Moleskine Marketing Analysis

Moleskine Marketing Analysis 1.0 Executive Summary Moleskine was founded in 1997 by a small Milanese publisher that wanted to revive a product that is rich in history and tradition. Based on the case study we are aware that moleskine is trying to bring back a product that soon to be vanished. It is critical and crucial to know that how consumer behavior can help to keep this traditional product alive by understanding characteristics personalities of consumers. Further segmenting them to be able to find out a solution that can assist marketers in planning their marketing mix, communication tools to connect with the modern consumer, also coming up with new strategies and tactics of marketing communication. 1.2 Definition of Personality Personality might be characterized as the internal aspects which impacts a singulars conduct and activities consistent with the social and the physical environment. Attributes contrasts one single person from an alternate singular, no two individual impart the same qualities and are precisely indistinguishable. 1.3 Neo-Freudian Theory In the case of the Neo-Freudian Theory, consumers of Moleskine possess more of the detached personality, as these are the individuals who move far from others. They covet independence, freedom, individualism or opportunity from commitments. This can be seen in Moleskine as well, as it can be seen in the case study. â€Å"Moleskine launched its modern-era range of diaries in 1997, around the time laptop computers and personal telecommunication devices were breaking into the market† (Schiffman, O’Cass, Paladino and Carlson 2014, 621). This shows that moleskine’s consumers still uses analogue or old fashioned products even in times of rising technology as they do not conform to the society and uses whatever which is suitable for them. 1.4 Traits Theory In the case of the traits theory, moleskine’s consumers are those which possesses high scores for extroversion and openness to experience from the big five model as they are creative, will document their likings, personal stories and experiences. They are people who loves to travel and are interested in other cultures and are comfortable to socialize with others. Basically, these are traits which are similar to that of moleskine as they focuses on art, culture and creativity. Furthermore, their products are divided into 3 categories which are travelling, reading and writing which are again similar of their consumers. It is the similarity of the consumer and brand personality which attracts the consumers to buy and use moleskine’s products. 1.5 Personality and Consumer Behavior As noted from above, consumers of moleskine are those who possesses detached personality and in the case of consumer behavior. It is similar to that of the inner-directed consumers, as they depend on their internal values or benchmarks in assessing new items. Inner-directed consumers will buy products that please and perform for them and they are not concerned about what others think of the product that they are using. The consumers deem that moleskine’s notebook satisfies their inner values and performs for them. Similarly, moleskine is a product of old tradition and old fashioned in the modern age of technology where laptops and computers are commonly used. However, the consumers are susceptive to interpersonal influence as well. This is due to the fact that they feel that moleskine’s art, culture and creativity fits their social group. There will definitely be commonality between moleskine’s consumers and other consumers. Contrary to having detached personality, moleskine’s consumers too have other personality traits like being modern which are common to other consumers as well. The consumers are modern even though of the analogue product that they are using, as moleskine uses new media to communicate with their consumers. Such as MSK 2 which is a digital notebook which the consumers can customize and create their own notebook. Moleskine utilizes social media, in the likes of YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, etc. 2.0 VALS program VALS is a program developed by Arnold Mitchell allowing us to better fathom about the segmentations and profile of adults American consumers. There are eight type of adult American consumers segmented by VALS based on their mindsets, using a specific set of psychological traits and key demographics that drive consumer behavior. The eight type of adult American consumers are the innovators, thinkers, believers, achievers, strivers, experiencers, makers and lastly the survivors. There are three primary motivation that drives the eight different types of consumers they are ideas, achievement and self-expression. The concept of primary motivation explains consumer attitudes and anticipates behavior. The resources of the eight type of consumers would also affect the consumer’s behavior, resources refers to a person’s age, income, education, self-confidence, health, eagerness to buy or try and its energy level this psychological, physical, emotional, demographic, socioeconomi c will constrain or enhance a persons expression of his or her primary motivation. 