5.2 Agriculture and food

Guiding question

To what extent can the production of food be considered sustainable?

Here is the first of two videos I made for the SL content in ESS topic 5.2.

This is the second of my videos for ESS topic 5.2 agriculture and food.

SL and HL knowledge statements

5.2.1 Land is a finite resource, and the human population continues to increase and require feeding.

5.2.2 Marginalized groups are more vulnerable if their needs are not taken into account in land-use decisions.

Gold mining in Yanomami territory is a case study in how the needs of marginalized groups are often sidetracked in large-scale land use decisions.

Land is a central part of Maasai life and culture in East Africa, but in some areas they are being squeezed out by more powerful interests.

5.2.3 World agriculture produces enough food to feed eight billion people, but the food is not equitably distributed and much is wasted or lost in distribution.

There are many factors that contribute to global food wastage.

5.2.4 Agriculture systems across the world vary considerably due to the different nature of the soils and climates.

5.2.5 Agricultural systems are varied, with different factors influencing the farmers’ choices. These differences and factors have implications for economic, social and environmental sustainability.

5.2.6 Nomadic pastoralism and slash-and-burn agriculture are traditional techniques that have sustained low-density populations in some regions of the world.

5.2.7 The Green Revolution (also known as the Third Agricultural Revolution in the 1950s and 1960s) used breeding of high-yielding crop plants—combined with increased and improved irrigation systems, synthetic fertilizer and application of pesticides—to increase food security. It has been criticized for its sociocultural, economic and environmental consequences.

The Green Revolution is credited with transforming agriculture and saving millions of lives. Those advances came with social, economic and environmental costs.

5.2.8 Synthetic fertilizers are needed in many intensive systems to maintain high commercial productivity at the expense of sustainability. In sustainable agriculture, there are other methods for improving soil fertility.

Check out Giles E.D. Oldroyd’s TED talk about scientific innovations in agriculture that support soil health and promote sustainability.

5.2.9 A variety of techniques can be used to conserve soil, with widespread environmental, economic and sociocultural benefits.

This brief video shows how a family farm in Iowa (USA) uses a combination of approaches to ensure soil health.

I’ve been following this soil conservation effort throughout the African Sahel region for years. This simple technique has enduring ecological and economic impacts on the land and people, especially marginalized communities.

This video presents a nice evaluation of the project after ten years.

5.2.10 Humans are omnivorous, and diets include fungi, plants, meat and fish. Diets lower in trophic levels are more sustainable.

5.2.11 Current global strategies to achieve sustainable food supply include reducing demand and food waste, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from food production and increasing productivity without increasing the area of land used for agriculture.

The sustainable production of food can draw on a combinations of traditional techniques, understanding of ecological systems, and scientific innovations.

5.2.12 Food security is the physical and economic availability of food, allowing all individuals to get the balanced diet they need for an active and healthy life.

Knowledge statements for HL only

5.2.13 Contrasting agricultural choices will often be the result of differences in the local soils and climate.

5.2.14 Numerous alternative farming approaches have been developed in relation to the current ecological crisis. These include approaches that promote soil regeneration, rewilding, permaculture, non-commercial cropping and zero tillage.

This TED-Ed video by British journalist, author, and environmental activist George Monbiot tells how rewilding agricultural lands can impact ecological health.

5.2.15 Regenerative farming systems and permaculture use mixed farming techniques to improve and diversify productivity. Techniques include the use of animals like pigs or chickens to clear vegetation and plough the land, or mob grazing to improve soil.

This video nicely explains how regenerative agriculture promotes both ecological and economic sustainability.

Here’s a story about a typical North American farming family is switching to regenerative agriculture.

5.2.16 Technological improvements can lead to very high levels of productivity, as seen in the modern high-tech greenhouse and vertical farming techniques that are increasingly important for supplying food to urban areas.

Urban farms often employ vertical farming, computer-controlled irrigation, and AI to maximize efficiency and minimize waste. They also grow food closer to where people live, reducing the transport emissions that contribute to climate change.

5.2.17 The sustainability of different diets varies. Supply chain efficiency, the distance food travels, the type of farming and farming techniques, and societal diet changes can all impact sustainability.

5.2.18 Harvesting wild species from ecosystems by traditional methods may be more sustainable than land conversion and cultivation.

5.2.19 Claims that low-productivity, indigenous, traditional or alternative food systems are sustainable should be evaluated against the need to produce enough food to feed the wider global population.

5.2.20 Food distribution patterns and food quality variations reflect functioning of the global food supply industry and can lead to all forms of malnutrition (diseases of undernourishment and overnourishment).

Practical activities

5.2.5 Application of skills: Compare and contrast the inputs and outputs of a pair of two named agricultural systems.
5.2.17 Application of skills: Create a survey to investigate food preferences and the worldviews of various groups.
Add from existing PSOW booklet.

Possible engagement opportunities

Turn these into CAS suggestions connected to the UN SDGs.

Investigate the impacts of students’ own diets.
Engage with an organization like the World Food Programme to help support access to food by those needing support. This could include volunteering locally.
Organize a school menu aligned with the planetary health diet or meat-free Mondays.
Learn to cook vegetarian or vegan meals, and reflect on the carbon footprints of these meals as compared to other meals.

Happy learning!