Omnivores Dilemma A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan Chapter #2: The Farm Directions: Respond appropriately

to each of the following quotes or questions. 1: How many farmers remain in America? How people must each farmer feed? (1 farmer per ____ people) 2 millions. Feed: 129. 2: Why is George Naylors farm considered to be a food desert? (pg. 34) Theres not water to drink, and the food is imported. 3: Pg. 35- Which two crops are rotated on George Naylors farm? Explain why. Corn, and beans they support the food system. 4: Pg. 36- Why are farmers who are using Monsantos products not reaping the benefits of their greater yield? Because its expensive and it contains GMO. 5: Pg. 37- What does it mean that hybrid corn is high yield? What are the benefits of using this hybrid variety? The plants are better to stand upright. Mechanical harvesting. 6: Pg. 38-39- What did planting more and more corn do the biodiversity in Iowa? Why was this biodiversity so helpful? Brought hogs, apples hay, oats potatoes, and cherries. It let the farmers fed itself, also the soil and livestock. 7: Pg. 40- Growing corn is just riding tractors and spraying. Explain this quote. Because it depends on the pesticide, and it requires more, you put more attention for the crops not to die. 8: Pg. 41- Ammonium Nitrate is an artificial fertilizer- The U.S. Government starting using this as a fertilizer because? What was it used for before this? As an excellent source of nitrogen for plants, it was use as explosives. 9: Pg. 42- How did the introduction of artificial nitrogen fertilizer affect the nitrogen cycle on farms and nearby lands? Taking atoms form atmosphere. 10: Pg. 43-44: Why is the Haber-Bosch process considered to be the most important invention of the 20th century? Brought a vital new source of fertility. 11: Pg. 45- Instead of eating exclusively from the sun, humanity now began to sip petroleum. Explain this quote. Because all our products are mostly imported. 12: Pg. 45- How much oil does it take to create a bushel of industrialized corn? 5O gallons. 13: Pg. 46- What happens to the hundred pounds of synthetic nitrogen that Naylors corn does not take up? Evaporates, and it causes global warming. 14: Pg. 47- What does it mean when they have blue baby alerts? What happens when babies are exposed to too many nitrites? Warned the parents that it's unsafe to give children water from the tap. It stop the blood from running oxygen.

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15: Pg. 48- If theres so much corn being grown in America today that the market wont pay the cost of producing it, then why would any farmer in his right mind plant another acre of it? To gain more money, and to be safe. Have a back up.But more for the prots. 16: Pg. 49- What was one strategy of the New Deal Farm Program? To load instead of selling to weak markets. 17: What is a plague of cheap corn? What happens if we have too much corn produced? Summarize the politics of being a corn farmer.
If we have too much, then people are gonna want more and the productivity would have to remain constant in order to satisfy the consumers. It would also decrease the amount of diversity, it would be only corn. The politic is to grow, load and gain money.