Week 6

PART 1- APA Format- NO more than 1 or 2 paragraph

Did you ever think of feeding the world as an environmental question? It may not seem like a top environmental topic, but it is.  There are many sides to the issue of how to provide food such as genetically modified crops (GMOs), pesticide use, organic farming, locally produced agriculture, global distribution, industrial production, and sustainable production. Ecosystem effects from agriculture include soil, water, energy, and air. Concerns about environmental and health impacts of traditional agriculture have led to interest community supported agriculture (CSA), locally produced food (locovore movement), and food waste reduction programs. However, proponents of traditional agriculture maintain that it is just not possible to feed the world with these alternative methods. What do you think? 

The Links: 

National Geographic Sustainable Agriculture

USDA Sustainable Agriculture Definitions and Terms

Also refer to Berg, et al. (2013) Chapter 14 (course textbook), where environmental issues regarding agriculture is described.

Now, onto the graded portion of this discussion forum.

Part I. Questions:

Your response should be no more than 1-2 short paragraphs.  Since this is not a writing assignment but a discussion, you will not need to formally reference your work but need to attribute it to the source you found it, something likely you do in everyday conversation.  For example, "Yesterday I was reading in the Washington Post that . . " or, "I found this interesting video on YouTube."

Local Agriculture Plan: In this initial response, research and summarize environmental impacts of agriculture and think about where you live. In an ideal situation, how would you feed the people in your local area (the answer from someone in Alaska should differ from someone in Hawaii)? What would system of agriculture would you recommend and why?  There are not right or wrong answers, what is important for our discussion is how you apply environmental and agricultural principles that you have researched to your local area. Some ideas to include in your plan (Feel free to be creative):

• Crop production: How and from where would crops be produced? 
• Animal production: How and from where would animal productions be produced?
• Distribution Distance: How far away would fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy and processed foods travel? 
• Farming Methods: What methods of farming would be used? GMOs? Organic? Pesticides? Herbicides? Industrial methods? 

In your response, mention whether your ideas for local sustainable agriculture could be extended to global production and why.

Part 2- APA Format- 250 Words- 3 References

1. Population and Urbanization

South and East Asia contain almost half the world’s population. India and China account over a third of the world’s population by themselves. As in the other regions we’ve studied, urban areas in these realms are growing rapidly, yet India and China still contain significant rural populations. What are the factors that contribute to India and China still having such large rural populations? Why might people from these rural areas seek to move to urban areas? Are there any benefits to these populations remaining rural?