Lesson 2: How Does Your Garden Grow?

1. Lesson 2: How Does Your Garden Grow? Agribusiness and Industrial Food

2. Farm Image What Is Your Mental Image of a Farm? Please Draw it on a Blank Sheet of Paper.

3. Old MacDonald Farms • 1919 – 1 out of 4 Americans lived on a farm. • Farmers raised cattle, chicken and hogs. • People ate real food! • Grew apples, wheat, oats, potatoes, grapes, cherries and corn. • Lots of open space for animals to roam and plants to grow. • Kept seeds for next year growing season.

4. New “McDonald” Farms Large Agribusiness Farms

5. What is Agribusiness? Farms that are large-scale business operations

6. Agribusiness • Series of farms that turn raw ingredients into finished food. • Industrial Food Chain • Use Hybrid Seeds or genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) • Crops planted close together • Ride tractors or use planes to spray plants • Use Pesticides* and chemicals • Plants Harvested using Big Machines • Irradiate Foods

7. definition: pesticides Artificial substances used to prevent, destroy or repel pests such as insects or animals from destroying plants.

8. Why Would Farms Use Pesticides? • Quadruples the amount of crop produced. • Conventional Farming Methods= • High Yield • Cheaper Prices

9. What are Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s)? Plants created in a laboratory. Do not occur naturally.

10. Supporters: GMO’s Create Resistant Genes • Do not require pesticides • Larger crop yields • Longer shelf lives • Better quality food crops • Higher nutrition • Food is inexpensive • Crops resistant to disease and insects • Generally weather resistant • Can tolerate extremes

11. Non-Supporters of GMO’s Increases resistance to antibiotics GMO plant dust can spread Food producers don’t want them labelled – why not? Already labelled in more than 40 countries Compromises moral and ethical beliefs Encourages corporate control of the food supply • FACT: Have not been proven safe • Long-term health effects are unknown • Have links to cancer • Leads to food allergies • Disturbs normal cell functioning • Lowers the nutritional value of foods

12. Biggest Producer of GMO Seeds Monsanto • Founded in 1901 • Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri • In approximately 80 countries – unknown number of employees • $11 billion dollar company • Large acre crops • Biotech agricultural seeds – GMO’s and Hybrids • Vegetable seed breeding • Weed control seeds

13. Food Irradiation • Exposing foods to radiation (x-rays) to destroy bacteria, germs, microorganisms and insects. • Used to prolong the shelf life of food. • Meats, fruits and vegetables and flour.

14. What is Your Perception of this Symbol?

15. Food Irradiation Concerns • Damages the Quality of Food • Causes “free radicals”* to form • Depletes nutrients • Long-term effects are unknown

16. definition: free radicals Unstable particles formed by the process of oxidation Oxidation occurs when oxygen combines with radiation, pollution, tobacco smoke and high fat foods.

17. What Percent of the U.S. Population Still Lives on Farms? Less than 2% Less than 1% Claim it as an Occupation

18. Farm Drawing 2 • Draw Your Image of an Agribusiness Farm • Compare and contrast against your first image • Are there any similarities? • What are the major differences? • Which farm do you prefer and why?

19. Suggested Activities • #1. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) • Identify the top 10 genetically modified foods and list them on the worksheet given. • #2. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) • Check labels of foods at home or in the grocery store to see if they have been genetically modified. Your teacher will explain what to look for.