Ecosystem Service

Benefits people derive from ecosystem. Ecosystem services are typically grouped in four broad categories: provisioning, such as the production of food and water; regulating, such as the control of climate and disease; supporting, such as nutrient cycles and crop pollination; and cultural, such as spiritual and recreational benefits. (Source: Wikipedia)


Food Desert

This term was defined by Congress in 2008 as an area in the USA with limited access to affordable and nutritious food, particularly such an area composed of predominantly lower income neighborhoods and communities


Food Insecurity

The USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) defines food insecurity as a household characteristic. Food insecure households are those for which “consistent access to adequate food is limited by a lack of money and other resources at times during the year” (See more at: USDA-ERS).


Food Insecurity

The state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. During the first decade of this century, more than 800 million people live every day with hunger or food insecurity as their constant companion (see also National Academy of Science definitions).


Food Security

Food security exists “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.” According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the three pillars of food security are: availability, access and (safe) utilization. In addition you can learn about the four dimensions of food insecurity at the FAO website.


Global Warming Potential (GWP)

An index (i.e., a relative measure) of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere over a chosen time horizon, relative to that of carbon dioxide. The GWP represents the combined effect of the differing times these gases remain in the atmosphere and their relative effectiveness in absorbing outgoing thermal infrared radiation. Although the most common time horizon is 100 years, GWP have been reported also for time horizons of 20 years and 500 years.


Green Manure

A fertilizer consisting of growing plants that are plowed back into the soil.


Greenhouse Gas (GHG)

Any of the atmospheric gases, both natural and anthropogenic, that contribute to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation produced by solar warming of the Earth's surface. Water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) are the primary greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.


Greenhouse Gas Effect

Heat trapping effect of greenhouse gases in the troposphere (lowest portion of the earth's atmosphere)


Heuristic

Enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves. Techniques, activities or lessons that allow someone to discover something for himself or by finding solutions through experiments or loosely defined rules.


Malnutrition

Lack of proper nutrition, caused by not having enough to eat, not eating enough of the right things, or being unable to use the food that one does eat (see more on Wikipedia).


Research (Applied)

Study directed toward gaining (scientific) knowledge to meet a recognized need


Research (Basic)

Study directed toward gaining (scientific) knowledge primarily for its own sake


Resilience

The capacity of a system to buffer shock and stresses. The ability to recover from setbacks, adapt well to change, and keep going in the face of adversity.


Teragram

One trillion (1x1012) grams = one million 1x106) metric tons (see Units of Mass in Metric System).


Total Mixed Ration (TMR)

Refers to the practice of loading pre-determined amounts of all feed ingredients and blending them in a mixer, followed by delivery to a group of cows, usually housed and managed in confinement. Typically a dairy nutrition consultant will make recommendations using least-cost ration formulation software to determine the amounts and type of feed to blend based on economic considerations (minimizing feed cost), while providing the lactating cows with all know nutrients required for health and high milk production performance.


Unit of Mass in Metric System

1,000,000,000,000,000  1x1015 petagram (Pg) quadrillion  
1,000,000,000,000  (Million Metric Tons or Megatonnes)1x1012 teragram (Tg) trillion
 1,000,000,000  (Thousand Metric Tons) 1x109 gigagram (Gg) billion
 1,000,000  (Metric Ton) 1x106 megagram (Mg) million
 1,000   1x103 kilogram (Kg) thousand  
 100   1x102 hectogram (Hg) hundred  
 10   1x101 decagram (Dg) ten  
 1    gram    
   0.1 10-1 decigram (dg) tenth   
   0.01 10-2 centigram (cg) hundredth  
   0.001 10-3 milligram (mg) thousandth  
   0.000,001 10-6 microgram (µg) millionth  
   0.000,000,001 10-9 nanogram (ng) billionth  
   0.000,000,000,001 10-12 picogram (pg) trillionth  
   0.000,000,000,000,001 10-15 femtogram (fp) quadrillionth