United States Citizenship and Economics

1. United States Citizenship and Economics Debra Spielmaker Utah Agriculture in the Classroom Utah State University www.agclassroom.org/ut

2. United States Citizenship and EconomicsStandard 5 & 6 • Students will understand basic economic principles and how they influence everyday life. • Students will understand the relationship between the United States and the international system.

3. United States Citizenship and Economics • Why is the U.S Government so involved with the agricultural industry? • How important are agricultural exports and imports? • If China can afford to buy more, and we have surpluses, why don’t we sell more to them?

4. How are you connected to agriculture? • Food • Clothing • Shelter • More…agriculture effects your quality of life!

5. An Acre is About the Size of a… Football Field

6. What does an acre of land produce? • 819 pounds of Cotton • 2,340 pounds of Wheat • 11,400 pounds of Sweet Corn • 39,000 pounds of Potatoes • 26,000 pounds of Oranges • 35,000 pounds of Lettuce • 44,500 pounds of Strawberries

7. Who pays the least for food? Of the 10 percent of disposable income Americans spend on food, an average of 5.8 percent is spent on food eaten at home and 4.1 percent is spent on food eaten away from home.

8. What’s on America’s dinner table? Fresh Fruits 127.1 pounds Flour & Cereal Products 191.5 pounds Milk 21 gallons Eggs 252 Red Meats 118.4 pounds Fats & Oils 89.4 pounds Rice 20.7 pounds Cheese 31.25 pounds Poultry 84.5 pounds

9. How many days do we work to pay for food? Recreation, Clothing & Accessories

10. Number of people fed annually by one farmer “Achilles heel of current green revolution methods: dependence on fossil fuels” Michael Pollan

11. 98% of American farms are still family farms! Non-family corporations 2% Individual or family-owned farms, family partnerships or family-owned corporations98%

12. 86% of U.S. farm products sold are from family farms! Non-family corporations 14% Individual or family-owned farms, family partnerships or family-owned corporations 86%

13. How many farms and farmers?

14. 4.0 3.6 3.1 2.8 2.7 2.6 1982 1987 1992 1997 2002 Today Are farmers reducing cropland erosion?

15. What is USDA’s budget? Food Safety and Marketing & Inspection $2.5 Conservation Programs $5.1 Food And Nutrition Programs $51.4 Research, Education & Economics $2.6 Risk Management $4.0 Forest Service $5.4 Foreign Ag Service $2.4 (in billions) Rural Development $3.0 Farm Programs $12.4 In 2007: $88.8 billion

16. Fiscal Year 2008

17. The Federal Budget 1960 - $92 billion 1970 - $196 billion 1980 - $591 billion 1990 - $1,253 billion 2000 - $1,789 billion Today - $2,900 billion (2.9 trillion)

18. What is a billion? If you had 1 million dollars and had to spend $1,000 dollars every day, your money would run out in 1000 days. If you had 1 billion dollars and had to spend $1,000 every day, your money would run out for 2,740 years.

19. Where does your food dollar go? 3.5¢ Depreciation 4.5¢ Rent 2.5¢ Interest 1.5¢ Repairs 3.5¢ Business Taxes 3¢ Other Costs 4¢ Advertising 4.5¢ Profits 3.5¢ Energy 4¢ Transportation 8¢ Packaging 38.5¢ Off Farm Labor

20. What are the farmer’s expenses? Off-Farm81¢

21. Who imports U.S. farm products?

22. What is the U.S. share of world production?

23. What do we trade on the world market? U.S. Ag Exports = $69 billion

24. What do we trade on the world market? U.S. Ag Imports = $64 billion

25. Global Grocery Bags • Supply and Demand • Needs vs. Wants • What’s fair…is it always equal? • Good Additional Resources • National Geographic – Earth Pulse http://www.nationalgeographic.com/earthpulse/ • PBS Biotechnology – Science and Economics: Should We Grow GM Crops? http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/harvest/ • Grain Embargo of 1980 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601800121,00.html

26. National Geographic • Growing Fuel (October 2007) • Where Food Begins (September 2008) • The End of Plenty (June 2009) • http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/cheap-food/bourne-text/1

27. The polarizing of agricultural issues: On one side you have apathy (food is abundant, safe, and cheap so why care?). On the other side, conventional/industrial agricultural practices are being called into question through best sellers like, “Animal, Vegetable, Mineral” “Omnivores Dilemma” and in “Defense of Food.” People who aren’t apathetic are VERY concerned about our environment and would like to see more sustainable agriculture that closes the loop of energy on the farm and reduces or minimizes petroleum based inputs. Oh, and people don’t like to change, see starving people, and economies destroyed…

28. So what’s the solution? Sound science, not just production science but environmental science, and then educate people. Changes? Economic Change?

29. United States Citizenship and EconomicsStandard 5 & 6 • Students will understand basic economic principles and how they influence everyday life. • Students will understand the relationship between the United States and the international system.

30. United States Citizenship and Economics • Why is the U.S Government so involved with the agricultural industry? • How important are agricultural exports and imports? • If China can afford to buy more, and we have surpluses, why don’t we sell more to them?