Fall Quarter 2008 Forum: "Food and the environment"
Tuesdays, 11am-12:20pm, 101 Nierenberg Hall (SIO campus)
SIO 209, 1 unit S/U, you can register now! (tritonlink)
First class is September 30th, 2008
Feeding ourselves is the primary way in which we interact with our environment. We have changed the landscape of the Earth with agriculture, and improved human health by making better food available to more people, but today, media headlines inform us that we are at the start of a new "Food Crisis". The challenges we face are varied. How can we feed everybody without stressing the environment? How can we break the cycle of more hungry people, leading to more food production, leading to an increase in population and more mouths to feed? Is the answer in Genetically Modified crops that use less land for more food, or in Organic foods that use no pesticides? Should we ship tomatoes from a sunny place, or invest in a greenhouse at home?
The aim of this seminar is to discuss a range of environmental issues associated with food production. Each week, a couple students will highlight the main issues on a topic during brief 10 minute talks, and about 1 hour will be left for a lively debate among class participants. Playing the devil's advocate is welcome! There will be a short reading suggestion each week for students to familiarize themselves with the topic and come up with good debatable arguments. On the first day of class, students will choose which topics to cover depending on their interests (for a list of potential topics, see below). We plan to visit a farm on a Saturday outside of class for those who are interested.
Class contacts:Faculty Coordinator:
Theodore Groves - tgroves@ucsd.edu
Student Coordinators:
Lauren Rafelski - lelmegre@ucsd.edu
Anais Orsi - aorsi@ucsd.edu
Class material:
Class information sheet
Topic descriptions
Farm Visit: Rancho Shiraz
Date: Saturday, Oct 18th, 2008 - 9am-3pm
Location: 31258 Via Puerta Del Sol, Bonsall, CA 92003
Sign up by Thursday, October 9th, email aorsi@ucsd.edu
Description: their website
Details: We will carpool from SIO leaving from Nierenberg Parking lot (P014) at 9am, and returing in the afternoon, around 3pm. Bring your lunch.
The objective of the visit is to get an exposure of the practical side of things: How do farmers deal with all the issues we will talk about in class? The farm we will visit is committed to sustainable farming. We will see what it means, and how it can be applied in practice.
Visiting the farm is not required, but we hope that you will be excited to have this opportunity. If you have to leave earlier, you can still consider coming, but you'll be responsible for your own transportation. Anybody is welcome.
List of topics we will cover:
Week 1 (Sept 30): Food supply and demand
Presenters: Kyla Drushka and Lauren Rafelski
Kyla's synopsis: I will be talking about who produces the world's food, who imports and exports it, and how this international trade is regulated. I will also touch on the issues of hunger, free trade, and the impacts of the low food prices the last few decades have seen.
Lauren's synopsis: We are in the midst of a worldwide food crisis due to price increases. I will talk about some of the causes of this crisis, who is most affected, and some of the policies in place to try to alleviate food shortages.
Suggested Reading: High Food Prices: The What, Who, and How of Proposed Policy Actions
Current events:
The Economist: The world has a water shortage, not a food shortage
National Geographic: Our Good Earth
NY Times: An Urban Farmer Is Rewarded for His Dream
Fact sheet for Week 1
Week 2 (Oct 7): GMO
Presenters: Anais Orsi, Dian Putrasahan, and Lauren Franck
Anais' synopsis: Farmers have interfered with nature since the dawn of times, cross breeding species, selecting the best producing plants/animals and selectively reproducing those. How is Genetically Engineered food different? Genetic engineering of plants and animals has allowed us to increase crop yields and reduce pesticides loading, without lowering the nutritive quality of food compared to conventional methods. GE crops also carry the hope of adding nutritive elements to crops (like vitamin A rice). Do these attempts deserve to be pursued? Should the fear of unforseen consequences stop us for developing varieties that may be able to substantially reduce hunger and malnutrition in the poorest countries?
Dian's synopsis: While genetically modified food puts forth many advantages, there are several issues that lie with it, particularly when it comes to the question of safety, long-term health effects and the environment. Has there been safety studies conducted on these products? If GM food is nutritious and enriched with vitamins, why do corporations lobby against labelling GM food? While GM crops with pesticide genes would have less chemicals leaking into water streams, would it be alright to biologically pollute the soil with decaying, pesticide gene injected crops? Would you want to eat GM food that has pesticide genes? Can higher yields of crops from GM food technology alleviate world hunger? What is the public opinion, the public knowledge and public policy on GM food?
Suggested Reading: Watch "GMO panacea or poison". 1hr long.
