Eaarth
Meredith Munson
Mrs. Prescott
AP Environmental Science
18 November 2013
Eaarth Chapter 4
1. KcKibben claims “when we eat from the industrial food system, we are eating oil and spewing greenhouse gases.” Explain what he means by this. What is the alternative?
It takes ten calories of fossil energy to produce a single calorie of modern supermarket food, and when we try to address one problem, the other gets worse which is why starvation is on the rise on the rise that the United States now uses a huge chunk of its topsoil to grow gasoline, and not food. We need to produce lots of food on relatively small farms with little or nothing in the way of synthetic fertilizer or chemicals.
2. How did Britain increase food production during World War II by 91%? Why is this story included in the chapter? What evidence does he present that such a change could happen in American suburbs?
Pig clubs and Small gardens or allotments sprung up throughout the country to support themselves. To show that our farmers need better time and space management to improve their growth rate and spending. Small farms are capable of getting far more productive with each passing season, because they can take advantage of en information, new science, new technologies.
3. Compare modern mechanized monoculture to smaller scale polyculture. Explain why polyculture will be more sustainable as the climate continues to change.
Monoculture is mainly used in industrialized agriculture with many inputs of fossil fuels and chemicals to produce large amounts of a single crop. Polyculture is often locally based, and may be found in a subsistence agriculture practice that uses human and animal energy to produce smaller amounts of many different crops. Polyculture and working with nature can provide many and more sustainable solutions to our current challenges, and that in diversifying the food economy we will be much more resilient to future shocks. In doing so we can also reduce our
Mrs. Prescott
AP Environmental Science
18 November 2013
Eaarth Chapter 4
1. KcKibben claims “when we eat from the industrial food system, we are eating oil and spewing greenhouse gases.” Explain what he means by this. What is the alternative?
It takes ten calories of fossil energy to produce a single calorie of modern supermarket food, and when we try to address one problem, the other gets worse which is why starvation is on the rise on the rise that the United States now uses a huge chunk of its topsoil to grow gasoline, and not food. We need to produce lots of food on relatively small farms with little or nothing in the way of synthetic fertilizer or chemicals.
2. How did Britain increase food production during World War II by 91%? Why is this story included in the chapter? What evidence does he present that such a change could happen in American suburbs?
Pig clubs and Small gardens or allotments sprung up throughout the country to support themselves. To show that our farmers need better time and space management to improve their growth rate and spending. Small farms are capable of getting far more productive with each passing season, because they can take advantage of en information, new science, new technologies.
3. Compare modern mechanized monoculture to smaller scale polyculture. Explain why polyculture will be more sustainable as the climate continues to change.
Monoculture is mainly used in industrialized agriculture with many inputs of fossil fuels and chemicals to produce large amounts of a single crop. Polyculture is often locally based, and may be found in a subsistence agriculture practice that uses human and animal energy to produce smaller amounts of many different crops. Polyculture and working with nature can provide many and more sustainable solutions to our current challenges, and that in diversifying the food economy we will be much more resilient to future shocks. In doing so we can also reduce our