Unit 5 Podcast

What this episode covers

• Types of agriculture: subsistence vs. commercial, intensive vs. extensive
• The Neolithic Revolution — the transition from hunting-gathering to farming
• The Second Agricultural Revolution — crop rotation, new tools, enclosure
• The Green Revolution — high-yield seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation
• The Von Thünen Model — concentric rings and the role of transportation costs
• Bid rent theory and why land values vary with distance from markets
• Shifting cultivation and pastoral nomadism — subsistence in harsh environments
• Plantation agriculture, agribusiness, and vertical integration
• The Columbian Exchange and its transformation of global agriculture
• Environmental impacts: soil degradation, water pollution, deforestation, desertification
• Food security, food deserts, and food sovereignty