2.1 Roy Morgan’s value segments Roy Morgan’s value segments of Australian consumer has a segmentation of ten different type of consumers group. â€Å"The ten types of consumers are the socially aware, visible achievement, young optimism, real conservatism, look at me, conventional family life, traditional family life, a fairer deal, something better and basic needs†.(Roy Morgan 2014) This two methods shows how age, gender, marital status, income, education, occupation, social class, health and personality influence the consumer behavior. 2.2 Where would Moleskine consumers fit? The moleskine notebook has a long history and tradition it is reputed to have been used by famous artist, thinkers and writers. The notebook was made famous by Bruce Chatwin and he was the one who gave the notebook its name. â€Å"The philosophy of moleskine products are creativity, imaginative and travelling†. (Moleskine 2014) The moleskine product will fit better with the Roy Morgan’s value segmentation under the categories of young optimism and real conservatism. 2.3 Young optimism Young optimism refers to a person seeking to improve their prospects in life and wanted to be respected in society. They are long term thinkers, careers planner, attending university and contemplating about the future. Their mindset tends to be associated with people who want to experience life to their fullest for example vacation, a career, friends, and family. They are innovative and interested in technology. Thus the moleskine products totally fits into the profile of the young optimism who are imaginative as they are constantly thinking of their future, creative as they are innovative and interested in technology and lastly they would love to travel around the to broaden their perspective of life. 2.4 Real conservatism Real conservatism refers to people who are cautious about new things and ideas. They hold very conservative thinking and feel that things are not as good as they used to be. They are willing to pay more for products with quality and are particularly attracted to older, well established brands. Moleskine is a well-established brand as it is the successor to the legendary notebook that has been used by renowned artists and thinkers such as Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Bruce Chatwin. Thus giving it a sense of class and nostalgia as a diary that retains the old world charm which also could be a trusty and handy travel companion and it fits right into the profile of the real conservatism. 2.5 How could these systems assist marketers? The use of these systems will allow marketers to position or promote their products better. They can use these systems to know which specific segment of consumer that they are targeting, and it will definitely be easier for them to plan the marketing mix (4Ps) strategy with the help of these systems. 3.0 Integrated Marketing Communications Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is define as the coordination and integration of all marketing communication tools, avenues, and sources in a company into a seamless program designed to maximize the impact on customers and stakeholders (Clow and Baack 2012). It is a concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the added value of a plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines – general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and public relations – and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communication impact (Kitchen and Burgmann 2010). 3.1 Recommendations In order for Moleskine to reach out to consumers who are less I.T savvy and resonate better with international consumers, following are some of the recommendations suggested. Making use of advertising through television, magazines or newspapers will get the message across to audiences whom are less I.T savvy and build a repetitive and consistent approach to increase product awareness. Moleskine can make use of celebrity endorsement for its products to reach out to international consumers. This means using brand ambassadors that are recognizable by global consumers. The firm can participate in inter-national trade fairs or exhibitions to publicize and sell their products. This provides an effective way of meeting many existing and potential consumers from different countries (Doole and Lowe 2008). 3.2 Jenifer Aaker’s Brand Personality Dimensions Jenifer Aaker’s brand personality framework is use to describe a brand profile which includes tangible and intangible traits and correlates to humans’ characteristic. This includes five dimensions (Friend 2012): Sincerity – This dimension portrays as down-to-earth, honest, wholesome or cheerful in consumer minds. Excitement – Daring, spirited, imaginative, and on the cutting edge of technology and performance are the most exciting brands. Competence – This refers to brands with traits such as reliability, intelligence, and success. Sophisticated – A brand that is sophisticated is viewed as charming and fit for the upper classes. Ruggedness – Rugged brands are seen as outdoorsy and tough. The two dimensions that will be suitable for Moleskine are ‘Competence’ and ‘Excitement’. The company had made use of technology such as cloud, social media and iPhone and iPad apps to promote and push their products to the market. These provide consumers the convenience and reliability in terms of data storage on their smart devices. Moreover, by utilizing the various forms of social media will keep Moleskine updated with the latest trends, hence keeping up with the ever changing technology. 