Chapter 19 Agricultural and Related Technology
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food to ensure public health. Agricultural
processes must adhere to FDA guidelines.
Food products must be FDA approved
before they can be sold. Food products
and medicines must be tested extensively
before they can be sold to consumers to
ensure public health.
There are many areas of quality
control. In livestock farming, for example,
the feed given to the animals must meet
quality standards. The animals must be
carefully checked to ensure that they have
no harmful diseases. The preparation of
meat for consumption must occur in a sani-
tary environment. In crop raising, crops
are inspected for diseases or other signs
of distress. Fertilizers must be approved
for use on crops. Fruits and vegetables are
inspected after they are harvested.
Food-processing systems also have
quality controls in place. Since these
systems prepare food for human consump-
tion, a breakdown of the quality control
system can have health risks for the
consumer. Therefore, the systems must be
carefully designed to ensure that the food
products do not become contaminated
or spoiled. Food product is inspected as
part of the system. All materials the food
product contacts must be kept clean and
sanitary.
Summary
Agriculture involves growing plants and
animals on farms and ranches. This prac-
tice includes crop production and animal
husbandry. Agriculture involves the use
of many types of machines. This practice
uses pulling, tilling, planting, pest-control,
irrigation, harvesting, and storage equip-
ment. Agriculture also uses structures
and equipment to feed and care for cattle,
hogs, horses, and poultry. A special kind
of agriculture is aquaculture. Aquaculture
involves raising fish and plants in controlled
water environments.
Often, agriculture employs biotech-
nology. Biotechnology applies biological
organisms to production processes. We
use biotechnology to produce new strains
of plants and drugs.
Technology is also used in food
production. The food agriculture produces
must go through many processes before
reaching consumers. Technology is used
to make sure the food stays fresh.
Natural agricultural environments can
be recreated artificially. They can be used
for enjoyment or educational purposes.
Terrariums and hydroponics stations are
the most common types of these artificial
ecosystems.