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I’m still reflecting on something Zitouni Ould-Dada, a Senior Advisor at FAIRR, said during Food Tank’s inaugural London Climate Action Week Summit earlier this summer.
We can’t sugarcoat things: We have to confront the challenges our world faces head-on. Doing so takes courage, accountability, and a willingness to self-reflect and figure out how to do better.
“We don’t have enough ambition in how we tackle climate change,” he told us.
He’s right. But I have hope that all of us—eaters, farmers, business leaders, policymakers—can create the changes needed to tackle the climate crisis.
We all need to do some reflection. Who are we supporting in elected offices? How are we making our voices heard in our communities? Are we voting with our forks?
If our public and private sector leaders are unable or unwilling to take ambitious action on climate—if they lack the courage to stand up for the health of people and the planet—we’ll remain stuck in harm’s way.
This, by the way, is why I so deeply admire Representative McGovern and other real-life food superheroes, for their tireless work to improve our country’s food and agriculture systems.
We also need to think about where our money goes. When it comes to investments, food systems receive just 4 percent of total public climate financing. But, as research has shown time and time again, food systems are central to climate solutions. Let’s vote with our dollars, too, and put money toward solutions that work!
“The food system can’t change overnight—but the flow of finance can,” Dharshan Wignarajah, UK Director of the Climate Policy Initiative, said at the London Summit.
And as Food Tankers, we need to reflect on ourselves, too. We need to make sure to continue to educate ourselves and engage with ambitious ideas.
That notion—the urgency of reflecting on what we know, what we don’t know, and what we need to know to make change—was on our minds as we compiled our summer book list.
What challenges will new farmers face in a climatically uncertain future? How do racial and class inequities help giant corporations keep small businesses in the shadows? How can gardeners and eaters use traditional wisdom and foraging to save money and save the planet? How do everyday objects in our kitchens—from nutmeg to refrigerators—help explain our broken global food system?
What I love about these books is that they not only answer questions like these, but also help us understand how we can go forth and use that information to improve the way we each interact with and help shape the food system.
Here’s what we’re reading this summer:
A Call to Farms: Reconnecting to Nature, Food, and Community in a Modern World, by Jennifer Grayson (forthcoming July 9, 2024)
Barefoot Biodynamics: How Cows, Compost, and Community Help Us Understand Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture Course, by Jeff Poppen
Chop Fry Watch Learn: Fu Pei-Mei and the Making of Modern Chinese Food, by Michelle T. King
Feeding Britain: Our Food Problems and How to Fix Them, by Tim Lang
Food Margins: Lessons From an Unlikely Grocer, by Cathy Stanton
Food Systems of the Future, by Scientific American Editors
Food Systems Transformation in Kenya: Lessons from the Past and Policy Options for the Future, by Clemens Breisinger, Michael Keenan, Juneweenex Mbuthia, and Jemimah Njuki
Forage. Gather. Feast., by Maria Finn
Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves, by Nicola Twilley
How to Create a Sustainable Food Industry: A Practical Guide to Perfect Food, by Melissa Barrett, Massimo Marino, Francesca Brkic, and Carlo Alberto Pratesi
Into the Weeds: How to Garden Like a Forager, by Tama Matsuoka Wong
Living with the Trees of Life: A Practical Guide to Rebooting the Planet through Tropical Agriculture and Putting Farmers First, by Roger Leakey
The Self-Sufficiency Garden: Feed Your Family and Save Money, by Huw Richards and Sam Cooper
Transforming School Food Politics around the World, edited by Jennifer E. Gaddis and Sarah A. Roberts
Permaculture Gardening for the Absolute Beginner: Follow Nature’s Map to Grow Your Own Organic Farm with Confidence and Transform Any Backyard into a Thriving Ecosystem, by Josie Beckham
Ravenous: How to get ourselves and our planet into shape, by Henry Dimbleby
Tastes Like War, by Grace M. Cho
The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis, by Amitav Ghosh
Why I Cook, by Tom Colicchio (forthcoming October 31, 2024)
Young Changemakers: Scaling Agroecology Using Video in Africa and India, by Paul Van Mele, Savitri Mohapatra, Laura Tabet, and Blessings Fao
You can learn more about these books—and where to read them—by clicking here.
What bold steps have you taken or encouraged others to take to help combat the climate crisis and build a more sustainable food system? Share some ideas with me at [email protected].
And if you’re feeling a bit hopeless or stuck on what you could do to make a difference, send me an email too. Trust me, I totally understand that feeling. As I always say, each and every one of us has unique skills and a vital role to play in creating a better future—so reach out, and let’s brainstorm.
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Photo courtesy of EqualStock, Unsplash
