Sustainability

1
Sustainability
Winter 2009 Class 16 Jeff Fletcher
2
Logistics

• 1 on 1 meetings today
• If not signed up or missed last time, be sure to
  reschedule
• Office Hours tomorrownot available until 1230
• Water Footprint Reports Due Today
• Reading Chapters 3-7 (skim for Monday)
• Reading for next Wed. Chapters 8 9 (for Wed.
  March 4)
• Homework 5 Reading Questions on Ch. 8 9 (Due
  Wed. March 4)
• King Corn Movie
• Look for important themes from Omnivore's Dilemma
• Think about making your own (short) video on a
  sustainability issue (next term)

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Important Themes

• National Eating Disorder
• Natures way vs. Industrial/Corporate way
• Omnivore's Dilemma
• What should I eat?
• What am I eating?
• Where did it come from?
• Missing a narrow culture around food
• Domestication by Humans or Domestication of
  Humans

4
Important Themes

• We are corn
• Dramatic Increase in Corn Yields
• Hybrid vigor
• Plant close together
• Genetically identicaldont compete
• GMO advancesherbicide ready
• Ammonium Nitrate Fertilizer
• Sun foods vs. petroleum foods
• Corn anatomy and sex
• Others

5
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Domestication

• Ability to be domesticated is a rare quality in
  plants and animals (e.g. not zebras)
• Takes genetic predisposition
• Takes time and patience stability of
  relationship between humans and plant or animal
• Not as restricted with GMO technology (e.g.
  Flavor savor tomato)

7
Corn

• C3 vs. C4 Grasses
• Different photosynthesis biochemical pathways
• C4 generally evolved later and have advantages
• more efficient use of CO2 and water
• More drought tolerant
• Corn is a C4 Grass, more efficient that C3
• Back to last term carbohydrates
• Carbon 12 vs Carbon 13
• Periodic Table of Element

8
Major Grass Grain Crops

• Wheat (C3)
• Corn (Maize) (C4)
• Rice (C3)
• Barley (C3)
• Sorghum (C4)
• Oats (C3)
• Millet (C3 C4 different species)
• Rye (C3)
• Triticale (wheat rye hybrid C3)

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Industrial Fertilizer

• Modern miracle or modern scurge?
• Ammonium Nitrate Fertilizer
• Leftovers from munitions WWI
• Fritz Haber (Haber-Bosch process)
• Nobel prize 1920
• More than half of all fertilizer goes to corn
• N2 in air (80) is inert
• The explanation for 2/3 of human
  populationimplications of changes?

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Typical Market for Farm Goods

• In demand, prices good, grow more, surplus,
  prices drop, so plant even more, even more
  surplus, even lower prices
• What type of process is this?
• TOC when individuals are not coordinated
• Also example of a positive feedback
• Changing role of farm subsidies and regulation
• To help farmers keep prices high enough to plant
  next year
• 1973 Change To help keep prices low by paying
  farmers directly
• 1920 25 lived on farms
• Each could feed itself 12
• Now each farmer feeds 127

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Movie

• King Corn, 2007
• Inspired by Omnivores Dilemma
• Covers ideas from 1st section of book