PDS APES 8th Period 2009-10

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Today in class, we finished the movie KING CORN. The movie is fimed by two college friends who grew two acre of corn in Iowa to examine the influence of larger industrilizesd corn production. At the last twenty minuts of movie, Ian and Curtis leave the farm to see where their acre of corn  ends up. But they are upset about the realities that the abundance of corn tends to make fast food cheap and consumers sick; the larger corn supply drives animals into confinement and farmers off the land. Although nutritionists claim that corn-feeding make animals sick and fatty, people still use it; because Americans want cheap food. Ian and Curties also find out that almost everything we eat constains corn– high fructose corn syrup, corn-fed meat, and corn-based processed foods. At the end, they decide not to plan corn again.  The movie reflects some pros and cons of the industrilized food system.

Pros:

• more efficient production
• cheaper food

Cons:

• shorter life span
• ramifications on environment such as water pollution
• farmers don’t make profits

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/kingcorn/film.html

The second half of the class, we discuss some economic and ecological pros and cons of industrilized agriculture. Here is brief summary:

Economic pros:

• cheaper food
• subsidies from government

Economic cons:

• Subsidies are profit motive
• value/market price of corn decreases
• family farms/small farms are crashed
• health go down (GMOs)

Ecological pros:

• improved lamd management
• less strain on oceans
• preserving habitat because less land needed to grow crops

Ecological cons:

• less biodiversity
• soil degradation
• mroe waste
• mpre pesticides/herbicides
• increase antibiotics in food
• increase satuated fat in food
• destroy natural species

In class, people hold different views on how industrilized agriculture effects biodiversity. Some think that industrilized agriculture increases biodiversity because of GMO and better habitats. Others believe that industrilized agriculture dereases biodiversity because people choose to grow certain species of crop that grow faster and easier.