An Overview of Agricultural Geography

Around ten to twelve thousand years ago, humans began to domesticate plants and animals for food. Before this first agricultural revolution, people relied on hunting and gathering to obtain food supplies. While there are still groups of hunters and gatherers in the world, most societies have switched to agriculture. The beginnings of agriculture did not just occur in one place but appeared almost simultaneously around the world, possibly through trial and error with different plants and animals or by long-term experimentation. Between the first agricultural revolution thousands of years ago and the 17th century, agriculture remained pretty much the same. The Second Agricultural Revolution In the seventeenth century, a second agricultural revolution took place which increased the efficiency of production as well as distribution, which allowed more people to move to the cities as the industrial revolution got underway. The eighteenth centurys European colonies became sources of raw agricultural and mineral products for the industrializing nations. Now, many of the countries which were once colonies of Europe, especially those in Central America, are still heavily involved in the same types of agricultural production as they were hundreds of years ago. Farming in the twentieth century has become highly technological in more developed nations with geographical technologies like GIS, GPS, and remote sensing while less developed nations continue with practices which are similar to those developed after the first agricultural revolution, thousands of years ago. Types of Agriculture About 45% of the worlds population makes their living through agriculture. The proportion of the population involved in agriculture ranges from about 2% in the United States to about 80% in some parts of Asia and Africa. There are two types of agriculture, subsistence, and commercial. There are millions of subsistence farmers in the world, those who produce only enough crops to feed their families. Many subsistence farmers use the slash and burn or swidden agricultural method. Swidden is a technique used by about 150 to 200 million people ​and is especially prevalent in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. A portion of land is cleared and burned to provide at least one and up to three years of good crops for that portion of land. Once the land can no longer be utilized, a new patch of ground is slashed and burnt for another round of crops. Swidden is not a neat or well-organized method of agricultural production by it is effective for farmers who dont know much about irrigation, soil, and fertilization. The second type of agriculture is commercial agriculture, where the primary purpose is to sell ones product at market. This takes place throughout the world and includes major fruit plantations in Central America as well as huge agribusiness wheat farms in the Midwestern United States. Geographers commonly identify two major belts of crops in the U.S. The wheat belt is identified as crossing the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Corn, which is primarily grown to feed livestock, reaches from southern Minnesota, across Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. J.H. Von Thunen developed a model in 1826 (which wasnt translated into English until 1966) for the agricultural use of land. It has been utilized by geographers since that time. His theory stated that the more perishable and heavier products would be grown closer to urban areas. By looking at the crops grown within metropolitan areas in the U.S., we can see that his theory still holds true. It is very common for perishable vegetables and fruits to be grown within metropolitan areas while less-perishable grain is predominantly produced in non-metropolitan counties. Agriculture uses about a third of the land on the planet and occupies the lives of about two and a half billion people. Its important to understand where our food comes from.

The Achievement Of Desire By Richard Rodriguez - 1807 Words

I believe the purpose of education is to give students the necessary skills to reach one’s full potential. In â€Å"The Achievement of Desire† by Richard Rodriguez, the author tells how his involvement with education caused him to become disconnected from his family. Because there were no minority studies, the author had to adapt to a Western European point of view which caused him to become isolated from his family, while also disconnecting him from his culture; however today with the emergence of multicultural perspectives, minorities are able to understand their culture and create deeper connections with their communities. Unfortunately, my family s background consists of poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, and death. I have to admit that I†¦show more content†¦Without the determination to continue his education, Rodriguez could have given up his dream of becoming a scholar and settled for â€Å"dead end work† (521) that paid well. There were times where I wanted to give up my education. The dirty old bungalows that all my English classes were taught in were not motivating atmospheres. There were many students who came to class unprepared or did not care about the class, which caused class discussions to become quiet and boring. Thankfully, most of the professors at my community college were passionate about their jobs, which would inspire me to continue my path to becoming educated. Because no one in my family had ever attended college, I did not have an academic role model when I began attending college. It was not until college that I had a Hispanic professor, Ms. Godinez, who helped me realize that Latinas are a part of the academic realm. Similar to Rodriguez’s experience, I aspired to be like my professors. Rodriguez describes how his professors appealed to him, he says, â€Å"I wanted to be like my teacher, to possess their knowledge, to assume their authority, their confidence even to assume a teacher’s perso na† (522). Unfortunately, Rodriguez thought that in order to be like his professors he had to mimic their thoughts and actions. Ms. Godinez taught me the importance of applying texts to my own life. While reading The Kite Runner in

