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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. A new program was introduced to pay the farmers directly for the difference in price between the target and the selling price of ________.
(a) Soybeans.
(b) Wheat.
(c) Barley.
(d) Corn.

2. Over time, corn has become everything humans need to be a staple of the _________ food chain.
(a) Plentiful.
(b) Industrialized.
(c) Organic.
(d) Hunter-gatherer.

3. Pollan points out that the Republic of _______ exists today because of all of the excess corn in the market.
(a) Diabetes.
(b) Obesity.
(c) Excess.
(d) Fat.

4. The Naylor farm has turned from a diverse farm to one that has become a _________ production mecca.
(a) Wheat.
(b) Soybean.
(c) Corn.
(d) Barley.

5. Synthetic _______, invented by Fritz Haber as a side effect of his work on bombs in Germany, meant that crops could be grown without care about the amount of this substance on the Earth.
(a) Phosphorus.
(b) Potassium.
(c) Hydrogen.
(d) Nitrogen.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where is the farm that George Naylor runs when Pollan goes to visit him to learn more?

2. Humans are not a perfect natural system in the food system because they can only _______ so much food.

3. Gene Kahn is the founder of ______ Farm, which is a giant organic company that uses industrial methods.

4. Since they don't have to worry about nitrogen, farmers no longer have to ________ their crops to ensure soil fertility.

5. In a bad corn year, the food industry might use __________ as a replacement in many foods.

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some of the other creatures and ingredients that are a part of the picture of the natural cow eating the natural grass?

2. What does Pollan point out as being the ingredients that are in a common breakfast cereal?

3. What happens to the cows that produce organic milk for places like Whole Foods, according to Pollan?

4. Why are the chicken pens slowly moved around the pasture during the day?

5. What does Pollan point out as a downside of there being more organic farms around today?

6. What was the role of Earl Butz in the corn industry, according to the book?

7. What does Pollan point out is the start of any of the foods in the food chain, which came as a surprise to him?

8. What is the main idea behind the process of grass farming?

9. What is the hybrid corn that is described in this section of the book?

10. What are the three different parts of the food chain that Pollan follows in this book?

(see the answer keys)

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