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MOLBIOL HELPED GREENREV. II. "With advances in molecular genetics, the mutant genes responsible for Arabidopsis thaliana genes were cloned. Stem growth in the mutant background is significantly reduced leading to the dwarf phenotype. Photosynthetic investment in the stem is reduced dramatically as the shorter plants are inherently more stable mechanically. Assimilates become redirected to grain production, amplifying in particular the effect of chemical fertilizers on commercial yield." http://lnkd.in/dmXPY8k View in LinkedIn

THE GREEN REVOLUTION I. "Increased use of various technologies such as pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers as well as new breeds of high yield crops were employed in the decades after the Second World War to greatly increase global food production."" " http://lnkd.in/dmXPY8k View in LinkedIn

FOSSIL FUEL FERTILIZERS ARE EXPENSIVE. "From the standpoint of industrial efficiency, it's too bad we can't simply drink petroleum directly, because there's a lot less energy in a bushel of corn (measured in calories) than there is in the half-gallon of oil required to produce it. Ecologically, this is a fabulously expensive way to produce food—but "ecologically" is no longer the operative standard. In the factory, time is money, and yield is everything."" " http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/whats-eating-america-121229356/ View in LinkedIn

SUBSIDIZED FERTILIZERS. "Fertiliser intended for government subsidy programmes is sometimes diverted and sold to farmers at or near market prices. Failure to account for such ‘leakage’ can upwardly bias econometric estimates of the effect of government fertiliser subsidy programmes on total fertilizer use."" " http://lnkd.in/dEKxXJm View in LinkedIn

LACK OF CROP ROTATION HURTS SOIL. Case study. "Soy takes more out of the soil than farmers can afford to put back by way of fertilizers. Only 37 percent is restored, meaning that 63 percent of each season's loss remains lost, according to government data."" " http://uk.mobile.reuters.com/article/idUKBRE99M0ZX20131023?irpc=93 View in LinkedIn

FERTILIZERS LED TO MONOCULTURES, killed crop rotation and encouraged monoculture practices on a massive scale, changing agriculture enormously. Monoculture is generally thought to be inferior, for many reasons, to a diverse plant system. http://lnkd.in/dJaXi3B View in LinkedIn

CROP ROTATION DROPED AFTER WWII. "Today, Midwest farms often rotate between just corn and soybeans. But decades ago, oats, clover and alfalfa were a big part of the mix—and more farms also had livestock. The combination allowed for replenishment of nitrogen in the soil, both through the spreading of manure and by varying what types of crops went into the land. But after World War II, nitrogen fertilizer became widely available, and that made rotations and livestock less necessary." http://lnkd.in/dzg56Bq View in LinkedIn

INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE (IV). "The transition from local to industrial mostly took place during the fifty-year span of the last half of the last century... an oppositional food movement emerged almost as soon as the industrial food movement began. Today, the fastest growing segment of the food market in not fast foods, convenience foods, or inexpensive industrial foods but instead is “natural foods.” The local foods movement is but the latest phase of the natural foods movement." http://lnkd.in/d3dHPvX View in LinkedIn

DELOCALIZATION OF FOOD (III). "By the 1960s, regional supermarket chains – Kroger, Safeway, A & P – had replaced most local “mom and pop” grocery stores and by the 1970s fast food franchises – McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken – were “freeing housewives from their kitchens.” Today’s industrial food system in not only non-local, it’s global, with the average food item sold in America traveling something like 1500 miles." http://lnkd.in/d3dHPvX View in LinkedIn

POST WWII, BIG CHANGES IN FOOD SYSTEM (II). "Geographic specialization of the food system followed improvements in U.S. highways, particularly with the interstate highway system. Rail shipments of perishable foodstuffs had been slow, costly, and inconvenient for most food retailers. With better highways, California and Florida quickly became major centers of agricultural production and Americans no longer needed to eat in season, or even to preserve foods for off-season use." " " http://lnkd.in/d3dHPvX View in LinkedIn