4.0 Moleskine’s Segmentation and Marketing Strategies Yes, it is possible for other products to use similar segmentation and marketing strategies to Moleskine. Psychographic segmentation divides buyer into different groups based on 1) Lifestyle 2) Social Class, and 3) Personality Characteristics. Moleskine targets designers, professionals, writers, creative, imaginative people, travelers, and business people. Moleskine keeps in mind both their consumers’ lifestyle and their social classes. From working class to upper class where people need to develop new ideas, travelers who love to pen down their experiences, and business people who need to organize their schedule. Moleskine’s consumers’ personality characteristics are creative, imaginative, passionate, traditional and organized. Moleskine’s products vary from simple to stylish hard and soft cover of diaries and etc. The price setting is high. Placing is exclusive distribution. For promotion, they focus on communicating with consumers through social media a nd interactive websites. Moleskine’s positioning is to open platforms for people to be creative and communicative which contributes to the development of sharing knowledge and culture. Few products that used similar segmentations and marketing strategies as Moleskine are Polaroid cameras and Chanel’s products 4.1 Polaroid Corporation Targets creative people, artist, designers, photographers, and experiencers, people that see Polaroid as a status of lifestyle. Polaroid consumers’ social class are from upper to working class, some people like to instantly capture their current experience and develop the picture on the spot; people use it for their projects or special occasions. Polaroid consumers’ personality characteristics are creative and passionate. Polaroid is an exciting brand for youths. Polaroid communicates with consumers through social media and interactive websites. They have their own Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and Twitter accounts that they constant update status, videos, and pictures. They created smartphone apps such as â€Å"Polamatic by Polaroid† where people can take pictures and edit them by applying Polaroid’s authentic frames and extra features. Polaroid Corporation has launched their new retail store called Fotobar, which is available, online as well. It serves a function where people are enabled customize their Polaroid pictures (Melanson, 2013). Polaroid has partnerships with the Andy Warhol Museum and Lady gaga. Polaroid uses global consumer segment as in every country there will be a group of people that meets Polaroid’s targeted market. 4.2 Chanel Founded in the year 1909. Chanel consist of lifestyle and luxury products. Chanel is known to be a sophisticated brand for elegant women. Chanel’s products consist of fashion clothing, fine jewelry, watches, accessories, perfumes, and cosmetics. They place their products in their own boutiques. However, their cosmetics and perfumes can be found in certain specific departmental stores. Pricing is high. Their promotion is through fashion shows, celebrities, events, television, magazines, and exhibitions. Chanel uses modern technology to communicate with their consumers. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, YouTube to update their new products, Videos events, and status. Chanel’s videos constantly films and emphasize on their â€Å"brand heritage† and how it still exist in their products with a fusion of modern. This strategy reinforces the relationship consumer need to have with the product. Chanel has re-designed their website to create a sleek site t hat shows elegance and created a few smartphone apps that features videos and looks of the latest products, fashion news, behind the scene features, and contact information for all boutiques, skin care tips using their brand’s facial products. Chanel’s Coco Shine Lipstick was first launched and sold through the social media platform, Facebook. Users were to â€Å"like† the page and get complimentary shipping when purchasing. It increases awareness on their online store as some consumers are unaware of it, also, by â€Å"liking† the Facebook page will allow consumers to be involved in their future news or product launches. (Zelesny, 2011) Chanel used a male celebrity; Brad Pitt to launched their advertisement on Chanel No.5, Chanel’s female perfume that became the talk on social media. They did it intentionally to increase the popularity of the product (Carr, 2012). Chanel products are lifestyle choices and their product range will fit across in mos t countries and in every country, there is definitely a group of upper class, high-income people that lives a similar luxurious lifestyle allowing global consumer segmentation of products.

