Deck 21: Understanding Food and Agricultural Sustainability

Question 1

1) The sociological imagination

A) allows one to dream of future societies.
B) focuses attention on personal relationships
C) enables people to move beyond personal experience and examine how institutions and history affects them.
D) stresses the way individuals control their lives.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

2) Examining how the parts of society, such as culture, institutions and organizations, affect people is referred to as

A) postmodernism.
B) an interactional approach.
C) a structural approach.
D) assimilation.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

3) The food people eat and the agricultural system that produces it is

A) independent of society's other institutions.
B) a matter of individual decisions.
C) part of a series of interlocking institutions, such as the economy, government, and science.
D) is free from external influences.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

4) Individuals making decisions and taking action can affect how some food is produced and consumed. This is an example of

A) agency.
B) social structure.
C) inequality.
D) powerlessness.

Question 5

5) The sociological approach that examines the ways that people's interactions and actions affect other people and the larger society it is called

A) the interactional approach.
B) the structural approach.
C) social inequality.
D) social change.

Question 6

6) The power a person or organization has to influence others is

A) known as neoliberalism.
B) an outcome of the sociological imagination.
C) tied to their position in the social structure and/or the amount of resources they have.
D) None of the above

Question 7

7) The political economic system based on the belief that the best way to organize society is by allowing individuals freedom to pursue their self-interest in the marketplace is

A) neoliberalism.
B) globalization.
C) socialism.
D) institutionalism.

Question 8

8) Implementation of neoliberalism requires

A) reducing or removing regulations.
B) reducing or removing barriers to trade.
C) shifting responsibilities from government to private entities.
D) All of the above

Question 9

9) The increased interconnectedness of much of the world in terms of economics, politics and culture is called

A) consumption.
B) neoliberalism.
C) globalization.
D) fragmentation.

Question 10

10) When food appears on the grocery shelves regardless of geography, climate or seasonality it is referred to as

A) land grabs.
B) food insecurity.
C) food from nowhere.
D) globalization.

Question 11

1. Define the structural and interactional approaches in sociology and provide an example of a component of the food and agricultural system that each would examine.

Question 12

2. Implementing neoliberalism entails three policy shifts. Define and provide an example of each policy shift.

Question 13

1. Neoliberalism and globalization have significantly affected the world that we live in. First, provide an overview of neoliberalism and globalization. Second, discuss the relationship between neoliberalism, globalization, and inequality. Third, examine the ways that neoliberalism, globalization, and inequality are affected food and agriculture.

Question 14

1) Sustainability can be broadly defined as:

A) conserving environmental resources
B) ensuring the resilience of people, communities, and ecological systems over time.
C) ensuring economic growth.
D) ensuring civil rights and liberties.

Question 15

2) Sustainability entails three dimensions: environmental, social, and economic. Which of the following statements is correct regarding the three dimensions?

A) Environmental sustainability is the most important dimension and thus, needs to be prioritized.
B) Economic sustainability is the most important dimension and thus, needs to be prioritized.
C) Social sustainability is the most important dimension and thus, needs to be prioritized.
D) All three dimensions need to be balanced.

Question 16

3) In the conclusion, efforts to increase the sustainability of food and agriculture are categorized in which way?

A) Divided into two primary approaches: structural initiatives and local initiatives
B) As a unified, standardized effort to achieve agreed-upon goals
C) Divided into three approaches: community-based initiatives, standard and certification initiatives, and intensification initiatives
D) Divided into technological and social approaches

Question 17

4) All of the following describe community-based sustainability initiatives except:

A) They seek to (re)localize food and agriculture through building direct relations between producers and consumers.
B) They seek to "socially embed" food and agriculture in particular places.
C) They are understood as "something done by the experts for them."
D) They tend to be bottom-up efforts that emerge from local people.

Question 18

5) Community-supported agriculture and farm-to-school programs fit with which approach to sustainability?

A) Community-based
B) Certification
C) Sustainable Intensification
D) All of the above

Question 19

6) Given that the world faces further increases in population and resource scarcities, the idea that greater sustainability in agriculture is possible with increases in productivity and eco-efficiencies. This statement fits which approach to sustainability?

A) Community-based
B) Certification
C) Sustainable Intensification
D) All of the above

Question 20

7) Precision agriculture and the use of crop management software programs, such as soil and water sensors, geographic information systems, and genetic technologies are examples of:

A) Technology treadmills.
B) Sustainable intensification
C) Market-based sustainability
D) Community-based agriculture

Question 21

8) The conclusion lesson argues which of the following?

A) citizens can potentially counter corporate power through voting, expressing their views, and participating in collective action.
B) Sustainability of the food system would be left to corporations as they have the best knowledge of how the system works.
C) The sustainability challenges facing the food system today can only be solved by experts.
D) Community-based approaches are the only effective way to address sustainability in the food system.

Question 22

9) According to the conclusion, donating money, volunteering, initiating programs, and participating in protests to advocate for change,

A) while making people feel good about themselves, will not bring about change in the food system.
B) are not as effective at bringing about change as participating in ethical consumption.
C) are ways for people to take to make a difference in the food system.
D) may disrupt the food system and cause more people to go hungry.

Question 23

10) In the tradition of public sociology, the conclusion suggests some ways that the readers can take action to actively contribute to a more sustainable food and agriculture. These suggestions are organized around the roles that most of you play in your everyday lives. They include:

A) students
B) citizens
C) consumers
D) all of the above

Question 24

1. Describe one approach to increasing the sustainability of food and agriculture.

Question 25

2. Identify and describe a tension between the three dimensions of sustainability - environmental, economic, and social - in food and agriculture.

Question 26

1. While "sustainability" appears to be fairly straightforward at first blush, it is a highly contested, politicized, and tricky idea. First, briefly explain the three dimensions of sustainability and the ways that agricultural sustainability is contested. Second, discuss the strengths and limitations of the different approaches for improving the sustainability of food and agriculture.