Food and nutrition.pdf

Chapter 18Food Production and ProcessingAgriculture refers to the production of food and goods throughfarming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led tothe rise of civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals andplants (i.e. crops) creating food surpluses that enabled the developmentof more densely populated and stratified societies. The study of agricultureis known as agricultural science (the related practice of gardening isstudied in horticulture).Agriculture encompasses a wide variety of specialties. Cultivation ofcrops on arable land and the pastoral herding of livestock on rangeland. remain at the foundation of agriculture. In the past century a distinctionhas been made between sustainable agriculture and intensive '-farming.Modern agronomy, plant breeding, pesticides and fertilizers, andtechnological improvements have sharply increased yields fromcultivation. Selective breeding and modern practices in animal husbandrysuch as intensive pig farming (and similar practices applied to the chicken)have similarly increased the output of meat. The more exotic varieties ofagriculture include aquaculture and tree farming.The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods,fibers, fuels, raw materials, pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs, and anassortment of ornamental or exotic products. In the 2000s, plants havebeen used to grow biofuels, biopharmaceuticals, bioplastics, andpharmaceuticals. Specific foods include cereals, vegetables, fruits, andmeat. Fibers include cotton, wool, hemp, silk and flax. Raw materialsinclude lumber and bamboo. Drugs include tobacco, alcohol, opium,cocaine, and digitalis. Other useful materials are produced by plants, suchas resins. Biofuels include methane from biomass, ethanol, and biodiesel.Cut flowers, nursery plants, tropical fish and birds for the pet trade aresome of the ornamental products.In 2007, about one third of the world's workers were employed inagriculture. However, the relative significance of farming has droppedsteadily since the beginning of industrialization, and in 2003 - for the firsttime in history - the services sector overtook agriculture as the economic