20 questions about GM on the World Health organisation website
References
Current events:
NY Times: Foods will be labeled by country of origin
BBC: Argentine farmers resume protests
BBC: 'Taxing' farts and burps
Science: Sustainable Biofuel Redux
Science: The peanut butter debate
Fact sheet for Week 2
Week 3 (Oct 14): How do people choose what they eat?
Presenters: Gordy Stephenson and Kim Roeland
Kim's synopsis:
The number of obese adults and overweight children doubled between 1970s and early 2000s. Analysis of data for 68,556 US adults in the National Health Interview Survey by CDC showed that the highest obesity rates were associated with lowest income and low educational levels. Are consumers concerned about this trend and demanding healthier food options at lower cost? Should policies be implemented to influence consumer choice toward healthier diets? A number of recent policies have emerged to address the obesity issue, particularly in the state of California. One of these is a state-wide policy to post calorie information on menus and menu boards by 2011; do you agree with Arnold: "this legislation will help Californians make more informed, healthier choices by making calorie information easily accessible at thousands of restaurants throughout our state"?
Gordy's synopsis:
A consumer visiting the grocery store or food market faces a choice between thousands of food items. How does Joe Six-pack decide which to purchase and eat? While cost is an important element of his decision, many other factors influence the final choice in ways that do not seem rational from a pure economics point of view. Some of the insidious psychological factors affecting food choice will be discussed, as well as ways to exploit these to encourage healthier diets.
Suggested reading
- Watch "Supersize me", in NH101 at 6pm on Monday
- Could behavioral economics help improve diet quality for nutrition assistance program participants?, USDA, Economic Research Report N°43, june 2007. pdf
References
Current events:
BBC: Success for plants' pest control
NY Times: Farmer in Chief
Fact sheet for Week 3
Week 4 (Oct 21): Food from the Ocean
Presenters: Grant Galland, Simon Freeman, and Yui Takeshita
Grant's abstract:
There seems to be no doubt that many, if not most, wild-caught fisheries are being overexploited. The yearly global increase in total catch that mirrored the improvement of fishing technologies over the last 60 years fell to zero in the 1990s. Technology can seemingly no longer increase catch. At the same time, catch per unit effort has decreased. Furthermore, some destructive fishing practices have altered the environment to such a degree that even a complete halt of "harvest" might not lead to recovery. I'll discuss a few fisheries that have sufferred some or all of these fates and some that have been managed more responsibly, in an attempt to understand how nature might continue to provide a valuable source of protein to much of the world.
Yui's abstract:
There's no doubt about it. The world's fish are in trouble. Can Aquaculture be used to save them? By growing fish instead of fishing them, it should reduce the pressure on the wild fish population, giving them a chance to rebound back to a healthy population level, right? Well, that depends. If managed properly and sustainably, aquaculture can and will help supply the world's increasing demand of seafood. However, if not done properly, it can have catastrophic effects on wild fish populations, coastal ecosystems, and even human health and safety.
Simon's abstract:
Management strategies that control fisheries sustainably are seen as a solution for the problems that afflict many wild fisheries. What approaches do strategies such as Individually Transferable Quota (ITQ) employ to promote sustainability? How does such a management system function in the frequent absence of reliable data and shortcomings in research funding? Case studies from around the world show us there are challenges to be faced with each specific application of a 'sustainable' management model and unforeseen problems may arise, but success can be a boon to industry. How do fisheries management models function, and what kind of information do we require before making estimations regarding allowable catch quantities and the methods by which fish may be caught? Lastly, the restriction and prohibition of exploiting overfished stocks appears to harm us economically in the short term, but what are the costs of fishing unsustainably? With much of the world's coastal populations reliant on the sea as a protein source, can we even afford to exploit the oceans this way?
Suggested reading
- [Wildlife:] Jackson, J. B. C., Kirby, M. X., Berger, W. H., Bjorndal, K. A., Botsford, L. W., Bourque, B. J. et al. 2001. Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems. Science 293, 629-638. web
- [Aquaculture:] Naylor, R. L., Goldburg, R. J., Primavera, J. H., Kautsky, N., Beveridge, M. C. M., Clay, J. et al. 2000. Effect of aquaculture on world fish supplies. Nature 405, 1017-1024. web
References
Current events:
Nature: Is China ready for GM rice?
Reuters: Conservation group votes for Mediterranean tuna hunt ban
NY times: Losing the weight stigma
CNBC: Italy should lift GM ban.
BBC: Italy aims at carbon neutral farm
World food day USA: Oct 16th,2008
CNN: Falling oil prices? Food won't necessarily follow. Global Hunger index released.
