11 28 11 Geog 2412 Nov 29 2011 French Fries Announcements Final Exam Monday December 12 4 30pm 7pm Final Paper due next week in recitaMon Event Great Fear Great Hope Climate Change And The Meaning Of Life With Author Auden Schendler Wed Nov 30 6pm HumaniMes 150 Outline French Fries as an object why Nature Society RelaMons Controlling nature How we think about and produce food Agriculture Mono cropping GMOs Keywords Monocropping Colombian Exchange agro diversity GMO 1 11 28 11 French Fries Human Nature RelaMons A natural social object A story of controlling nature Environmental costs of potato producMon Botany of desire Seeing things from the plant s point of view Human demands for certain kinds of potatoes Potatoes demands for certain kinds of care Not all potatoes can become French Fries speci c costs pacerns and impacts The potato a history NaMve to Andes Region Peru 5 000 variaMons DomesMcated 7 8 000 yrs ago Transferred to Europe through Columbian Exchange 2 11 28 11 The potato Cultural baggage MulMple varieMes narrowed down to one The famous russet 1872 Mass producMon Monoculture Loss of geneMc agro diversity Potato producMon Monocropping Demand for Russet Burbanks Mechanized agriculture Agricultural inputs Energy ferMlizers insecMcides water Low pro t margins ConMnued tread mill of producMon What then The Botany of Desire A Plant s Eye View of the World based on the book by Michael Pollan hcp video pbs org video 1283872815 For more info hcp www pbs org thebotanyofdesire map Mmeline php 3 11 28 11 Agriculture Industrial Monocropping IrrigaMon Tractors Inorganic FerMlizers Chemical pesMcides and herbicides The pesMcide cycle Constant farming Large scale environmental impacts Tradi onal Polycropping Rain fed Hand animal plowed Organic FerMlizers Manure green manure burning RotaMon fallow periods Industrial Agriculture Feeding the world but at what cost Green Revolution Pollution from synthetic fertilizers Pollution from synthetic pesticides Irrigation Water depletion and salinization Fossil fuels used for heavy equipment Reduced biodiversity Heavy financial burden on poor farmers GMOs questionable ecologically and ethnically Further reduces biodiversity agrodiversity Risks of superpests Health risks Reliance on patented seeds Financial burden cannot re use seeds Loss of indigenous knowledge and breeds Loss of Diversity In productive as well as protected spaces Cultural as well as ecological Source of livelihood Monocultures destroyed genetic diversity Pesticides fertilizers destroyed soil life farm diversity outside of crops High production focus improved seeds destroyed cultural diversity knowledge systems social autonomy GMOS introducing brand new varieties 4 11 28 11 Environmental Impacts of French Fries The Body Landscape Food selecMon Obesity Transfats GMOs always a choice Monocropping Loss of geneMc diversity Increased pests Massive energy and water inputs PesMcides FerMlizers Compacted soils What this means What we eat is linked to French fries and the environment and potatoes more our own health generally and other foods say a lot about Foods taste how we relate to the agricultural pracMces environment vary culturally over Mme 5
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