My group's essay is on agriculture in ancient cultures. Some cultures we decided to research include the Egyptians, Mayans, Aztecs, Incas, and Romans. To start I typed in “Maya” into Griffin and found an E-book, “The Managed Mosaic: Ancient Maya Agriculture,” by Scott L. Fedick. This source talks about traditional Maya agriculture and the different uses and techniques in agriculture. This source stresses the importance of agriculture and goes into depth on the religious aspect of food in ancient Mayan society. The author states “Traditional Maya agriculture was characterized as dependent on long-fallow, slash-and-burn cultivation of maize within an undifferentiated landscape.” Although times have changed, the methods of this ancient community still remain as some of the only agriculture techniques in the American wet tropics. This source could be used for my paper because it urges the importance of maize in society that is comparable with that of today. Maize was held to a high standard religiously, economically, and as part of a daily diet. I can use this information and compare it to Michael Pollan’s chapter on corn in “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.”
Then, thinking of corn, I looked up articles for corn. I found one article from a 2007 report on soil and water management. The frame of the article consisted of objectives, approaches, and accomplishments on how corn is being made into biofuel and how this if affecting America’s corn belt. One objective is to “develop farming systems that permit the removal of biomass for energy production while protecting soil resources.” One approach is to develop completely new strategies in rotation and examine the soil sustainability of corn. One accomplishment includes a cleaner environment and minimizing the CO2. This information is not as relevant as the first source, but it provides a good base for facts about America’s modern techniques in agriculture.
