Deck 44: Feeding a Hungry Planet

Question 1

Which of the following is true?

A) Seeds are an aspect of farming that does not require the input of energy.
B) Irrigation does not require energy.
C) Organic farming consumes less energy than precision farming.
D) Fertilizing doesn't require energy.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following would maximize the use of existing cropland production when producing animal protein?

A) Use corn stalks and wheat straw to feed livestock.
B) Use corn kernels to feed poultry.
C) Use wheat grain to feed pigs.
D) Use wheat grain and wheat straw to feed beef cattle.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

One major impediment to reducing malnutrition is

A) an insufficient amount of pastureland devoted to beef production.
B) the overutilization of artificial fertilizers and insecticides.
C) the current systems used for the distribution of food.
D) the failure of aquaculture to provide sustainable products.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

All of the energy (calories) consumed by humans originated in sunlight and were initially made available through the process of

A) plant respiration.
B) plant photosynthesis.
C) decomposition and nutrient cycling.
D) all of the above contribute equally.

Question 5

Increasing yields can be challenging because manipulating a plant to divert more energy into its reproductive structures like fruits and seeds leaves means less energy for root and stem growth. One consequence of this strategy is that domestic crops _______ than their wild counterparts.

A) require more effort when planting
B) are more susceptible to plant diseases
C) are more susceptible to insect herbivores
D) All of the above

Question 6

All of the following except ________ is a step needed to end world hunger?

A) increasing the investment in poor farmers
B) making access to world markets more fair
C) producing more animal protein
D) creating new ways to distribute food

Question 7

Creating stability in the worldwide supply of food will never occur until

A) the size of the human population is also stabilized.
B) all available cropland is put into full production.
C) people are more evenly distributed across Earth's surface.
D) All of the above

Question 8

Some strains of crops, called Bt crops, have been genetically modified to resist _______

A) drought.
B) salty soil.
C) viral attack.
D) insect pests.

Question 9

Organic farming is one of several new farming strategies. Although the yield are somewhat reduced organic farming is attractive because it

A) minimize or avoids completely the use of synthetic chemicals.
B) focuses exclusively on genetically modified food crops.
C) has developed strains that can tolerate exposure to herbicides.
D) doesn't utilize plowing which has been shown to damage top soil.

Question 10

A comparison of the amount of grain needed to produce one kilogram of live animal weight reveals that _______ is the least expensive means of producing animal protein.

A) raising cattle on pastureland
B) raising sheep on pastureland
C) aquaculture
D) raising pigs in feedlots

Question 11

In addition to producing seeds with very high protein content grass pea can also survive in soil with very low nitrogen content because its

A) leaves can extract nitrogen from the air.
B) roots extract nitrogen from soil particles.
C) leaves trap insects and extract the nitrogen from the insect body.
D) roots are associated with bacteria that fix nitrogen.

Question 12

One reason amaranths hold great promise as a food plant is that

A) they can interbreed with other established major food plants.
B) their seeds are high in protein and lysine relative to traditional food crops.
C) it is biennial, producing two crops per year rather than a single crop.
D) amaranth can be planted at densities up to 5 times greater than corn or wheat.

Question 13

Although an individual may consume enough calories, without the proper mineral nutrients malnutrition can still exist. The best solution for mineral malnutrition is to

A) increase the amount of animal protein in people's diets.
B) increase the amount of marine fish and shellfish in people's diets.
C) develop and distribute crops that provide better mineral nutrition than those currently used.
D) increase the amount of synthetic vitamins in people's diets.

Question 14

Humans have historically obtained food from which three main food systems?

A) cropland, rain forests, and rangelands
B) rain forest, grasslands, and forests
C) oceanic fisheries, coastal intertidal habitats, and grasslands
D) rangelands, croplands, and oceanic fisheries

Question 15

Which of the following is not true?

A) Planting genetically uniform crops makes them more vulnerable to diseases and pests.
B) Planting diverse crops makes them less vulnerable to widespread disease but more vulnerable to pests.
C) Planting a crop that consists of a single high-yielding genetic variety has its dangers.
D) Planting diverse crops makes them less vulnerable to widespread disease and less vulnerable to pests.

Question 16

One downside of grass pea as a food is

A) its horrid taste.
B) it is poisonous.
C) it is too fibrous to chew.
D) it can't grow in dry climates.

Question 17

Before amaranth can become an important commercial crop several problems must be overcome; one of the most serious problems is its

A) vulnerability to pest species.
B) inability to tolerate acidic soils.
C) large and heavy seeds that damage conventional harvesting equipment.
D) potential to escape cultivation and compete with native grasses.

Question 18

Humans utilize a surprisingly small number of food crops; over 80 percent of the calories consumed by people are produced by

A) wheat and rice.
B) corn and potatoes.
C) sweet potatoes and manioc.
D) the above crops combined

Question 19

In today's world which of the following is not a major method of improving crop yields?

A) preserving crop diversity
B) genetic engineering
C) irrigation
D) plant breeding

Question 20

Meeting food demands for the future will require increases in crop production, most will come from increasing

A) the amount of cropland after the conversion of unproductive rainforest.
B) crop yields through selective breeding and genetic engineering.
C) the worldwide availability and use of fertilizers.
D) the worldwide availability and use of pesticides.

Question 21

Plant breeding has been utilized for centuries to improve the quality of crop plants. One of the most successful breeding methods uses hybrids, which are produced when

A) highly inbred varieties of plants are mated to each other.
B) distantly related species with beneficial features are mated to each other.
C) one or more genes from one variety of plant is inserted into another variety.
D) farmers provide relatively little care to a crop and allow natural selection to identify the hardiest variety.