Ordinary People :: essays research papers

The book Ordinary People explains the troubles that occur in a typical American family. The family, the Jarrets, tries to maintain as much as a normal life as possible without a dysfunctional status. In the beginning of the story, the family deals with minor problems that had little impact to them. Since they had just moved to a new house in a new neighborhood, they try to establish relationships with other neighbors. Their son, Conrad, faces depression in which he must recover from through frequent visits to the hospital, and to his psychiatrist. The father of the family, Calvin, is a determined and responsible man, is positive on his outlook in life and looks forward to everything, including having a productive day at work. He tries to take care of Conrad by giving sending him to a psychiatrist. The mother, Beth, a strong working woman, is also like Calvin; she is responsible to the family as well. Obviously, the parents have no personal problems, but ironically they create conflic ts with each other. Although these conflicts are very minor, they eventually build up to separate the family later on throughout their marriage. An example of this was seen while the parents had troubles deciding where and when to go on vacation during their night out at dinner, because both their times conflicted with each other. The both of them always had minor conflicts that sprouted out every once in a while, but they were acceptable to each other. Conrad on the other hand had problems with his low self-esteem, grades in school, depression, suicide and interacting with other people. The loss of Buck brought Conrad down to his depression and low self-esteem, which eventually collapsed on his academic achievements in school. Also his social attitude towards society was weak, since his moods were always aimed towards quiet environments and loneliness. He took blame for his brother’s death in a boat accident and wanted to commit suicide. Conrad wanted to be in his own world, where he could relax and be in peace from all the annoying people in his life. The only people he really spoke with outside of his family were his teammates in his swim team, Lazenby, Bergen, his psychiatrist, Jeannine, and Karen. This did not necessarily mean that he liked the people he had relationships with. Conrad found his own teammates annoying, his psychiatrist too nosy in his life, and Karen wasn’t creditable either because she had similar problems like him, since they met each other at the hospital.

The Grand Essay About Reconstruction :: essays research papers

The Civil War was inevitable and regardless of the outcome on the fields of battle, the reconstruction of the nation was equally inevitable because as much as the North and the South had irrevocable differences, it was in the mutual interest of the North, the South and the West to maintain a relationship based on symbiosis. The Civil War and the reconstruction of the nation were bound to happen. There was a great diversity throughout the nation within the three sections. Differences in opinions and rules in slavery, economic and civilization differences are all examples of causes of the Civil War. However, the reconstruction of the nation was necessary, because the three sections needed each other to survive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Civil war was inevitable. Because of the great diversity between the North and the South, the Civil War was bound to happen. Slavery was one of the many causes of the Civil War. It presented a moral issue, since it dealt with human beings and invaded individual freedom and democratic ideals. Slavery greatly distinguished the South from the North, and was the major issue dividing the two sections. The differences in economy also added to the cause of the Civil War. The South had become agricultural, and the North had become industrial. These economic differences led to sectional rivalry on issues such as slavery and the protective tariff. The interpretation of the federal Union differed between the two sections as well. The South insisted that the federal Union was created by the states; therefore, any state had the right to secede. The North thought otherwise; they believed that people created the Union and no state had the right to secede. The South favored, and the North opposed the extension of slavery into the West. Most of the West became tied economically to the North by a network of railroads and trade. Southerners realized that Western lands were not suitable for cotton culture, and realized that they were losing Western support, and the South would remain a minority section in the Union. The North and the South had differences in civilization. A small aristocracy of influential planter families dominated the Southern civilization, compared to the more dynamic and democratic Northern civilization. This difference in civilizations made understanding each other’s point of view difficult, which added to the causes of the war. Lastly, people in both the North and the South exaggerated differences.

The Old Man and the Sea - A Fish Story :: Old Man and the Sea Essays

The Old Man and the Sea - A Fish Story    The book, The Old Man and the Sea, is about an old man named Santiago who struggles with a gigantic marlin fish. This is a story of his courage, heroism, and strength. In the book, Ernest Hemingway uses Santiago to explore the theme of man and his relations to animals. In this case it is Santiago's relationship to the different fish he catches, especially the giant Marlin fish. Santiago respected, cared, and thought of the fish as equals. The relationship with the fish is shown through many examples and explanations in the following paragraphs.   Ã‚     Santiago truly cared about the huge Marlin fish he caught and this was a part of his relationship with fish. He would talk to his fish and treat them with his utmost care. This is shown as the Santiago states, â€Å"I wish it was a dream and that I had never hooked him. I'm sorry about it, fish. It makes everything wrong †¦ I shouldn't have gone out so far fish†(Hemingway 110). Santiago is truly sorry that he had to go out so far into the water and catch the giant fish. Because he went out so far, the sharks ate the fish on the way back to the port. He did not want his fish to be ripped and eaten by Santiago's worst enemy,  the sharks. He wished it were only a dream so that the fish would not have to go through the pain. This example shows how mush he cared for the fish and how his relationship with the fish was affected by his feeling of caring.       Santiago also deeply respects fish in general and this aspect of his relationship to the fish is clearly shown throughout the book. There are many instances where Santiago displays his respect for fish and one of them is stated, â€Å"the Old Man hit [the albacore fish] on the head for kindness and kicked him, his body shuddering, under the shade of the stern† (Hemingway 39). This shows Santiago's respect and feelings for the albacore fish. Hitting the fish on the head and kicking the fish is a sign of respect. Another example of Santiago's respect for a fish is when he describes the fish, â€Å"never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother† (Hemingway  92).

