Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability 1

2. If possible, visit both a conventional industrializedfarm and an organic or low-input farm. Compare (a) soilerosion and other forms of land degradation, (b) use andcosts of energy, (c) use and costs of pesticides and inorganicfertilizer, (d) use and costs of natural pest controland organic fertilizer, (e) yields per hectare for the samecrops, and (f) overall profit per hectare for the samecrops.3. Try to gather data evaluating the harmful environmentaleffects of nearby agriculture on your local community.What is being done to reduce these effects?4. Use health and other local government records to estimatehow many people in your community suffer fromundernutrition or malnutrition. Has this problem increasedor decreased since 1980? What are the basiccauses of this hunger problem, and what is being done toalleviate it? Share the results of your study with local officials,and present your own plan for improving effortsto reduce hunger in your community.5. Make a list of all the food you eat in one day and readall labels or look up the amount of calories, fat, protein,and carbohydrates in each food. Then determine howmany calories you took in that day and the percentage ofyour diet from fat, protein, and carbohydrates. Rate yourdiet as healthy, borderline healthy, or unhealthy. Compareyour results with those of your classmates.6. Use the library or the Internet to learn about the fourtypes of vegetarians and the advantages and disadvantagesof a vegetarian diet in terms of your health and theenvironment.7. Use the library or the Internet to find bibliographic informationabout Aldo Leopold and Lester R. Brown, whosequotes appear at the beginning and end of this chapter.8. Make a concept map of this chapter’s major ideas, usingthe section heads, subheads, and key terms (in boldfacetype). Look on the website for this book for informationabout making concept maps.LEARNING ONLINEThe website for this book contains study aids and manyideas for further reading and research. They include achapter summary, review questions for the entire chapter,flash cards for key terms and concepts, a multiple-choicepractice quiz, interesting Internet sites, references, and aguide for accessing thousands of InfoTrac ® College Editionarticles. Log on tohttp://biology.brookscole.com/miller14Then click on the Chapter-by-Chapter area, choose Chapter14, and select a learning resource.304 CHAPTER 14 Food and Soil Resources