Strengthening the land—and the people who steward it—is central to creating a more resilient and nourishing future, farmers and food system leaders said during a Climate Week NYC event convened by Food Tank and the American Farmland Trust.
“Land, practices, people: It all comes together, with each building off of one another,” says John Piotti, President and CEO of American Farmland Trust. But, as panelists discussed, the U.S. Congress has still not passed an updated Farm Bill, a reminder of the challenges that remain in supporting a transition to climate-smart agricultural practices.
This point was underscored by John Kerry, the 68th U.S. Secretary of State and former Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, who has helped negotiate major global climate initiatives including the Paris Agreement. Secretary Kerry spoke about the importance of bringing facts and science back into global climate discussions, which cannot become a partisan disagreement.
“We have the best ingenuity in the world, (but) what we don’t have is the best politics,” Kerry says.
Watch the full livestreamed Summit, “Climate Resilience through Agriculture,” on Food Tank’s YouTube channel.
“We talk a lot about productivity in American agriculture, but we don’t talk about resiliency enough—and they’re not the same thing,” says Klaas Martens, Farmer and Owner of Lakeview Organic Grain and the Klaas and Mary-Howell Martens Farm.
“Biodiversity is our real crop insurance,” he continues.
For young people who want to pursue a career in agriculture, working on a farm can provide invaluable training—but in many cases, a job as a farmworker means poor wages and benefits and difficult working conditions, panelists said. Only when farmworkers are able to attain economic security can they apply their knowledge and help safeguard biodiversity.
When we talk about supporting the next generation of farmers, we also have to talk about farmworkers,” says Mary Claire Whelan, Farm Manager of Massaro Community Farm. “There’s just no world where you can be working for that pay on a farm while saving up what you need to start your own business. So we’re losing really skilled, really wise farmworkers.”
The role of land in mitigating the climate crisis extends beyond food production, too. Climate-smart methods of food production and energy production are closely intertwined, and a technique called agrivoltaics highlights this important—and often overlooked—facet.
“It turns out the best land for solar (energy) tends to be the best land for growing food,” says Ethan Winter, National Smart Solar Director at American Farmland Trust.
Food companies have a role to play too, especially in sourcing, panelists said. Farms that adopt regenerative organic practices should represent the path forward, says Paul Lightfoot, General Manager of Patagonia Provisions. Connecting companies with climate-smart producers is a useful role for nonprofit organizations, says Jeff Tkach, CEO of the Rodale Institute.
Adopting climate-smart strategies can feel risky for some corporations, but transparency is crucial to sharing best-practices and encouraging food businesses to do the right thing.
“We don’t have time for every company to make the same mistakes,” says Dorothy Shaver, Global Food Sustainability Director at Unilever. “t’s important to share our mistakes so other companies can skip that step.”
And all of us—companies, farmers, nonprofit leaders, even creative folks like filmmakers—need to get involved in telling the story of how land is at the forefront of building a more sustainable future.
“We’ve never had a clearer vision about the solutions,” says Oliver English, Co-Founder of Common Table Creative. “We, as storytellers, need to dial up our work and elevate the work of farmers and food companies.”
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Photo by Ryan Rose for Food Tank.