BBC: World wakes up to food challenge Summary of the world food situation at the 2008 world food day, Oct 16.
BBC: Cost of food, Global roundup.
BBC: Farmers bring Foot-and-mouth case.
Fact sheet for Week 4
Week 5 (Oct 28): Impact of climate change on food supply
Presenters: Aly Fleming, Tara Whitty, and Amanda Frossard
Aly's abstract:
Agriculture is undoubtedly the greatest connection that human kind has to the natural physical environment. We are dependent on sufficient agricultural production to meet our nutritional needs. Knowing that changing environmental conditions will alter agricultural output, it is not difficult to predict that the impact on humans will reach farther than the fields and play a major role in economic, social and political realms. Currently, enough food is produced to meet the needs of the entire human population yet every minute of every day 15 adults and 15 children die of starvation and malnutrition. Disparities such as this are projected to increase with climatic changes. The ability to adapt to these changes is largely dependent on a regions wealth, resources, politics, education system, and sociology. Subsidies, global market interactions, political power and social unrest can be a hindrance to agricultural adaptation. Any attempt at an efficient and ethical allocation of agricultural resources and products will necessitate a greater degree of international policy dialogue.
Tara's abstract:
Agriculture and climate change are inextricably linked; climate change will undoubtedly impact agriculture, while agriculture in turn contributes to climate change. In addition to the direct impacts of altered weather patterns on food supply, climate change will bring a host of indirect effects on food production. Rising sea level will render coastal agricultural lands unfit for food production, pests and diseases may undergo range expansion, and key ecosystems that are (directly and indirectly) vital to food supply may be significantly altered. Such negative impacts will likely result in land-use change as agricultural areas are expanded to compensate for reduced productivity. This will further contribute to climate change. Through deforestation, release of methane from livestock and rice fields, and large-scale transportation of food, agriculture is an important part of the problem.
Amanda's abstract:
Climate change is going to have a negative impact on food supply in the next twenty years. As it is, food security is not strong in many regions. With an increase in precipitation in regions such as West Africa and China and a decrease in regions such as Southern Africa and Brazil, the world food market is going to be affected. Models were run with the predicted change in precipitation and the type of crop produced in each region. In many areas, unless the key crops produced and sold are adapted, the ensuing change in precipitation will cause devastation to food supplies. Adaption measures proposed include shifting planting and harvesting schedules, expanding irrigation, and changing crops entirely. With many regions already struggling to produce enough food, altering growing methods may not be feasible.Lastly, the restriction and prohibition of exploiting overfished stocks appears to harm us economically in the short term, but what are the costs of fishing unsustainably? With much of the world's coastal populations reliant on the sea as a protein source, can we even afford to exploit the oceans this way?
Suggested reading
Climate change and agriculture: physical and human dimensions. 2003. In: World Agriculture: Towards 2015/2030 - An FAO Perspective. Ed. Bruinsma, J.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/005/y4252e/y4252e13.pdf (16 pages)
or for an even shorter summary: http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/Y3557E/y3557e11.htm#t
Easterling, W.E., P.K. Aggarwal, P. Batima, K.M. Brander, L. Erda, S.M. Howden, A. Kirilenko, J. Morton, J.-F. Soussana, J. Schmidhuber and F.N. Tubiello, 2007: Food, fibre and forest products. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson, Eds., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 273-313.
http://www.ipcc-wg2.org/ (42 pages - for those who are particularly inspired by this topic)
Parry, M., Rosenzweig, C., Iglesias, A., Fischer, G., and Livermore, M. 1999. Climate change and world food secuity: a new assessment. Global Environmental Change Ð Human and Policy Dimensions, 9: S51-S67.
References
Current events:
Popular fish contains potentially dangerous fatty acid combination
Deconstructing dinner: Omega-3s vs. Omega-6s
Weekly radio show (and podcast): Deconstructing dinner
LA Times: Migrating Alaskan pollock creating potential for dispute with Russia
NY Times: To counter problems of food aid, try spuds
NY Times: Movement against bottled water gains municipal adherents
Fact sheet for Week 5
Week 6 (Nov 4): Pesticides: the LBAM case
Presenters: Emily Matthews, Emily Kelly, and Chris Knight
Emily K's abstract:
The light brown apple moth (Epiphyas postvittana) is the latest rising star in the threat of invasive and pest species to agriculture. The moth, which can be difficult to identify without DNA analysis, is native to Australia but is now found in New Caledonia, the British Isles, Hawaii, New Zealand, and in 2007 was identified in California for the first time. While much of California's agricultural land is not considered suitable habitat for the moth, its current range is Los Angeles to north of San Francisco. The moth is an herbivorous generalist. Larvae are responsible for the considerable damage to crops as they feed on leaf tissue below the upper epidermis of plants. A variety of approaches to controlling the LBAM exist, the most popular of which is Integrated Pest Management (IPM) regimes, which include chemical pesticides, biological controls, horticultural oils, and mating disruption.
