Encyclopedia Posts - Tamara Bennett

Rodriguez, Carlos & Wiegand, Kerstin. “Evaluating the Trade-Off Between Machinery Efficiency and Loss of Biodiversity-Friendly Habitats.” Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. No.4 (2009): p. 361-366. Web. 25 Oct. 2010.

This was a really helpful article because it went into detail about how increasing agriculture intensification has led to dramatic losses in farmland biodiversity. Because of current public demands it is important to look at the trade-off between agriculture production and biodiversity conservation that are related to agricultural practices. The authors discusses what they feel is one of the most important structural changes, field enlargement, and its role in machinery efficiency and erosion. These are important aspects of the whole of agriculture production and they give us a unique comparison of a vital unit, farmland biodiversity.

“A geographic approach to place and natural resource use in local food systems.” Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. V. 25 (2010): p. 99-108. Web. 25 Oct. 2010.

This journal article shows the importance of the ecological aspects of farming and food, one of those being whether our food is grown locally or not. The article also describes methods for assessing natural resource use in local food, including food miles, consumer transportation, scale and community, agricultural methods and diet. Lastly, the future concerning environmental impact of local food and how the geography of food works to assess where the food production occurs is addressed. This article shows what impact whether or not the consumer desires local produced foods has on the food production system, and would be a helpful resource be cause my topic in on consumers impact.

“Dry Food Transport.” Encyclopedia of Agricultural, Food, and Biological Engineering. Web. 25 Oct. 2010.

This source discussed in detail the different types of machinery and devices that have been developed and are used to transport our food. They showed how for transporting powder or ground products companies may use screw conveyors, for dry foods a chain, belt, rollers, or may use a pneumatic device, and for liquids pumps are used. It talked about how the development of transporting food dates back to the 1930’s, and since then we have improved greatly on our methods of transportation, which has led to a more efficient food system. This was a great source because it gave me an inside look at the transportation part of the production system and thus gave me a better understanding of it all.

"Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 25 Oct 2010.

The Food and Agriculture Organization is the oldest permanent specialized agency that works to eliminate hunger and improve nutrition and standards of living by increasing agriculture productivity. The FAO has concentrated on things like in the 1960’s when they promoted the increase of agriculture exports, in 1974 they promoted programs that help small farmers implement low-cost projects to enhance productivity, and in the 1990’s the FAO made sustainable agriculture programs. Reading this reminded me of the different organizations that play a role in agriculture production; whether they regulate or in this case promote agricultural practices they are extremely important because of their amount of control.