The Natural Essay free essay sample

By the end of the book Roys focus shifts from being the best in the game to taking care of Iris Lemon and their coming child. One day when I walk down the street, people will look at me and say There goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was. Having an elitist attitude, Roys only focus at the beginning of the book was his career in baseball. Roys concern is himself and how he can be successful in baseball. There are many instances in the book that Roy refuses to act as a team player. After Roy doesnt participate in the hypnotism before games, Pop tries to discourage his behavior by benching him. Roys determination to be the best is evident when Pop orders him to knock the cover off it and Roy literally cracks the ball in half. Tired of being compared to Bump, Roy sets out to distinguish himself form Bump by setting more records. We will write a custom essay sample on The Natural Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Roy refuses to bunt in games because he says it wouldnt help his records. Roys stubborn, self-centered, hubristic attitude begins to subside after numerous failed attempts of winning Memo Pariss heart. Being benched for several games due to his slump and refusal to attempt hitting with another bat besides Wonerboy, Roy was approached by a desperate man. The man explained to Roy that his son was in the hospital and in order to keep up the sons hopes, the man had promised that Roy Hobbs would hit a home run in the next game for him. Roy was once again benched during that game, and when a sub was needed he still refused to use a bat besides Wonderboy. The next time Pop was looking for a sub, dropping Wonderboy and picking a new bat, Roy made his priority the little boy in the hospital and his dad and hit a home run. In the final chapters of the story, a dramatic change in the protagonists attitude becomes evident. Roy got sick and was being treated in the hospital. The doctors warned him that if he continued to play baseball, he might die. Refusing to listen, Roy played in the pennant game. Iris revealed to Roy that she was pregnant with his child and convinces him that he has to win this game for them and their unborn baby. Although Roy is still determined to win, his motives are different. He no longer longs for the fame that comes with winning, rather he wants to win for his soon to be family While sometimes people change for the worse, a lot of times change is for the better. As a person or character grows, matures, and learns for their mistakes their lives begin to make turns. Roy Hobbs matured greatly throughout his baseball career. At the start, he had the wrong motives for wanting success, but as the star player realized what he truly wanted for his life he began to alter his attitude. Central idea: What is the central idea of your essay? What will hold the paragraph together? The central idea of my essay is how Roy Hobbs changes throughout The Natural. The main focus is how Roys attitude changes for the better. Topics: What topics will you discuss to back up your central idea? My essay starts by telling about Roys character traits at the beginning of the book. Then it tells of the event when a dad came to him and asked him to hit a home run for his dying son. I believe this event impacted Roys attitude and shaped him into wanting to best for his coming child. My essay concludes by telling of Roys final attitudes and explaining how he had changed for the better. Evidence: What evidence from the book will you use to support your topics? I used the specific example of the dying son as well as a direct quote to support my observations of his attitude at the very beginning of the book as well as a few other supporting examples.

Media Paper Essays - Liberalism In The United States, MSNBC

Media Paper In the news today, especially on the internet, issues written that are written about are going to have a certain bias. One of the reasons is because anyone can have website if they have a computer and the proper software. Therefore instead of getting one opinion, or one outlook on stories, news, debates etc., you can get both sides of the story and therefore make your opinion. On the four outlets of these stories you will see how they treat stories differently, or in some cases don't even carry them. The minute you load up the MSNBC website you can clearly see that they have money. There site is very well thought out they give you options for local news and have pictures and the news is updated hourly. Same with the CBS mainstream website. They have advertisements options and it's a colorful, flashy site, showing they spared no expense. In opposition when you got to motherjones.com and world net daily you can tell that it's a small corporation or even homegrown. Its very plain but straight to the point. It's not that it's a bad web page its not nearly as flashy or professional. It has its options laid out with other web links as opposed to huge advertisements. So already the general appearance of the site themselves show a great contrast. When I load up the two mainstream sites the first thing I see is "Sydney 2000" then on their sidebars I see "News" stories. I see issues about the campaign; Oil prices and still we talk about Jean Bonnet Ramsey. When I load up Mother Jones I first see the title and the phrase "News for the skeptical citizen". Directly below the Top story now links to click on to, no Olympics to by-pass. There it is the top story, "The Kids Who Could Topple Milosevic" an article about the general strike occurring until Milosevic admits defeat in the election. There is also video with a Serbian citizen who "dared to say what' really happening." Now, you can also find this story on MSNBC and CBS news but you might have to scroll down a bit or go through a few tabs to get the entire story. The video that CBS shows is a report from Alan Pizzey. You can clearly see the difference in how this particular article was handled. This is an issue about the minority trying to fight to have Milosevic admit defeat and resign. Though the way it was handled by the mainstream sites was very nonchalant. Down at the bottom the page with little article to look at. It clearly show the Elite Democracy not really paying attention to a very popular belief, and in comparison to the multimedia. On the alternative page you have an interview with a young Serbian citizen saying her opinions and risking getting into a trouble, popular perspective. In comparison to CBS who has Alan Pizzey an analyst giving "his" opinion on the situation, elite perspective. So you can clearly see that what the alternative or popular sites find important, the elite sites do not. So what do the elite sites show the most interest in? Elections, on CBS.com there is half a page on the first page devoted to elections it also gives you 20 different options to find out more about them. You can see that since the Elite democracy feels that effects them most that is what there going to publicize the most. You can truly see the difference in sites the elite media concentrates on things that directly affect them and big issues like elections and Olympics. Whereas the alternative sites could care less about Elections, and Olympics.They realize there is more going on out there that affects the citizens, the people, the popular democracy.