Question 22

Soil erosion is typically caused by water and ____.

Question 23

_______ farming avoids the use of synthetic chemicals and genetically modified organisms.

Question 24

Plant breeding remains one of the most promising means of increasing yields, even with progress in genetic engineering, because genetic engineering

A) works on very few plant varieties while breeding works with all plants.
B) involves those genes that have small effects while breeding involves genes with large effects.
C) improves plants by reducing the requirement for pollinators.
D) works on single genes while breeding involves many genes, often including some not yet identified.

Question 25

The dramatic increase in agricultural productivity over the last 50 years is referred to as the ________________.

Question 26

The conversion of grain to animal live weight is not equally efficient for all herbivores. It requires 3.5 times more grain to produce a kg of beef than poultry. What best explains this difference?

A) The hide and bones of cattle weigh much more than the bones and feathers of a chicken or turkey.
B) Cattle are individually large animals while poultry are much smaller.
C) By having feathers poultry are better insulated and expend less energy staying warm than cattle.
D) Digestive efficiency and stress from overcrowding in feedlots differs among domesticated animals.

Question 27

___________ is a managed system that cultivates fish and shellfish for human consumption.

Question 28

Although enough food is grown to meet the current world population, malnutrition continues, in part, because

A) many malnourished people are also very poor and can not compete in world markets to purchase food.
B) global warming causes food to perish before the can be transported.
C) local and familiar crops are culturally entrained despite providing incomplete nutrition.
D) malnourished people are often reluctant to trust the motives of food aid organizations.

Question 29

The process of inserting a gene unique to one species into a different species is called___________________.

Question 30

Although irrigation improves crop production in the long term it can irreparably damage cropland when

A) critical nutrients are leeched from the soil in irrigation water.
B) irrigation water disperses pathogen, like Salmonella, onto the crop.
C) salts accumulate after the irrigation water evaporates.
D) irrigation water washes away the topsoil.

Question 31

Plant breeding techniques use artificial _________ to improve crops.

Question 32

Among the many beneficial qualities of amaranth is its high lysine content. Why is high lysine a desirable quality?

A) It is a natural insecticide, amaranths are rarely impacted by insects.
B) Lysine is a natural fertilizer; after harvesting the seeds the stalks are plowed back into the soil.
C) It is one of the amino acids that humans can not synthesize and must be obtained from the diet.
D) Lysine is a lipid; when pressed amaranth seeds produce large quantities of oil.

Question 33

Farming, as it is currently practiced, may not be sustainable. One observation supporting this assertion is the

A) extensive erosion of top soil that occurs with conventional farming.
B) increase in the cost of fertilizer.
C) increase in the cost of diesel used to power most farm equipment.
D) irregular weather patterns that global warming has introduced.

Question 34

Areas where domesticated animals such as sheep and cattle can roam and graze are called _________.

Question 35

The amount of crop, measured by weight or by volume, produced in a specific amount of space is the _____.

Question 36

The advantage of precision farming in contrast to conventional farming is the

A) strict avoidance of synthetic chemicals.
B) use of technology to identify the appropriate areas to receive pesticide, fertilizer, or irrigation water.
C) use of synthetic fertilizers rather than natural fertilizers.
D) use of GPS systems to plant perfectly straight rows that allow harvesting equipment to recover a larger percentage of the crop.

Question 37

About half of the 40,000 deaths caused each day by malnutrition are children.

Question 38

People get food from three main food systems: croplands, ocean fisheries, and __________.

Question 39

Breeding plants for modern farming has had some unintentional consequences. Plant uniformity in size and maturation date is ideal for mechanical harvesting but

A) when food preferences change large plantings can quickly become unprofitable.
B) large plantings and flower uniformity discourages the action of natural pollinators.
C) when plants are highly uniform they are also uniformly vulnerable to the same disease which can rapidly destroy an entire crop.
D) All of the above

Question 40

Although billions of people are malnourishment many countries are struggling with an epidemic of obesity; for example, 65 percent of all adults in Egypt and Mexico are overweight. How can such obesity be explained?

A) Worldwide consumption of meat has increased by 20 percent in the past decade.
B) The growth of aquaculture, whose animal live weight equivalents require the greatest amount of grain to produce.
C) Much of the world is shifting its diet away from fish and meats to grain crops that are high in starchy carbohydrate.
D) Global marketing has introduced many inexpensive and unhealthy types of processed foods like sweetened carbonated beverages.

Question 41

Grass pea seeds contain twice the protein of wheat.

Question 42

A farm can be thought of as an ecosystem.

Question 43

Evaporation of water both dehydrates any crop and removes nutrients from soil.

Question 44

The increase in the growth rate of wheat and rice yield continues to be greater than the increase in the growth rate of human population size.

Question 45

Soil erosion and nutrient loss always occur together.

Question 46

More soil erosion occurs in the early spring than in the summer.

Question 47

In the United States corn hybrids have increased yields by as much as six times.

Question 48

One of the most important reasons for maintaining biodiversity is the possibility that wild strains of domesticated crops may contain valuable genes that could be bred into the crop.

Question 49

Plant breeders are attempting to develop new varieties of grass pea with much lower levels of toxins in them.

Question 50

The Green Revolution is a response to combat the increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Question 51

On a per person basis, world production of rice, wheat, and corn has declined since the 1980s.

Question 52

Modern agriculture can easily support an ever-growing human population.

Question 53

Drip irrigation produces high yields but requires larger volumes of water than other methods of irrigation.

Question 54

Planting a diversity of crops leaves the mature plants more vulnerable to disease and crop pests.

Question 55

Drip irrigation focuses the use of water directly to the crop, reduces operating costs, and can reduce growth of weeds.