Malcom X/Nation of Islam Essay -- discrimination

The Nation of Islam was founded during the Great Depression in Detroit, Michigan by a silk merchant named Wallace D. Fard. He began preaching to the black community that they didn’t deserve to live in poverty, and that the white people exploited the people so much that Fard believed that this community needed their own state. Fard accumulated more than 8,000 followers who believed that Fard was actually god, in the form of man. Elijah Poole, later known as Elijah Muhammad, took over the Nation of Islam after Fard’s disappearance in 1934. One Nation of Islam follower widely known for his work was Malcolm X. Malcolm X was born on May 19, 1925 under the name Malcolm Little, the fourth child of Rev. Earl and Louise Little. Malcolm’s father was of Baptist faith that preached on Sundays, and supported Universal Negro Improvement Association and Marcus Garvey, a stirring orator who advocated black pride and a black exodus from the United States to Africa. Rev. Little spread Garvey’s message, and this, according to legend, is what got him killed by white supremacists in 1931. (Gale 1997) At age 6, Malcolm’s widowed mother Louise suffered a mental breakdown and was declared insane. Through all this, Malcolm managed to keep his spirits up by getting good grades, debating, playing basketball, and hoping someday to become a lawyer, only to have his dreams crushed at the age of 14, by a critical white teacher. â€Å"That’s no realistic goal for a nigger,† his teacher told him, and that he should aim at doing some sort of work with his hands. (Frost 2001) Malcolm’s dreams were crushed, and at the age of 16 he moved up to New York with his sister. There he worked on the streets of New York dealing drugs and hustling. By the time he was 20 years old, he was the leader of a burglar ring, and was caught with stolen goods. He was sentenced to 8-10 years in prison, which turned out to change Malcolm’s life around.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A man named Bimbi, who Malcolm admired, inspired him to straighten up. Malcolm began hitting the books, sometimes spending half the days in the prison library; it seemed he was searching for something to get him out of the rut he’s been in since he was 14. (Frost 2001)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Malcolm began receiving letters from his brother, Reginald, who told him in his writings about the Nation of Islam, the teachings of an uncle... ... into orthodox Islam. African-Americans' interest in their Islamic roots has flourished since Malcolm’s death. (Haley) The memory and image of Malcolm X has changed as much after his death as his own philosophies changed during his lifetime. Malcolm was first thought to be a violent militant, but now he is understood as an advocate of self-help, self-defense, and education. He succeeded in putting together history, religion, and mythology as a skeleton for his eventual belief in world brotherhood and human justice. In his eyes, Malcolm thought faith was a prelude to action, and that ideas were useless without policy. Malcolm X’s autobiography is read in schools throughout the United States. It has inspired some African-Americans to get involved in their Islamic roots. In 1992, Spike Lee made a movie based on the autobiography that sparked an interest in the meaning of life and death of Malcolm X. X Russ Lahey Bibliography Frost, Bob â€Å"The Complex Journey of Malcolm X.† Biography Feb. 2001, Vol. 5, p64 Gale, Thomas â€Å"Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz)† The African American Almanac, 1997, 7th ed. Haley, Alex and X, Malcolm The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Oct 1992

Adapting the Unfamiliar… Through Translation.

