Food and Hunger
Word Food and Nutrition
• Globally, we consume an average of
3000 kcal per day above the 2,200 kcal
• UN Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) expects a continue increase of food
supply worldwide
• Studies indicate that we still have room
to expand farmland and increase
production
The Main Issues for Food Distribution
• Access to Food
• Environmental Costs of Food Production
Systems
• Food Security – The ability to obtain
sufficient food on a day today basis
• Robert Fogel – Stated that hungry
people can’t work their way out of poverty
– Estimates that in 1970 about 20 percent
off the population of England and France
was excluded from the labor force
Hunger Around the World
• Reducing Hunger could yield to
– Higher Economic Growth
– Productivity
– Longer and Healthier Lives
• Famine – Characterized by large-scale
food shortages, massive starvation, social
disruption, and economic chaos.
• Causes of Famine
– Droughts
– Earthquakes
– Sever Storms
– Other Natural Disasters
• Overweight and Obesity
– Due to increasing food supplies
• Obesity is quantified by
– body mass index (BMI) = weight/height
• Malnourishment
– Is a term for nutritional imbalance caused
by a lack of specific dietary components
– Inability to absorb or utilize essential
nutrients
• Anemia
– Is the most common nutritional problem
in the world
• Marasmus
– Results from protein and calorie
deficiency
• Goiter
– A swelling of the thyroid gland, results
from iodine deficiency
• Genetic Engineering
– Involves removing genetic material from
one organism and splicing it into the
chromosomes of another
– Introduces entirely new traits at a much
faster rate compared to cross-breeding
methods.
• GMO
– Genetically modified organisms
– New breeds via borrowing bits of DNA
from completely unrelated species
– Wastes in solid form, domestic,
commercial and industrial wastes –
Examples: • Plastics • Styrofoam Container
• Bottles • Cans • Papers • Scrap Iron
Classification of Wastes according to
their Properties
• Biodegradable – Can be degraded •
Example: paper, wood, fruits and others
• Non-biodegradable – Cannot be
degraded • Examples plastics, bottles, old
machines, cans, Styrofoam containers and
others)

• Solid Waste
– Is any solid substance which is
discarded after primary use
Classification of wastes according to
their origin and type
• Municipal Solid wastes – Solid wastes
that include household garbage, rubbish,
construction & demolition debris, sanitation
residues, packaging materials, trade
refuges etc. are managed by any
municipality.
• Bio-medical wastes – Solid or liquid
wastes including containers, intermediate
or end products generated during
diagnosis, treatment & research activities
of medical sciences.
• Industrial wastes – Liquid and solid
wastes that are generated by
manufacturing & processing units of
various industries like chemical, petroleum,
coal, metal gas, sanitary & paper
Classification of wastes according to their
origin and type
• Agricultural wastes – Wastes generated
from farming activities. These substances
are mostly biodegradable.
• Fishery wastes – Wastes generated due
to fishery activities. These are extensively
found in coastal & estuarine areas.
• Radioactive wastes – Waste containing
radioactive materials. Usually these are
byproducts of nuclear processes.
• E-wastes – Electronic wastes generated
from any modern establishments. They
may be described as discarded electrical
or electronic devices.
• Disposal Methods
– Open Dumpsites
– Ocean Dumping
– Landfills
– Incineration/ Burning
• Waste Hierarchy refers to 3 Rs
REDUCE, REUSE, & RECYCLE
• Reduce – make smaller or less in
amount, degree, or size
• Extends resource supplies
• Saves energy and money
• Reduces pollution
• Creates jobs
• Reusable products
• Reducing Volume of Waste by using –
Photodegradable Plastics • Break down
when exposed to ultraviolet radiation –
Biodegradable Plastics • Break down by
microorganisms
• Reuse – use an item again after it has
been used.
• Recycling – Is the reprocessing of
discarded materials into new, useful
products
• Difficulty in Plastics – Soft Drink Bottles
• PET (Polyethylene terepthalate)
• Composting – Allows natural aerobic
decomposition to reduce organic debris to
a nutrient-rich soil amendment
• Demanufacturing – Is the disassembly
and recyling of obsolete products
Hazardous Waste – A waste with
properties that make it potentially
dangerous or harmful to human health or
the environment
• Ignitable – Ignitable wastes can create
fire under certain conditions. Examples
include liquids, such as solvents that
readily catch fire and frictionsensitive
substances.
• Corrosive – Corrosive wastes include
those that are acidic or basic and those
that are capable of corroding metal (such
as containers, tanks, barrels, and drums)
Reactive – Reactive wastes are defined as
wastes that • are unstable under normal
conditions and readily undergo violent
change without detonating • react violently Effects • Known Carcinogen • Cause
with water and create spontaneously gastrointestinal Damage • Coagulates
explosive mixtures like toxic gases, vapors proteins and complexes with coenzymes •
or fumes • capable of detonating. Inhibits production of ATP

• Toxic – toxic wastes are poisonous and

have carcinogenic, mutagenic, or
teratogenic effects on human or other life
forms.
SOME COMMON HAZARDOUS
CHEMICALS
• Lead – Elemental form is not an
environmental problem until it dissolves
into Pb2+ – Effects • Adverse effect on the
nervous systems • Slows brain
development • Inhibit the synthesis of
hemoglobin
• Mercury – Elemental (Hg liquid/Vapor) –
Compounds of mercury • Inorganic Salts
e.g. (Mercuric Nitrate) • Organometallic
e.g. (methyl mercury) – Effects • Tremors
and Emotional Changes • Neuromuscular
Changes • Kidney Damage
• Arsenic – Element is a steel grey, very
brittle, crystalline, semi metallic solid. –