Lecture Schedule

 

Wed 27 September 2007

 

á         Welcome; Overview of Course (syllabus and goals (evolving), Will focus on US and compare and contrast w/ other countries.

á         format, assignments (critiques of readings, homeworks, final paper)

á          perquisites (none)

á         books/readings/website:

o        faculty.washington.edu/battisti/food/index.htm

o        e-reserves: eres.lib.washington.edu

o        Book: "Feeding the Ten Billion", by L.T. Evans. Cambridge Press 1998

o         

Part I: The aggregate global story: yesterday, today and tomorrow

 

á         Lecture 1: Statement of the Problem: Food production for 10 billion people by 2050; envirnmental impacts;  resource constraints.

á         Reading: Evans, chapters 1-5

 

Mon 1 October 2007

Technology & What We Eat Now

Lecturer: Joanne Ho, University of Washington

 

á         Lecture 2: Agriculture from 1825-1960; the role of technology; what we eat now

á         Reading: Evans Chapter 6-9 (pgs 90-164)

 

Wed 3 October
Problems Today and Tomorrow

 

           

á         Lecture 3: The Green Revolution and modern agriculture; deleterious impacts; who is still hungry?

á         Reading assignment

o        Evanson, R.E. and D. Gollin, 2003. Assessing the impact of the Green Revolution: 1960-2000. Science,  300, 758-62.

 


Part II: The US story: today and tomorrow (regional and global influence)

 

Mon 8 October 2007

Livestock and the Environment

 

á         Lecture 4: Livestock and the Environment; Who eats meat? (In)efficiency of livestock for food; Trends in livestock production

 

Readings for lecture:

á         Naylor et al. Loosing the Links between livestock and land. Science 310, (2005)

á         Fearnside: Soybean cultivation as a threat to the environment in Brazil. Environ.Conserv.28, p23 (2001)

 

Wed 10 October 2007

Grains in the US

Lecturer: Joanne Ho, University of Washington

 

á         Lecture 5: The US Farm Bill; subsidies;

á         Readings for lecture:

o        Chapters 1-6 of PollanÕs book ÒOmnivores DilemmaÓ

 

Mon 15 October 2007

AgricultureÕs Impact on Biogeochemical Cycles and Soils

 

á         Lecture 6: Impact of Agriculture on Biogeochemical Cycles and Soils

á         Readings for lecture:

o        Vitousek, P., H.A. Mooney, J. Lubchenco, J.M. Melilo, 1997. Human domination of EarthÕs Ecosystems. Science, 277, 494-8.

o        Stocking, M.A. 2003. Tropical Soils and Food Security: the next 50 years. Science, 302, 1356-8.

o        Scherr, S., 1999. Soil Degradation: a threat to developing-country food security by 2020?  Brief #58 to International Food Policy Institute.

 

Wed 17 October 2007

Agriculture and Water

 

á         Lecture 7: Agriculture and Water

á         Readings for lecture:

o        Gleick, P., 2003: ÒGlobal freshwater resources: soft-path solutions for the 21st CenturyÓ. Science, 302, 1524-28.

o        Postel, S. 2000 Redesigning irrigated agriculture. Chapter 3 in ÒState of the World 2000Ó. Worldwatch Institute, Washington DC.

 

Mon 22 October 2007

Industrial Agricutlure: A case study

 

á         Lecture 8: Industrial Agriculture: a case study

á         Readings for lecture:

o        Naylor, R.L., W.P. Falcon, and A. Puente-Gonzales, 2001: Policy reforms and Mexican agriculture: Views from the Yaqui Valley.

 

Wed 24 October 2007

Agriculture and Biofuels

Guest Lecturer: Dr. Rosamond Naylor, Stanford University

 

á         Lecture 9: Agriculture and Biofuels

á         Readings for lecture:

o        Runge, C.F., and B. Senauer, 2007: How biofuels could starve the poor. Foreign Affairs.

 

o        Hill, J., E. Nelson, D. Tilman, S. Polasky, and D. Tiffany, 2006: Environmental, economic and energetic cost and benefits of biodiesel and ethanol biofuels. PNAS, pg 11206-10.

 

Mon 29 October 2007

Genetically Engineered Food

 

á         Lecture 10: Genetically Engineered Food; the promise; social and economic impact

á         Readings for lecture:

o        Chapter 2 of the FAO report "The state of food and agriculture 2003-4". (pages 8-18 only)

o        Chapter 3 of the FAO report (pages 31-39 only)

 

Wed 31 October 2007

GUEST LECTURER JIM DONALD, CEO of Starbucks

 

 

á         Lecture 11: Jim Donald, CEO of Starbucks

á         Readings: Shillings for Starbucks, GreenInvestor.com Fall 2007

 

Mon 5 November 2007

Genetically Engineered Food

 

á         Lecture 12: Genetically Engineered Food; environmental and health consequences

á         Readings for lecture:

o        Chapter 5 of the FAO report "The state of food and agriculture 2003-4".

o        Allison Snow's "Transgenic crops - why gene flow matters". Nature, 20, 2002

 

 

 

Part III: Climate Change and Agriculture; Evaluating alternatives to global agribusiness (organic, slow food, sustainable harvests, community supported agriculture É)

 

Wed 7 November 2007

Climate Change and Agriculture

 

á         Lecture 13: Climate Change and Agriculture

á         Readings for lecture:

o        Intergovermental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) 2007, Executive Summary, WG1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Pgs 1-18.

o        IPCC 2007, Chapter 5, WG2, Food, Fiber and Forest Products.  Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Executive Summary, section 5.3.1 through section 5.4.2.3 (pages 275-276, 280-285).

o         

 

Mon 12 November 2007

Holiday – No Class

 

Wed 14 November 2007

Dairy Farming in the US; Family Farms

Guest Lecture: Michael Battisti, progressive farmer, upstate New York

 

á         Lecture 14: Dairy Farming in the US; intensive production vs. sustainable production

á         Readings for lecture:

o        Welsh, R. 1996. The Battisti family dairy farm: a profile. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (Jan-Feb):  34-37.   

o        Murphy, B. 1991. Preface in Greener Pastures on Your Side of the Fence. Arriba Publishing: 1120.   

o        Mike Battisti biography information, Maple-Bush Farm, Eaton NY:  2 pp.

 

Mon 19 November 2007

Sustainable Agriculture

 

á         Lecture 15: Sustainable Agriculture; Organics and Alternative Food Movements

á         Readings for lecture:

Kirchmann, H. and M.H. Ryan, 2004: Nutrients in Organic Farming – Are there advantages from the exclusive use of organic manures and untreated minerals? Proc. Of the fourth international crop science congress, Brisbane AU.

o         

 

Part IV: Feeding People in the 21st Century

 

Wed 21 November 2007

Food Security and Africa: past present and Future

 

á         Lecture 16: Food Security and Africa: past present and Future

á         Readings for lecture:

o        Executive summary of ÒCausing Hunger: an overview of the food crisis in Africa.Ó Oxfam International Briefing Paper #91. 2006.

o        Conway, G., 2003: From the Green Revolution to the Biotechnology Revolution: Food for poor people in the 21st Century. Addres to the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholarship.

 

 

Mon 26 November 2007

Feeding 10 Billion People

 

á         Lecture 17: Feeding 10 Billion People

á         Readings for lecture: