Food and Agriculture

Section 3: Animals and Agriculture

Preview
Bellringer
Objectives
Animals and Agriculture
Food from Water
Overharvesting
Aquaculture
Livestock

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Food and Agriculture

Section 3: Animals and Agriculture

Preview
Ruminants
Poultry

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Food and Agriculture

Bellringer

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Food and Agriculture

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Objectives
Explain how overharvesting affects the supply of aquatic
organisms used for food.
Describe the current role of aquaculture in providing
seafood.
Describe the importance of livestock in providing food
and other products.

Food and Agriculture

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Animals and Agriculture

Food from animals has been the basis of life for some
human populations for centuries.
Our ancestors obtained animal protein by hunting and
fishing. Today, most people get animal protein from
domesticated species.
Domesticated describes organisms that have been bred
and managed for human use.

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Food from Water

Because fish are an important food source for humans,
the harvesting of fish has become an important industry
worldwide.
However, when too many fish are harvested over a long
period of time, ecological systems can be damaged.

Food and Agriculture

Food from Water

The North Atlantic cod fishery has collapsed

because too many fish were harvested over time.

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Overharvesting
Overharvesting is the catching or removing from a
population more organisms than the population can
replace.
Many governments are now trying to stop
overharvesting. They have created no-fishing zones, so
that fish populations can recover.

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Aquaculture
Aquaculture is the raising of aquatic plants and animals
for human use or consumption.
Fish and other aquatic organisms provide up to 20
percent of the animal protein consumed worldwide.
Aquaculture may be one solution to the overharvesting
of fish and other organisms
in the worlds oceans.

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Aquaculture
Aquaculture is not a new idea.
This practice probably began in China about 4,000 years
ago.
Today, China leads the world in using aquaculture to
produce freshwater fish.

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Aquaculture
There are a number of different methods of aquaculture.
Among these are
Fish farming
Fish ranching
Fish farms generally consist of many individual ponds that
each contain fish at a specific stage of development. Fish
grow to maturity in the ponds and are then harvested.
Fish ranches raise fish to a certain age, release them to
the ocean, and then harvest the adults when they return to
their birthplace to breed.

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Aquaculture
As with other methods of food production, however,
aquaculture can cause environmental damage if not
managed properly.
Aquatic organisms can produce a large amount of
waste, which can be a source of pollution.
Because aquaculture requires so much water, the
process can deplete local water supplies.
Despite these problems, aquaculture will continue to be
an important source of protein for the human
diet.

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Livestock
Livestock is the term given to domesticated animals that
are raised to be used on a farm or ranch or to be sold for
profit.
Populations of livestock have changed dramatically in
the last 40 years.
Large livestock operations produce most of the meat that
is consumed in developed countries.

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Livestock

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Livestock
In developing countries, livestock not only provide
leather, wool, eggs, and meat, but also serve other
functions.
Some livestock are used as draft animals to pull carts
and plows.
Other livestock provide manure as the main source of
plant fertilizer or as a fuel for cooking.

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Ruminants
Ruminants are cud-chewing mammals that have a
three- or four-chambered stomach.
Cattle, sheep, and goats are examples of ruminants.
Cud is the food that these animals regurgitate from the
first chamber of their stomachs and chew again to aid
digestion.
When we eat the meat of ruminants, we are using them
to convert plant material, such as grass stems and
woody shrubs, into food that we can digestsuch as
beef.

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Ruminants
Humans have created hundreds of breeds of cattle that
are suited to life in different climates.
Worldwide meat production per person has increased
significantly since 1950.

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Poultry
Since 1961, the population of chickens worldwide has
increased to a greater percentage than the population of
any other livestock.
Chickens are a type of poultry, domesticated birds
raised for meat and eggs.
In more-developed countries, chickens and turkeys are
usually raised in factory farms.

Food and Agriculture

Graphic Organizer

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