Adapting the Unfamiliar†¦ through Translation. Marjorie Agosin (born June 15, 1955). Source: Wikipedia. 07/12/2012 Komal Shah Eng. 101C- 24 R. C. Muniz 333 Adapting the Unfamiliar†¦ through Translation. By Komal Shah. Change†¦ is a very powerful and emotionally supercharged word. It is inevitable and the process of becoming different.The inspiring narrative, Always living in Spanish,  by Dr. Marjorie Agosin, originally written in Spanish, tells of Dr. Agosin’s Chilean childhood and her continuing struggle to embrace the change that came with moving to America. â€Å"Destiny and the always ambiguous nature of history continued my family’s enforced migration†¦ (Agosin, 22)† she states. Her story uses personal details to bring her childhood in Chile to life. It is her clear love for her people and the constant battle to not let go of her identity that inspires her poetry all of which is written in Spanish.For her, like many others, writing a nd thinking in Spanish is a â€Å"gesture of survival† through her journey from Chile to Georgia, as from her Chilean childhood to American adulthood. Philosophers often say that it is important to find yourself, to identify who you are. But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates through the process of change. The Encarta Dictionary: English (North America) defines identity as â€Å"the name or essential character that identifies somebody or something† (def. 1). We all have sets of characteristics that we recognize as belonging uniquely to ourselves.This constitutes his or her individual personality for life. The concept of identity in Dr. Agosin's essay is shown best when she states â€Å"Daily, I felt the need to translate myself for the strangers living all around me, to tell them why we were in Georgia, why we are different, why we had fled, why my accent was so thick, and why I did not look Hispanic. Only at night, writing poems in Spani sh, could I return to my senses, and soothe my own sorrow over what I had left behind. †(Agosin, 22) For a while Marjorie was at a loss; the loss of the familiar, and more importantly, the loss of her identity.She found a way to reconnect herself with her identity by doing something that reminded her of language, culture and history she was born with. Bringing all of her characteristics together in a consolidated place where she can let go and just remember herself as she is intact with her identity. In America, when we hear someone’s poor spoken English with a thick accent or when we see someone not getting an American Sarcasm, we may not know what their ethnicity is, but we are sure that the person is an outsider.That is because of the shape of someone’s identity is by the usage and understanding of a language. A Korean- American novelist, Chang-Rae Lee narrates this thought particularly well in her short story Mute in English-only World. She talks about her Ko rean mother’s mental struggle in an English speaking world by saying, â€Å"In Korean she could be fiery, stern, deeply funny, and ironic, in English just slightly less so† (Lee, 801). All languages have their distinct ways of expressing happiness, sadness and other feelings.Those differences decide how one translates themselves in the society they live in. As Dr. Agosin says, â€Å"Translators are not traitors, as the proverb says, but rather splendid friends in this great human community of language† (Agosin, 24). It is hard to adapt and accept the changes that language barriers bring to our lives when we leave our homes. But that is what brings us one step closure to our true selves and how we were made.Despite of more than seven billion of our own kind on the planet earth, there are times we feel shipwrecked and alone when we are away from the familiar, because as a social animal we have grouped ourselves into ethnicity, cultures and countries. It is where w e currently are that has to be our new home away from home. We all secretly desire a perfect life, a perfect family or a perfect boss. After all if a pair of shoes wouldn’t have changed Cinderella’s life then she would be one of us. She would have moved for a better life, learned English, and gotten a better job with a healthcare package.CITATIONS Agosin, Marjorie. â€Å"Always Living in Spanish: Recovering the Familiar through Language. †Ã‚  The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings and Handbook 2nd Edition. New York: W. W. Norton ;, 2009. 21-24. Print. Lee, Chang-Rae. â€Å"Mute in an Enlgish-Only World. †Ã‚  Everything's an Arguement. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007. 800-02. Print. â€Å"Encarta Dictionary(Online College Dictionary)Review. †Ã‚  Encarta Dictionary (Online College Dictionary). N. p. , n. d. Web. 11 July 2012. ;http://www. really-learn-english. com/encarta-dictionary-online-college-dictionary. html;.