Emily M's abstract:
The benefits of pesticide use - whether insecticide or pheromone - accrue "on-the-farm" by averting crop loss from pests, diseases, and weeds. These translate into broad economic benefits in conventional agriculture markets. The EPA weighs such benefits against the perceived risks when deciding whether to register and approve a particular pesticide. However, as scientific and social pressures increase the accounting of drawbacks and negative externalities to insecticides, there has been a move towards the use of "biological" (though still chemical) pheromones. The California Department of Food and Agriculture recently conducted widespread spraying of pheromone disrupters to combat the LBAM in Northern California. Their arguments focused on quickly eradicating the leafroller moth to avoid potential widespread crop damage. While this caused controversy, the CDFA counters that the use of the sprayed pheromone is biological and thus the "most environmentally friendly pest eradication program" in their history.
Chris' abstract:
With the introduction of the LBAM into the California's insect catalog and the potential for damage that it is likely to cause to agriculture, it is clear that something must be done. That being said, the proposed use of pesticides in effected areas poses serious health risks and potential property damage on a wide scale analogous to the abatement efforts conducted by the California Department of Food and Agriculture during the 1980's for the Mediterranean Fruit Fly. Conducting pesticide-based abatement would unnecessarily expose numerous Californian's to harmful chemicals and create a myriad of health risks. The use of non-invasive techniques would be preferable and doable using preexisting technology.
Suggested reading for class (more are on the website):
- Cooper, Jerry, and Hans Dobson, 2007, The benefits of pesticides to mankind and the environment, Crop Protection 26: 1337-1348. web
- And a suggested (15 min) video
More References
Fact sheet for Week 6
Current Events
NY times: Calories do count
Nature: Salmon and dams
Nov 11 is Veteran's day, no class
Week 7 (Nov 18): Biofuels
Presenters: Cameron Coates and Amber Ries
Amber's abstract:
Due to high oil prices and large subsidies, corn-based ethanol production has consumed the United States. Ethanol production converts corn and other food/feed crops into ethanol by fermentations. For 1L of ethanol it takes 2.69kg of corn grain. However, in order to harvest the corn, oil and natural gas are used and through further anaylsis, it is shown that more energy is used to make ethanol than the energy output of ethanol itself. Through the production of ethanol there are also ecological issues that arise such as increased use of cropland for ethanol production, soil erosion, more herbicides, insecticides and nitrogen fertilizers, and the food vs. fuel argument. This type of energy production is not sustainable.
Cameron's abstract:
Agricultural products have a long history of being used for a variety of different fuels including wood products for heating or engines and crop and animal oils for lighting, heating and engines. Fossil fuels largely displaced these biofuel applications during the industrial revolution because they were cheaper and more efficient to produce. Rising oil prices, security challenges, and environmental concerns have brought about renewed interest and investment into alternatives to fossil fuels. Some agricultural products have been investigated as biofuels that can displace fossil fuels while mitigating some environmental concerns and decreasing reliance on foreign fossil fuels. A variety of policy changes have encouraged recent biofuel investment in the form of biofuel feedstock crops, refineries, and research. Many of the feedstocks that have been used for biofuels ( i.e. corn, soy) were planted and sold for biofuel instead of food products and contributed to increased food prices worldwide. These 1st generation biofuels have also contributed to environmental challenges due to nutrient run-off, soil degradation, and a limited capacity to decrease CO2 emissions. There are however, a variety of 2nd and 3rd generation biofuels that appear to address some of these concerns (swithgrass, algae, cellulosic, microbial).
