GEOG335: GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS

AND ISSUES, Spring 2006

Prof. Laney

Jan 31 Introduction

The Origins of Agriculture

Feb 2  To Farm or Not to Farm                                                                RESPONSE

            The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race (Diamond 1987)

Guns, Germs and Steel (Diamond 1999: Chpts 5 and 6)

Feb 7  Domestication and Diffusion

Guns, Germs and Steel (Diamond 1999: Chpts 7,8 and 10)

The Early Globalization of Agriculture

Feb 9  The Colombian Exchange and the 2^nd Agricultural Revolution

The Columbian Encounter and Land Use Change (Turner and Butzer 1992)

Feb 14  Early Agro-Imperialism: Plantations and Settlements

The Rise and Fall of the Plantation Complex (Curtin 1998)

The Agro-Industrial Revolution and the Developed World's "Farm Problem"

Feb 16  The Technical Revolution: Intensification, Concentration and Specialization

Modern Times (Manning 2004)

The Farmerless Farm (Kramer 1987)

Feb 21  Impacts of the technological treadmill on "The Farm Problem" and on the environment

The Seed as Machine; Tomatoes (Kimbrell 2002)

The dwindling heartland: America's New Frontier (Belsie 2003)

Feb 23  The Role of the Oligopsony RESPONSE

Why the fries taste good; On the range (Schlosser 2001)

Concentration of Ownership and Control in Agriculture (Heffernan 2000)

Feb 28  The Role of the Consumer RESPONSE

A Social History of Eating in Modern America (Levenstein 1993)

Mar 2  The Role of Government Programs RESPONSE

The Farm Problem and Government Farm Programs (Pasour 1987)

U.S. Growers Farm Federal Funds (Egan 2000)

A Raw Deal for Consumers: The Business of Sugar Politics (Kimbrell 2002)

Optional: The Greening of the Plains (Garrett-Davis 2004)

Mar 7 MIDTERM

Addressing Hunger in the Developing World

Mar 9  World Hunger

Food Production and Population (Atkins and Bowler 2001)

The Population Challenge and Grain Production (Brown et al. 1998)

Beyond Guilt and Fear and Myth 1: There's simply not enough food (Lappe et al. 1998)

Mar 14  Food Aid RESPONSE

Hunger in a Fertile Land: The Paradox (Hartmann and Boyce 1999)

Don't U.S. Food Aid Programs channel food to hungry people? (Lappe 1981)

Pirates: Latest Threat to African Food Aid (McLaughlin 2005)

Mar 16  The Green Revolution

Introduction to the Green Revolution (Brown 1970)

The Green Revolution (Huke 1985)

Miracle seeds and the Destruction of Genetic Diversity I (Shiva 1991)

Mar 21  Social and Environmental Impacts I

Agricultural Growth and "Trickle-down" Reconsidered (Sharma 1997)

The Fatal Connection (Lambrecht 2001)

A Vanguard of Feudalism (Manning 2004)

Mar 23  Social and Environmental Impacts II

Export Agriculture and Crisis in Central America (Williams 1986)

Mar 28  Debating the Green Revolution RESPONSE

Forgotten Benefactor of Humanity: Easterbrook (1997)

Myth 5: The Green Revolution is the Answer: (Lappe et al. 1998)

Other Solutions to World Hunger

Mar 30 Land Reform        RESPONSE

Myth 6: Justice vs Production (Lappe et al. 1998)

The Role of Land Reform in Economic Development (de Janvry 1984)

'Pro-poor' or 'pro-rich' trends in post-reform Vietnam? (PLECserv 63 2005)

Apr 3  (Monday) FIRST PAPER DUE

Apr 4  Global Trade I RESPONSE

Myth 8: Free Trade is the Answer (Lappe et al. 1998)

Your Farm Subsidies are Strangling Us (Toumani Toure andCompaore 2003)

Unfair Trade Winds (Morris 2003)

Apr 6  Global Trade II: The Politics of Food

Apr 11  MIDTERM

Modern Agro-Imperialism

Apr 13  Modern Plantations RESPONSE

Bananas in Guatemala: seeking perfection (Ransom 2001: 71-83)

Breakfast of Biodiversity (Vandermeer and Perfecto. 199: 51-17; 77-90; 105-114)

Building a Better Banana (Canine 2005: 98-104)

Apr 25  Contract Farming

Negotiating Contract Farming (Raynolds: 441-451)

Contract growers hoping for steady nest egg may be trapped by debt (Shlachter 2005)

The 4th Agricultural Revolution? Biotechnology

Apr 27  The technology and its environmental impacts

What is the Debate All About? (Pinstrup-Andersen 2000:1-6; 32-56)

May 2  Profits for Monsanto

Patenting Life (Rifkin 1998: 37-56)

What is biopiracy? (The Crucible II Group 2000)

Working beyond the Gene Giants (PLECserv 52 2005)

May 4  A Second Green Revolution? RESPONSE

Taking seriously the claim that GE Could End Hunger (Rosset 2002)

Can Biotech Save African Farms? (Wambugu 2002)

May 9  Lawsuits and Trade Wars over GMOs

US Escalates GM Food Row in Europe (Osborn 2003)

Some Africans prefer hunger to a diet of gene-altered corn (Harmon 2002)

David vs Goliath: Chemical giant Monsanto moves against a dairy (Murphy 2003)

The GMO Duel (Tesconi 2005)

Counter-Revolutions

May 11  Alternative Strategies

Organics at the Crossroads (Sligh 2002)

Fully Integrated Food Systems (Spector 2002)

The Quiet Revolution: Urban Agriculture (Ableman 2002)

The disappearing farm: Can Cooperatives Keep People Rooted?(Solberg 1999)

May 16  Political Strategies RESPONSE

The End of Agribusiness (Henson 2002)

May 18  Field Trip

May 19  (Friday) SECOND PAPER DUE

May 23  FINAL EXAM (2-4 pm)