Embedded Files
Urbanization
2007: more people lived in urban areas rather than rural for the first time
More than 80% of people live in urban areas
Reasons for migration
Farming is unpredictable
Number/size of farms have shrunk, people move to cities looking for work
Compact living
Reduced transportation costs
Improve job opportunities
Cities are expanding
Farmland is being used for urban purposes
Between 1966-1986 330km squared of rural land was taken over for the city of Toronto
Water cycle disrupted
Clean water supplies in cities is a constant struggle
Emissions from traffic creating pollution
Feeding the World
Humans need food to survive
Food secured through agriculture or hunting/gathering
Enough food is produced each year to feed the world
Tens of millions of people suffer from malnutrition and starvation
5 major causes
Natural Disasters: floods, drought, other natural disasters destroying crops
Conflict: governments spending more money on war than food, and refugees are fleeing farmland for safety
Poverty: people don't have the money, land, or tools to grow or buy food
Poor Agriculture or Infrastructure: many parts of the world lack proper roads, storage facilities, and irrigation
Over-exploitation of Environment: poor farming practices, deforestation, over-cropping and overgrazing exhausts the fertility of the soil
Food Sources
Food Sources
3 general food sources
Croplands
Rangelands
Ocean fisheries
Since 1950, dramatic increase in food production
Technological advancements
Fertilizers/pesticides
Facing Challenges to feed 7 billion people without causing environmental harm
Human activities negatively impacting earth
Pollution, overgrazing land, overfishing, etc.
10 000 species used to be used as food sources
Today: 14 plant, 8 terrestrial species
Wheat, rice, corn produce half of calorie intake
Fish, shellfish 7% of world's food and 6% of protein intake
Industrialized vs Traditional
Industrialized vs Traditional
Industrialized
Uses large amount of fossil fuel energy, water, synthetic pesticides
Produces 80% of the world's food supply
Used on 1/4 of farmland
Mostly in developed countries
Developing countries: plantation
Developed countries: livestock production
Traditional
Uses human/animal labor
Either only produces enough for a specific family or enough to feed family and still have some income
Used in developing countries
20% of world's food supply
2.7 billion people (39% of population) use this
Eg. nomadic livestock herding or crops
Agriculture in Canada
Canada has 5% of the worlds available land
agriculture contributed to $87.9 billion dollars to the economy
68 million hectares has been farmed in Canada over the last 50 years
$21 billion dollars of surplus agricultural goods are exported
Challenges facing Canadian farmers
only about 7% of all land in Canada is actually farmable. Factors such as precipitation, soil quality and temperature are major factors affecting farmers. 83% of all farmland is held in the prairies leading to a dividing up of where products are produced across Canada. Ontario and Quebec produce large amounts of animail farms ranging from poultry, pigs and cows. Maritime Provinces and know best for there potatoes and seafood while British Columbia is know for fruit, wine and salmon.
challenges facing Canadian farmers
increased transportation cost
rising energy cost
harsh weather and pests
inflation
legal challenges
increase in cost of equipment
Sustainable Agriculture (growth of food using less energy, resources)
sustainable or low-input technologies
based on ecological knowledge to increase yield
increases biodiversity
reduces the use of pesticides
its goal is to produce high-quality, nutritious food with little reliance on pesticides and fertilizers. Organic famers only use natural pesticides and manure on there crops. Livestock's are raised organically without antibiotics and growth hormones. Organic and sustainable farming helps to produce high quality food with little or no impact on the environment.
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