Deck 12: Food and the Environment, Sean Gillon

Question 1

1) Policy decisions that incentivize agriculture production over environmental conservation indicate are an example of

A) social decisions affect environmental conditions.
B) agriculture's basis in nature.
C) the extensification of agriculture.
D) All of the above

Answer 1

A

Question 2

2) Which statement best describes the issue of food scarcity?

A) It is an ecological issue.
B) It is a social issue.
C) It is both an ecological and social issue.
D) It is an economic issue.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

3) Food scarcity is affected by

A) Ecological resources
B) Population growth
C) Agricultural policy
D) All of the above

Answer 3

D

Question 4

4) The idea of "agriculture's basis in nature" means

A) agriculture is responsible for significant environmental degradation.
B) agriculture cannot be separated from ecological process.
C) industrialization is anathema to agriculture.
D) the separation of agriculture from ecology with industrialization.

Question 5

5) Historically, agriculture's basis in nature has

A) has made profit generation in farming challenging.
B) has made farming highly profitable.
C) has attracted large corporations to farming.
D) has resulted in most farms in the U.S. being small farms.

Question 6

6) Technologies and practices that aim to maximize agricultural productivity and profitability, and minimize the challenges that nature poses are referred to as

A) technology treadmills.
B) agroecology.
C) agricultural industrialization.
D) extensification.

Question 7

7) Increased agricultural productivity or output through expanding the amount of land being farmed is referred to as

A) technology treadmills.
B) agroecology.
C) agricultural industrialization.
D) extensification.

Question 8

8) Which social and environmental problem resulted from extensification of agriculture?

A) Dust Bowl.
B) Dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico
C) Superweeds
D) All of the above

Question 9

9. Over time the amount of land in agricultural production globally and the amount of water used in agriculture globally have decreased. ?

Question 10

10) Agriculture uses an estimated _____ percent of the global fresh water supply.

A) 10
B) 25
C) 50
D) 70

Question 11

11) The processes of increasing agricultural productivity per unit of land is referred to as

A) technology treadmills.
B) agroecology.
C) intensification.
D) extensification.

Question 12

12) Increased fertilizer use has resulted in increased nitrogen pollution. Nitrogen pollution results in

A) marine dead zones.
B) avian dead zones.
C) global climate change.
D) soil erosion.

Question 13

13) The separation of livestock from crop production has resulted in

A) increased nitrogen pollution and soil erosion.
B) increased nitrogen pollution and pesticide use.
C) increased nitrogen pollution and concentrated manure production.
D) increased pesticide use and concentrated manure production.

Question 14

14) Industrial agriculture requires higher levels of pesticides because

A) large-scale, monocrop production is more susceptible to pest and disease.
B) diversified agricultural production attracts a greater variety of pests.
C) to counteract the effects of soil erosion.
D) All of the above

Question 15

15) Political economic structures, such as competition and volatile prices, tend to

A) incentivize farmers to reduce environmental degradation.
B) incentivize farmers maximize production and thus, increase environmental degradation.
C) encourage farmers to shift from industrial to agroecological practices.
D) reduce inputs to increase their profitability.

Question 16

16) The notion of a second green revolution refers to

A) investment in genetically modified crops.
B) expansion of land acquisition and agriculture markets.
C) new corporate, governmental, and philanthropic partnerships.
D) All of the above

Question 17

17) Which of the following statements best characterizes the production of biofuels?

A) Biofuels significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions.
B) Biofuel production produces more greenhouse gases than they eliminate.
C) Biofuel production lowers food security and greenhouse gas emissions.
D) Biofuel production increases food security, but lowers greenhouse gas emissions.

Question 18

18) Which of the following is necessary to lessen the negative environmental impacts of agriculture?

A) Changes in production practices
B) Changes in consumption
C) Changes in governmental policies.
D) All of the above

Question 19

19) Which of the following is not a reason for the widespread conditions of food insecurity in the world today?

A) The inability of agriculture to produce enough food for the global population
B) Food waste
C) Increased production and consumption of meat
D) The use of agricultural land to produce processed ingredients and biofuels

Question 20

20) Designing agricultural systems are embedded in ecological systems and incorporate ecological processes is known as

A) extensification.
B) intensification.
C) agroecology.
D) food sovereignty.

Question 21

1. Discuss one way that current forms of food consumption contributed to environmental degradation.

Question 22

2. How does agricultural industrialization attempt to overcome agriculture's basis in nature?

Question 23

3. What is extensification and how can it contribute to environmental degradation?

Question 24

1. In Lesson 12, Sean Gillon argues, how the environment in food systems is both a social and ecological issue. Write an essay that, first, discusses the way social structures and policies, affect agriculture's impact on the environment. Second, use the issue of food scarcity, to show how it ways social and ecological dynamics are intertwined in food systems.

Question 25

2. Intensification and extensification are two key processes of agriculture systems. First, define the processes of intensification and extensification. Second, examine how each of these processes has exacerbated the negative impacts of agriculture on the environment. In your answer, please provide supporting examples.