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 _129__ people) -> There are fewer than 2 million farmers left in America. 2: Why is George Naylors farm considered to be a food desert? (pg. 34) -> George Naylors farm is considered to be a food desert because theres no water for people to drink and for farm. 3: Pg. 35- Which two crops are rotated on George Naylors farm? Explain why. -> The crops corn and soybeans are the ones being rotated because they're the second leg supporting the industrial food system. Both crops feed livestock and soybeans have also found themselves a place in 2/3 of all processed food. 4: Pg. 36- Why are farmers who are using Monsantos products not reaping the benefits of their greater yield? -> Farmers who are using Monsantos products are not reaping the benefits of their greater yield because they're expensive and use GMO's. 5: Pg. 37- What does it mean that hybrid corn is high yield? What are the benefits of using this hybrid variety? -> It means that the plants are better to stand upright in a crowd and withstand mechanical harvesting. A benefit of using hybrid variety is that they can grow more tightly pact, they are stronger and dont get blown down by the wind so easily, they also arent fighting for sunlight. 6: Pg. 38-39- What did planting more and more corn do the biodiversity in Iowa? Why was this biodiversity so helpful? -> Planting more corn caused the biodiversity to become monoculture. This biodiversity was helpful since it grew by its soil. 7: Pg. 40- Growing corn is just riding tractors and spraying. Explain this quote. -> Corn has become so easy to grow. Just plant the seeds, spray the fertilizer and we have what we want.

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? -> Because they wanted to convert their explosives department/war machines into peacetime purposes. 9: Pg. 42- How did the introduction of artificial nitrogen fertilizer affect the nitrogen cycle on farms and nearby lands? -> It affected it by breaking nitrogen bonds in the air and releasing a light rain of fertility 10: Pg. 43-44: Why is the Haber-Bosch process considered to be the most important invention of the 20th century? -> The Haber-Bosch process considered being the most important invention of the 20th century it 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. -> Alongside of just using the suns energy, we now also petroleum to grow our crops. It is more synthetic, and less natural. 12: Pg. 45- How much oil does it take to create a bushel of industrialized corn? -> It takes about 1/4 or 1/3 of a gallon of oil to grow a bushel of industrialized corn. 13: Pg. 46- What happens to the hundred pounds of synthetic nitrogen that Naylors corn does not take up? -> It evaporates into the air and acidifies rain. It contributes to 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? -> Baby blue alerts is warning parents it's unsafe to give children water from the tap. When babies are exposed to too many nitrates, it affects the bloods ability to carry oxygen. 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? -> If theres so much corn being grown in America today that the market wont pay the cost of producing it, a farmer would plant another acre of it to preserve economics of agriculture. 16: Pg. 49- What was one strategy of the New Deal Farm Program?

-> One was the Soil conservation Service which averts overproduction and soil erosion. They encouraged farmers to idle their most environmentally sensitive land. 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. -> A plague of cheap corn is when we are able to overproduce corn cheaply. If we have too much corn produced, the demand for it will go down. With the demand going down, farmers need to grow more corn to get enough money to support their family. With more corn produced, the price would go down even more.