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Omnivores Dilemma A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan Chapter #2 !

he Farm Directions "espon# appropriately to each of the follo$in% &uotes or &uestions' ( Ho$ many farmers remain in America) Ho$ people must each farmer fee#) *( farmer per ++++ people, 129 people. There are fewer than 2 million farmers left in America. 2 -hy is .eor%e Naylors farm consi#ere# to be a foo# #esert) *p%' /0, There is no water supply for the plants at Naylor's farm and the plants produced are inedible. / P%' /12 -hich t$o crops are rotate# on .eor%e Naylors farm) 34plain $hy' The crops corn and soybeans are the ones being rotated. Soybeans have become very important because it supports the industrial food system. t feeds livestoc! and is in 2"# of processed food. 0 P%' /52 -hy are farmers $ho are usin% Monsantos pro#ucts not reapin% the benefits of their %reater yiel#) $ecause the greater yield is being used to buy more %&''s from the company so very little profit is being made. 1 P%' /62 -hat #oes it mean that hybri# corn is 7hi%h yiel#8) -hat are the benefits of usin% this hybri# variety) (hat a higher yield mean is being able to plant the corn closer together. The benefit from this is being able to have more acres of corn) so instead of having * grand one can have #+ grand. 5 P%' /92/:2 -hat #i# plantin% more an# more corn #o the bio#iversity in ;o$a) -hy $as this bio#iversity so helpful) The biodiversity in owa became monoculture which was not helpful because prices for corn went down which made farmers plant more and more corn. 6 P%' 0<2 7.ro$in% corn is =ust ri#in% tractors an# sprayin%8' 34plain this &uote' (hat this ,uote is saying is that corn has become so easy to grow. -ust plow the land) spray the fertili.er and there you go. No need for other tools) animals. t was fast and the money rolled in. t says here that it too! only a few days to raise /++ acres of corn. 9 P%' 0(2 Ammonium Nitrate is an artificial fertili>er2 !he ?'@' .overnment startin% usin% this as a fertili>er because) -hat $as it use# for before this) t was being used because the 0.S. %overnment wanted to convert their e1plosives department"war machines into peacetime purpose. $efore it was used as a department for their e1plosive war machines. : P%' 022 Ho$ #i# the intro#uction of artificial nitro%en fertili>er affect the nitro%en cycle on farms an# nearby lan#s) t affected it by brea!ing nitrogen bonds in the air and releasing a light rain of fertility. (< P%' 0/200 -hy is the Haber2Aosch process consi#ere# to be the most important invention of the 2<th century) $ecause without it 2 out of / humans on earth would've never been born. (ithout synthetic fertili.er millions of people would have never been born as well.

(( P%' 012 7;nstea# of eatin% e4clusively from the sunB humanity no$ be%an to sip petroleum8' 34plain this &uote' That instead of planting crops and letting nature ta!e its course we are spraying unnatural substances onto the food we will later distribute to others to eat. The growing of food is no longer natural. (2 P%' 012 Ho$ much 7oil8 #oes it taCe to create a bushel of in#ustriali>e# corn) 2 or 1"# of a gallon of oil to grow a bushel of industriali.ed corn. (/ P%' 052 -hat happens to the hun#re# poun#s of synthetic nitro%en that Naylors corn #oes not taCe up) t evaporates into the air and acidifies rain. t contributes to global warming. (0 P%' 062 -hat #oes it mean $hen they have 7blue baby alerts8) -hat happens $hen babies are e4pose# to too many nitrites) (hen there is a blue baby alert is when nitrogen runoff is at its heaviest so they alert parents it's unsafe to give children water from the tap. (hen babies are e1posed it compromises the blood's ability to carry o1ygen to the brain. (1 P%' 092 ;f theres so much corn bein% %ro$n in America to#ay that the marCet $ont pay the cost of pro#ucin% itB then $hy $oul# any farmer in his ri%ht min# plant another acre of it) t's complicated) but it has to do with farm policies. The government farm programs that were created to limit products and support prices began telling the farmers to increase production and drive prices down. (5 P%' 0:2 -hat $as one strate%y of the Ne$ Deal Farm Pro%ram) 'ne was the Soil 3onservation Service which avert overproduction and soil erosion. They encouraged farmers to idle their most environmentally sensitive land. (6 -hat is 7a pla%ue of cheap corn8) -hat happens if $e have too much corn pro#uce#) @ummari>e the politics of bein% a corn farmer' The plague of cheap corn is when 4arl $ut. removed the government programs for farms leaving the mar!et with nothing but cheap corn. $ecause the supply for corn is so high the demand for it will decrease) ma!ing farmers grow more corn in hopes to earn some money. &ore corn production will lead to a larger decrease of prices on it. The whole politics of being a corn farmer was to have the biggest yield even if you went ban!rupt 5ust to have bragging rights.

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