Food, Glorious Food - Subsistence vs. Commercial Farming Basics

In this episode of the Byte-Sized Human Geography Podcast, we discuss everyone’s favorite topic—food!  Most specifically, we look at the relationship between a country's economic development and the way in which food is produced focusing on subsistence and commercial agriculture. 

This is Human Geography byte-sized -- big concepts in small chunks of time for all learners at every level. It's Human Geography, made simple!

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Listener Notes: 

Ecumene -  (Greek term) habitable part of the Earth 

• Great chunks of Earth aren’t habitable 70% is water, of the land surfaces 30% are deserts
• Most stats say we live on about 2% of the Earth’s surface
• Agricultural density - higher the number, the more people are involved in food production; lower, less.  Tells you about development of a region.  
  • Higher = less developed, less technology, more people have to work to bring in the harvest.  Also tells you lower education levels across the board — you don’t have time for school if you are trying to feed your family.
  • Lower = more developed, more technology, GIS, amazing machines, high tech stuff!  Fewer people are needed leaving them to pursue other interests like education; also leads to rise in leisure time 
  • Comparison - 2-3% of United States are directly involved in agricultural production India, China, most Sub-Saharan Africa - 60% involved in agriculture
  • Countries cannot continue to develop unless you get food supply is stabilized

High Agricultural Density - Subsistence Farming 

• More people are fed by this than any other type of farming, just enough to feed your family, most farmers are women.
• Think about the social standing of women in most LDCs-very low, not able to own land, get loans, buy equipment 
  • Uses a process called shifting cultivation—“slash and burn”, not the same as letting field lay fallow 
    • Process = Cut trees -> burn and nutrients go into soil ->lasts only for a few seasons and then farmers have to shift.
    • Because of low education levels, poor farming practices, lots of waste at production end, raw food never makes it to market

Low Agricultural Density - Commercial Farming

• Highly technical, tons of schooling involved, not just putting something in the ground and watching it grow
• High tech - drones, GIS, GMOs, fertilizers, vertical farming  
• Agribusiness  own all layers of production which is vertical integration Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill, Nestle, Conagra
• Strictly regulated/guidelines, have to buy their seeds, chemicals, etc.

Final Thoughts -  in LDCs 30% raw food rots before it can get to market due to poor infrastructure - roads, bridges in bad shape;  in MDCs - 50% of food is thrown out at the point of consumption — its never eaten. think about water waste, chemical waste;  

Experiment — Look at your dairy and food with expiration dates.  Use your senses rather than the date before you throw it out.  This is a great way to help you reduce your food waste.

Books - Michael Pollan - The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Cooked

Documentaries - Cooked on Netflix (my favorite episode is “Water”)