Sustainability of Terrestrial Food Production Systems

1. Subsistence farming is low intensity and doesn't have a lot of surplus, usually the
purpose of this type of farming is to provide for a family or community, it is usually
polyculture meaning that it has a lot of crops and many animals. Commercial farming is
done for profit and it is usually high intensity, and it is monoculture meaning that they
grow one type of crop and have fewer animals than the subsistence farms.
2.
Commercial Subsistence

Size/scale Large scale, many animals Small scale, high diversity

of the same species

Use in MEDCs/LEDCs Mostly MEDCs Usually LEDCs

Level of mechanization High level of Low level of

mechanization, has mechanization, not a lot of
chemical involvement chemical involvement, high
(pesticides), low labor labor

Legal regulation Regular but with high Not as popular

political influence
3.
Energy
- Subsistence is more sustainable since it relies on human energy and natural
processes not use of fossil fuels
Irrigation
- Subsistence is more sustainable since it uses natural crops that are adapted to
the climate but commercial farms use GMOs and their roots ar short which
require more water to grow
Indigenous crops/livestock
- Subsistence is more sustainable since they use local crops and animals but
commercial usually has non native species
Fertilizers and Pesticides
- Subsistence is more sustainable since it uses system models that help the
function of polyculture bu commercial farms use monoculture which require
pesticide to stay healthy
Antibiotics
- Subsistence is more sustainable, commercial uses antibiotics heavily to intensify
monoculture situations which leaves animals more susceptible to illnesses.
Pollinators
- Polycrops help encourage habitat for pollinators and not using pesticides keeps
the harmful chemicals away from pollinators
 4.
Altering Human activity
- Less demand for meat
- More effort to but locally produced food
- Less food waste since it is difficult to ship the products
Improving food labels
Knowing where your food is produced, where it comes from, and by who it was produced
can educate consumers on making more sustainable choices
Government control and monitoring
- More legislation can be implemented for the size of monocrops, the use of
pesticides and other chemicals could help create a more sustainable
environment
- Also banning forest burning for agriculture land will create a more sustainable
environment
Creating buffer zones
- This might allow nature to play a role in agriculture
- Healthy, natural ecosystems might help boost agriculture production

Food Distribution and Choices

1. An unbalanced diet might be caused by a lack of food, this can result to the lack of
essential nutrients.
2. Climate
- Some areas might not have the correct climate to allow for enough productivity
and climate change accelerates this in some areas
Land Suitability
- Land is limited on this earth and many parts have poor soil, soil degradation
increases the limited availability of soil for agriculture
Cash Cropping in LEDCs
- LEDCs are moving towards commercial farming
- They are selling their products to MEDCs leaving them with less food
Food waste in food production systems
- From the production of food to the consumption of it there is food waste
- In LEDCs all of the parts of an animal will be consumed or used, it would be
never wasted but MEDCs don’t do that and most of the animal is wasted
- There is also waste in grocery stores
3. MEDCs have so much more wealth than LEDCs and they expect a large variety of food,
from this fact there will be waste of food. LEDCs usually encounter food waste since
there is no way for the to store the food, but they have much less waste than MEDCs
4. Cultural/ religious beliefs
- Religious beliefs about food like Islam not eating pork, different countries are
raised by eating or not eating types of meat or they are led towards being
vegeterian.
Politis and legislation
 - Some governments might influence the production of different foods and give tax
benefits, for example dairy products from Canada
Socio-Economic Factors
- Farmers will adapt to the culture of their environment in order to sell their product,
they will follow the money that this crop might bring them rather than what the
people might need
5. a) greater demand for food with unsustainable use of the soil will lead to greater
degradation of the soil which will then reduce the food production. Having a larger
population will lead to more pollution which will affect agriculture negatively.
b) new demand for food leads to new innovation that might produce the food faster or
might affect the quality of the food.

Food yield, trophic levels, and societies

1. The growth of crops is required to feed livestock
2. There is less wasted energy since it doesn't have to pass through many trophic levels

Food production system 1: Food production system 2:

Brazil beef production Polyculture farm in US

Inputs - Antibiotics - Humal labor

- Pesticides - Natural systems
- High energy - Lower water use
- High water

Outputs - Degraded land - healthy/natural

- High chemical meat environment
- High biodiversity

System characteristics - Monoculture - Polyculture

- Grassland grown and - Castle feds on
fed to livestock grassland which is
fertilized with manure

Environmental impact - High impact - Low impact

- Degraded soil - High diversity
- Low biodiversity - Crops are prepared
- Increased with low water
eutrophication of demand
water from high
concentration of
nutrients in soil

Socio-economic details - Low labour - Higher labour

- High technological - Lower meat
and chemical use to production since it is a
produce meat more expensive
product