Omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 2 Discussion Questions1: How many farmers remain in America? How people must each farmer feed? (1 farmer per
129 people)
There are less than 2 million farmers. Each farmer feeds 129 people.2: Why is George Naylor’s farm considered to be a food desert? (pg. 34)
George's crops are inedible and there is no water for the plants to drink on his farm.
3: Pg. 35-Which two crops are rotated on George Naylor’s farm? Explain why.
The two crops are soybeans and corn because these two are the most popular in the foodindustry.
4: Pg. 36- Why are farmers who are using Monsanto’s products not reaping the benefits of their greater yield?
The greater yield from Monsanto's products are used to buy more of the GMO's from the company. There is little profit to using the Monsanto product.
5: Pg. 37-What does it mean that hybrid corn is “high yield”? What are the benefits of using thishybrid variety?
It means that there can be more planted on one acre compared to before. The benefits arebeing able to grow more without resource stress.
6: Pg. 38-39- What did planting more and more corn do the biodiversity in Iowa? Why was this biodiversity so helpful?
It created more biodiversity that kept soil, livestock, and humans alive and flourishing.
7: Pg. 40-“Growing corn is just riding tractors and spraying”. Explain this quote.
This means that all the farmers do are just plant while riding the tractors and sprayingwater.
8: Pg. 41- Ammonium Nitrate is an artificial fertilizer- The U.S. Government starting using thisas a fertilizer because? What was it used for before this?
They use ammonium nitrate because there was a huge amount of it leftover. It was used forexplosives.
9: Pg. 42- How did the introduction of artificial nitrogen fertilizer affect the nitrogen cycle onfarms and nearby lands?
It allowed the fixing of nitrogen to happen instantly by inventions.
10: Pg. 43-44: Why is the Haber-Bosch process considered to be the most important invention of the 20th century?
Without the Haber-Bosch process, two out of every five humans on Earth would never have been born. Without the synthetic fertilizer, millions of people would never have been born.
11: Pg. 45- “Instead of eating exclusively from the sun, humanity now began to sip petroleum”. Explain this quote.
Instead of naturally growing our corn and other plants from the sun, we use petroleum based nitrogen fertilizers to grow the food we eat.
12: Pg. 45- How much “oil” does it take to create a bushel of industrialized corn?
1/4 or 1/3 of a gallon of oil to grow a bushel of industrialized corn.
13: Pg. 46- What happens to the hundred pounds of synthetic nitrogen that Naylor’s corn does not take up?
Some of the nitrogen evaporates into the air and acidifies rain and contributes to global warming.
14: Pg. 47- What does it mean when they have “blue baby alerts”? What happens when babies are exposed to too many nitrites?
Blue baby alerts warns parents it's unsafe to give children water from tap. If babies are exposed to too much nitrites, it would bind to hemoglobin and compromise the blood's ability to carry oxygen to the brain.
15: Pg. 48- If there’s so much corn being grown in America today that the market won’t pay the cost of producing it, then why would any farmer in his right mind plant another acre of it?
It has everything to do with farm policies. The government farm programs once designed to limit production and support prices. This caused the farmers to increase production.
16: Pg. 49- What was one strategy of the New Deal Farm Program?
It would let the farmer choose to put the corn into the market or take a loan out that couldlet him save the grain until prices raised.
17: What is “a plague of cheap corn”? What happens if
we have too much corn produced?
Summarize the politics of being a corn farmer.
A plague of cheap corn is the common practice of corn being planted in industrialiazedfarms. IF we have too much corn produced, then the price of corn will lessen and its valuewill drop. Corn farms, according to the book, have a big use of farm tools that can furtherhelp them in their corn business. However, they are not rewarded as much as thecompanies using the corn they crop. Corn farmers are now the modern farmer with theirtools and knickknacks that hold them to corn
129 people)
There are less than 2 million farmers. Each farmer feeds 129 people.2: Why is George Naylor’s farm considered to be a food desert? (pg. 34)
George's crops are inedible and there is no water for the plants to drink on his farm.
3: Pg. 35-Which two crops are rotated on George Naylor’s farm? Explain why.
The two crops are soybeans and corn because these two are the most popular in the foodindustry.
4: Pg. 36- Why are farmers who are using Monsanto’s products not reaping the benefits of their greater yield?
The greater yield from Monsanto's products are used to buy more of the GMO's from the company. There is little profit to using the Monsanto product.
5: Pg. 37-What does it mean that hybrid corn is “high yield”? What are the benefits of using thishybrid variety?
It means that there can be more planted on one acre compared to before. The benefits arebeing able to grow more without resource stress.
6: Pg. 38-39- What did planting more and more corn do the biodiversity in Iowa? Why was this biodiversity so helpful?
It created more biodiversity that kept soil, livestock, and humans alive and flourishing.
7: Pg. 40-“Growing corn is just riding tractors and spraying”. Explain this quote.
This means that all the farmers do are just plant while riding the tractors and sprayingwater.
8: Pg. 41- Ammonium Nitrate is an artificial fertilizer- The U.S. Government starting using thisas a fertilizer because? What was it used for before this?
They use ammonium nitrate because there was a huge amount of it leftover. It was used forexplosives.
9: Pg. 42- How did the introduction of artificial nitrogen fertilizer affect the nitrogen cycle onfarms and nearby lands?
It allowed the fixing of nitrogen to happen instantly by inventions.
10: Pg. 43-44: Why is the Haber-Bosch process considered to be the most important invention of the 20th century?
Without the Haber-Bosch process, two out of every five humans on Earth would never have been born. Without the synthetic fertilizer, millions of people would never have been born.
11: Pg. 45- “Instead of eating exclusively from the sun, humanity now began to sip petroleum”. Explain this quote.
Instead of naturally growing our corn and other plants from the sun, we use petroleum based nitrogen fertilizers to grow the food we eat.
12: Pg. 45- How much “oil” does it take to create a bushel of industrialized corn?
1/4 or 1/3 of a gallon of oil to grow a bushel of industrialized corn.
13: Pg. 46- What happens to the hundred pounds of synthetic nitrogen that Naylor’s corn does not take up?
Some of the nitrogen evaporates into the air and acidifies rain and contributes to global warming.
14: Pg. 47- What does it mean when they have “blue baby alerts”? What happens when babies are exposed to too many nitrites?
Blue baby alerts warns parents it's unsafe to give children water from tap. If babies are exposed to too much nitrites, it would bind to hemoglobin and compromise the blood's ability to carry oxygen to the brain.
15: Pg. 48- If there’s so much corn being grown in America today that the market won’t pay the cost of producing it, then why would any farmer in his right mind plant another acre of it?
It has everything to do with farm policies. The government farm programs once designed to limit production and support prices. This caused the farmers to increase production.
16: Pg. 49- What was one strategy of the New Deal Farm Program?
It would let the farmer choose to put the corn into the market or take a loan out that couldlet him save the grain until prices raised.
17: What is “a plague of cheap corn”? What happens if
we have too much corn produced?
Summarize the politics of being a corn farmer.
A plague of cheap corn is the common practice of corn being planted in industrialiazedfarms. IF we have too much corn produced, then the price of corn will lessen and its valuewill drop. Corn farms, according to the book, have a big use of farm tools that can furtherhelp them in their corn business. However, they are not rewarded as much as thecompanies using the corn they crop. Corn farmers are now the modern farmer with theirtools and knickknacks that hold them to corn