Suggested reading for class:
Ethanol Production: Energy, Economic, and Environmental Losses by David Pimental, Tad Patzek and Gerald Cecil (online)
References
Current Events
NY Times: Europe Relaxes Rules on Sale of Ugly Fruits and Vegetables
Nature editorial: Animals aren't drugs
NY Times: Breakfast in the Classroom
LA Times: Ethanol's troubles have sapped the dreams of an Indiana town
Nature: Investors temper interest in grain biofuels, focus on alternatives
The New Yorker: Food Issue
The New Yorker: The perils of efficiency
Fact sheet for Week 7
Week 8 (Nov 25): Organic Food
Presenters: Yvonne Firing and Brian Zgliczynski
Brian's abstract:
Consumers are motivated to buy organic food because of its perceived nutritional value, environmental value, and long-term economic sustainability. You are what you eat. Growing and consuming organic foods can put a dent in your wallet today but you may be reducing unforeseen healthcare and environmental costs. Organic farming reduces the need for pesticides and petrochemical fertilizers while increasing soil fertility and biodiversity. However, organic farming has been criticized for reduced efficiency and lower crop yield. The organic movement has grown from a block in Berkeley in the 1960's to the agricultural industry's fastest growing sector of the food economy. The USDA organic label you find on products at the supermarket represents a standard that might fit somewhere in the middle of a spectrum of food choices ranging from connivence foods like toaster pastries to tomatoes you grow in your own back yard. The label substitutes a personal visit to the farm and reassures consumers that food is produced with a certain set of values in mind. Are your values the same as "USDA organic"?
Yvonne's abstract:
Organic and conventional farms have been compared in terms of direct and indirect environmental impacts: energy and water use, release of greenhouse gases, other pollution, and effects on local biodiversity. Many studies have found overall lesser negative impacts from organic fields or farms, stemming both from lower and more localized resource inputs (per output) and from reduced use of pesticides and monocultures, which has been found to improve soil and field/farm ecosystems. The differences between organic and conventional agriculture appear to increase with the length of time under organic cultivation, pointing to the significance of soil fertility in improving organic output-to-input ratios. However, some studies have shown no significant differences or even lower impacts on non-organic farms for certain crops and/or management schemes. Non-organic agriculture employing certain environmentally-sound management practices, in particular, can be better than organic agriculture at reducing groundwater/runoff pollution, while non-organic farms employing only some of the practices of organic farms may achieve the same biodiversity benefits. On organic farms, different farming practices that all fall within the organic definition lead to greater or lesser environmental impacts, highlighting the need for further studies and refinement of organic/sustainable farming standards.
Suggested reading for class:
Maeder et al., 2002, Soil Fertility and Biodiversity in Organic Farming, Science 296, 1694-1697 (online)
References
Current events:
BBC: Daewoo leases African plantation
BBC Blog: A future for cod?
BBC: Can GM save the world?
NY Times: TV ads contribute to childhood obesity
Washington Post: USDA panel approves first rules for labeling farmed fish 'organic'
Fact sheet for Week 8
Week 9 (Dec 2): Sustainable agriculture
Presenters: Sandy Kirtland, Mattias Cape, and Jessica Carilli
Sandy's abstract:
Today, around 16% of the world's agricultural land is irrigated, but this same land produces around 40% of the world's food. Continuing increases in the sophistication of irrigation systems has improved productivity, but drawing water from sources faster than precipitation can replenish them can have detrimental effects, causing subsidence, saltwater intrusion, leeching, and soil erosion. In addition, despite improvements, many irrigation systems are still grossly inefficient, with plants taking up less than half of all the irrigation water provided for them. With strains on aquifers mounting and climate change threatening the reliability of water resources, the search for sustainable water use in farming is critical. Methods for improving irrigation efficiency exist in both conventional and alternative agriculture. I will focus on describing some of the most successful methods, including drip irrigation, low energy precision application (LEPA) sprinkler systems, and techniques that reduce water requirements (such as no-till agriculture).
Mattias' abstract:
A growing human population leads to an ever increasing demand for food. Petrochemical fertilizers, a product of the Green Revolution of the 40s, initially vastly increased agricultural output and led to the transformation of farming practices. Yet a half century later, this reliance on chemicals and the fossil fuels needed to produce them has led to a slew of environmental problems including the deterioration of agricultural land and decrease in biodiversity, an increase in greenhouse gas emissions from farming practices, and the downstream eutrophication of aquatic environments. Is another agricultural revolution in order, and can a more sustainable form of agriculture and fertilizer use actually feed the world? Or on the other hand, does the answer lie in the engineering of bigger, faster, stronger, and smarter crops, fertilizers, and pesticides? Is worldwide agricultural sustainability simply a pipe dream or an inescapable reality given the alternatives? A brief review of current scientific studies and reports will shed some light on these questions.
Suggested reading for class:
National Geographic article on soils (online)
References
Current events:
BBC: Amazon deforestation accelerates
SF Chronicle: S.F. food policy heading in a healthy direction
LA Times: Weighing the value of organic foods
NY Times: In Maryland, Focus on Poultry Industry Pollution
NY Times: Health Halo Can Hide the Calories
NY Times: For Three Years, Every Bite Organic
Fact sheet for Week 9