Agriculture and Food Production Flashcards
6 cards from real Environmental Science practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Agriculture and Food Production flashcards as text
The concept of food miles primarily concerns:
Answer: The environmental impact associated with the distance food travels from farm to consumer
Food miles measures the distance food travels from production to consumer, used as a proxy for transportation-related energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
Which of the following best describes permaculture as an agricultural philosophy?
Answer: A design system that mimics natural ecosystems to create sustainable, self-maintaining agricultural systems
Permaculture (permanent agriculture/culture) is a design framework inspired by natural ecosystems that aims to create productive, low-maintenance human habitats through ecological principles.
Desertification of agricultural land is most commonly caused by:
Answer: Overgrazing, unsustainable cultivation, and deforestation that degrade dryland soils
Land degradation in arid and semi-arid areas - driven by overgrazing, poor cultivation, and vegetation removal - reduces soil fertility and vegetation cover, eventually converting productive land to desert-like conditions.
Organic farming is distinguished from conventional farming primarily by:
Answer: The prohibition of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, relying instead on biological and mechanical methods
Certified organic farming prohibits synthetic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, GMOs, and certain other inputs, relying on crop rotation, compost, biological pest control, and mechanical weed management.
The primary environmental benefit of crop rotation is:
Answer: Breaking pest and disease cycles and improving soil health through diversified plant inputs
Rotating different crop families disrupts the life cycles of pests and pathogens specific to one crop, and including legumes adds nitrogen, improving long-term soil fertility.
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are associated with environmental concerns including:
Answer: Large volumes of waste containing nitrogen, phosphorus, pathogens, and pharmaceuticals that can contaminate water bodies
CAFOs concentrate thousands of animals in small areas, producing vast quantities of manure that contain nitrates, phosphorus, bacterial pathogens, antibiotic-resistant organisms, and hormones, which can contaminate groundwater and surface water.