia
Relative food production by regions
Lat Amer
World
Africa
Former Soviet Union
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Part 1 Nutrition, Food Supplies
In richer countries, the most common dietary
problem is over-nutrition (too many calories).

• Average daily caloricintake in North Americaand
  Europe is 3,500calories (1/3 more than needed
  to be healthy)
• 20 Americans are over weight (10/2002 data -
  a third are over weight)

http//www.nordictrack.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/Exec
Macro/product/nt/product_v4.d2w/report?prmenbr153
prrfnbr105197cgrfnbr46526rootcat46525
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Part 1 Nutrition, Food Supplies

• Sub-Saharan Africa food production not kept pace
  with rapid population growth(reasons Droughts,
  War, Poverty, Government mismanagement)
• In sub-Sahara, 35 out of 40 countries had
  decreasing food production last 20 years

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Food Security

• Food security - the ability to obtain sufficient
  food on a day-to-day basis
• About 800 million people chronically hungry (200
  million are children) 1 in 5 in developing
  world
• Chronic undernourishment in children leads to
  permanently stunted growth, mental retardation,
  other social and developmental disorders
• Higher incidence of infectious diseases when
  undernourished
• Poverty is the greatest threat to food security
• Within families that dont get enough to eat,
  women and children have the poorest diets

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Countries at risk for food shortages high risk
in orange color, low risk in white
High Risk
High Risk
Little Risk
Greatest risk sub-Sahara Africa, Southeast
South Asia, parts of Latin America. Little risk
US, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia
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Countries at risk for food shortages high risk
orange color, low risk white
What BIOMES are found in locations with the
greatest risk for food shortages? What BIOMES are
found in areas with little risk for food
shortages?
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Essential Nutrients

• Malnourishment - a nutritional imbalance caused
  by a lack of specific dietary components or an
  inability to utilize essential nutrients
• Richer countries eat too much meat, salt, fat and
  not enough fiber, vitamins etc since foods are so
  processed
• The number of people with allergies has gone up
  and has not been helped by the chemicals
  (hormones) used to speed up the rate at which
  animals accumulate biomass (the food source).

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Essential Nutrients

• Starchy foods (corn, polished rice) tend to be
  low in several essential nutrients
• Protein deficiency diseases - kwashiorkor,
  marasmus
• Iron deficiency - anemia - most severe in India
  (80 pregnant women)
• Iodine deficiency - goiter, hyperthyroidism HOW
  DEAL WITH THIS DEFICIENCY?

WHY DO DEFICIENCIES EXIST esp. when caloric
input high?
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goiter
Kwashiorkor West African word for displaced
child
Marasmus Greek word to waste away (diet low
in calories, proteins)
http//www.healthcentral.com/mhc/img/img1164.cfm
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Famines Some Causes

• Environmental conditions - drought, insects,
  natural disasters
• National politics - corruption, oppression
• Armed conflict
• Economics - price gouging, poverty, landlessness

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Dealing with Underlying Causes of Famine?
Famine causes people to use up their productive
capacity (killing animals, eating stored grains),
mass migrations
Aid policies of rich countries often serve to
get rid of surplus food, without dealing with
root causes of starvation set up feeding camps
not deal growing own crops, etc.
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Part 2 Major Food Sources
Of 1,000s edible plants animals, humans use
only

• 12 types seeds, grains
• 3 root crops
• 20 fruits, vegetables
• 6 mammals
• 2 domestic fowls, few fish

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Part 2 Major Food Sources
Crops

• Three major crops - wheat, rice, maize (wheat
  rice 60 of calories consumed globally)
• Mountains High latitudes - potatoes, barley,
  oats, rye
• Warm, wet areas (tropics) - roots and tubers
• Dry regions Africa sorghum, millet (drought
  resistant)
• Fruits and vegetables

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Meat, Milk, and Seafood

• Milk and meat highly prized, but distribution
  inequitable
• About 90 of the grain grown in North America is
  used to feed cattle, hogs, poultry, and other
  animals!
• Seafood - important protein source in many
  countries - threatened by overharvesting and
  habitat destruction

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Eating a Balanced Diet
USDA Food Pyramid
What most eaten in past?
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The Challenge of Choosing Foods Variety!
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Soil Profile
You cannot just grow any crop the soil type
limits this capacity
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Part 1 Nutrition, Food Supplies

• Asia experienced most rapid increase in crop
  production (esp. China, Indonesia tripled food
  production in less than decade).
• Ex. In Indonesia, in 4 years had worlds biggest
  rice reserves from being worlds biggest importer

Limited land base available means conversion of
natural systems to crops Remember 10 of globe
terrestrial land area used today to grow
agricultural crops, 28 in US
Malaysia, palm oil
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Few options for what crops to grow for food
because of limitations of the soil can be
limited by low nutrients, toxins, high salts Land
conversion for food production is not always a
good idea
Cassava / manioc, Brazilian Amazon, TROPICAL
FOREST
Photo K Vogt
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Values of international organizations attempt
stop shifting agriculturalists in Amazon to
increase carbon storage in forests, place farmers
in intensive agricultural farms (nutrient poor
soils would not allow this to be sustainable)
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Amazon water buffalo owned by large landowners
with economic power destroying the varzea
(floodplains) used by indigenous people