Foodtopia preliminary research
When did agriculture begin? How did it change human civilizations?
Agriculture became commonly practiced roughly 5,000 years ago in 3000 BCE. It changed the structure of civilizations and cities forever. People no longer had to rely on what they could find but were able to establish a more reliable system for food production therefore creating a more structured and reliable community. Without agriculture, it would’ve been impossible to create any type of lasting and permanent settlement.
Between 1650 and 1850, something happened to the world’s population: what was it? What enabled this to happen, according to the article?
Between 1650 and 1850, the population more than doubled from 550 million to 1.2 billion. There was a “global agricultural evolution” which many believe led to the rapid increase in population. Refrigerated transport became common along with the development of shipping and railways making food distributable. Many food plants from America spread across the globe such as corn and and sweet potatoes.
Briefly describe industrialization and mechanization in the U.S. agricultural system in the early 1900s.
The industrial era had a major impact on the agricultural community. As factories and large scale companies began to rise, many people thought there should be less farmers and more people transferring to work in the big companies. As the factories grew, so did the demand for employees leaving the farms with less help. Even with less farmers, there needed to be way to maintain producing and providing the same amount of crops without sacrificing efficiency which is where mechanization became very valuable. The new focus was creating a reliable consistent way of farming so they replaced human and animal labor with machinery that could do the same job in less time, such as harvesting and sowing seeds.
What did agricultural industry concentration do to the industry?
As specific food companies grew, they created and bought other smaller companies to maximize efficiency and reduce cost. So rather than just packaging and selling the meat, they would breed the cattle, raise the cattle, slaughter it then pack and sell the meat. Having one company do all of the work and steps gave them a lot control over the food we eat, all the way from the birth of your food to how much it will cost you at the supermarket. It many ways this helped reduce prices and time but it allows major corporations to alter the natural process in order to do what makes them the most money.