Food Production

This essay will explain about farming today, and how it affects our environment, also ways in which we can help to protect our environment, our health and animal welfare. Farming is the production of food and other materials by raising plants and animals. Many people buy their food in supermarkets close to their homes, but the food is imported from many different countries, and many products are farmed in a number of different ways. The way food is farmed affects the environment. It also affects people's health and the treatment of animals. Some farming methods are more harmful than others. Over 11,000 years ago, people got all their food by gathering wild plants, hunting and also from fishing. They travelled around constantly in search for food. But then people learned how to grow plants from seeds. They learned how to raise animals, and then began to settle in one place. Now they could wait for their plants and crops to grow, and begin to harvest them when they were ripe. Then about 250 years ago farmers in much wealthier countries started using machines. Machinery did most of the work for people, so people could make food for many more people and sell it to their community. Scientists then developed chemicals to produce more food, and developed new plants and different breeds of animals. Many more farmers now use more chemicals such as fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides to grow more crops. Fertilisers make the soil more fertile. Pesticides kill insects that harm crops and herbicides kill weeds among the crops. Today in wealthy countries such as Britain and the USA people live in cities rely on fewer farmers in the countryside to grow their food. But many people are worried about how their food is produced, chemicals are sprayed onto the crops and they can stay on the food. They can also run into rivers and the water underground. New kinds of plants and new breads of animals may upset the natural environment. Valuable soil is also being lost or damaged. There is a lot of reduction in land and one of the causes for this is farming Farming methods, including overgrazing, incorrect farming methods and the overstocking of land, remove essential nutrients from the soil. This results in the denudation of the land. As no vegetation is available to retain the soil, it is washed away. Soil erosion further lessens the amount of land available for natural plants and animals. As the number of people grows daily, more food is needed and more land is being utilised for farming, decreasing the amount of land used by animals and plants, especially in the case of rainforests in tropical countries. As the rainforest are destroyed to make way for more farming land. Nature, insect and vegetation. In other countries hedge rows and trees are lost also killing that which resides there. Modern farming results include: 1) The hybridisation of plant species 2) improvements from animal breeding 3) the use of fertilisers and insecticides There are two types of insecticide found: 1) Organic: from plants and animals, e.g. manure and compost 2) inorganic: from non-living materials, e.g. rocks, minerals (these can disrupt ecosystems) When inorganic fertilisers are dissolved in rainwater, they run off into water sources. This is called Eutrophication. Eutrophication is the over growth of algae in water ecosystems where nutrients are usually limiting. Many fresh water systems are ‘oligotrophic', meaning that the growth of primary producers (algae) is limited not by dissolved gas or light, but by nutrients such as nitrates and minerals. The organisms in these environments have evolved to be optimally suited to these conditions, and everything works fairly well. But when someone builds something next to a lake (e.g. golf course), and the fertilizer being used on the grass runs off into the lake, the algae grows too fast for the rest of the ecosystem to keep up, and overgrows the lake, killing everything in it. That's one example, there are many other the solutions generally involve not washing lots of nutrients into lakes and streams (or the ocean, which, although generally full of nutrients, can also be locally overwhelmed with runoff, especially in coral reef environments). Farmers use pesticides and insecticides to kill organisms that damage their crops. The following methods are used: 1) Chemical: a poison is introduced, e.g. herbicides and DDT 2) biological: a natural predator is introduced, e.g. snakes to kill rats 3) mechanical: people and machines are used, e.g. rat traps Side effects of these methods can include: 1) The death of animals that are not pests 2) DDT entering and moving up the food chain DDT is an effective but dangerous pesticide. Below is a diagram to show how DDT is moved up the food chain. Farming produces much pollution, mainly water pollution through chemicals, and air pollution through machinery used in the farming process, the consequences of fumes being given off lead to, the green house effect which leads to global warming. Detrimental effects on human health and vegetation. This also causes acid rain. Water pollution was mentioned earlier. And how the chemicals being used travel through the lakes and rivers. This disrupts our ecosystems. So now you basically know what effects food production has on our environment, so how can we prevent this from happening? Well for a start we could all begin to eat more organic foods. Organic agriculture bars the use of synthetic pesticides and artificial fertilizers, and instead relies on ecological interactions to raise yields, reduce pests and build soil fertility. Diverse planting patterns, frequent rotations and attraction of beneficial insects, for instance, would all be organic means of pest control. Organic meat and dairy farming is the raising of animals without hormones, antibiotics or other artificial chemicals; it also includes using organic feed and allowing animals sufficient range of movement and sunlight. Genetic engineering of plants and animals is not considered organic. Organic farming is definitely a way forward. Lets hope in the future more people see it this way.