Climate-resilient grains like pearl millet and sorghum can help subsistence farmers in Chad enjoy increased crop yields and better self-resilience.
Agriculture
Effects of U.S. Shutdown Widen Throughout the Food System
From reduced food inspections to a lapse in services for farmers, the shutdown’s effects are hitting more than just furloughed workers across the country.
Opinion | The Wrong Conversation about Trump’s Tariffs
Rather than focusing on how large corporate entities attempt to minimize tariff costs, our attention must be on how we restore democratic accountability to economic policymaking, especially when it concerns the social and ecological sustainability of food systems.
How Native American Diets Benefit From Tucson’s Indigenous Seed Bank
In Tucson, Arizona, the nonprofit Native Seeds/SEARCH maintains a ‘library’ full of heritage seeds indigenous to the Southwestern US and Mexico. Several distribution programs return these seeds to Native Americans who historically incorporated the crops in their daily diets.
Rural Migration and the Changing Face of Agriculture
Rather than a crisis, the FAO views rural migration as critical for our food system and levelling out global inequalities. Better policies are needed, however, to maximize its benefits while minimizing its harmful effects.
Uniting African Farmers Through Social Media
A small farmer in Eastern Kenya is unifying thousands of farmers throughout Kenya using social media to address their plight, and provide a platform to learn from one another.
Bigger Data, Smaller Farms: The Role of Big Data in Sustainable Intensification
Sustainable intensification is one of the areas of agricultural research that is being transformed by Big Data. Through initiatives like the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture, researchers are helping farmers create complex accounting systems for their farms and increase productivity while decreasing the environmental impact of farming.
119 Organizations Shaking Up the Food System in 2019
2018 was a great year for Food Tank, but 2019 will be even better! Check out the 119 organizations we’re excited to grow alongside in the coming year.
Let’s Make More Without Doing Harm to Environment Says Pretty
On Food Talk, author and sustainability advocate Jules Pretty talks about combining efficient food production with care for the planet in sustainable intensification.
Future Family Farmers Help Communities Grow
Niman Ranch farmers Chris and Joan Scheer of Lowden, IA are revamping generations of farming tradition: switching to sustainable practices for the sake of future generations.
UN Backs Seed Sovereignty in Landmark Peasants’ Rights Declaration
The Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and other People Working in Rural Areas, which was the product of some 17 years of diplomatic work led by the international peasant alliance La Via Campesina, formally extends human rights protections to farmers whose “seed sovereignty” is threatened by government and corporate practices.
“We All Have to Be Open to Innovations in Food,” Says Sam Kass
“We need a pretty broad and ongoing shift in cultural norms around what we’re eating for our health and for environmental sustainability,” says Sam Kass on this week’s Food Talk.
Ways Forward to Step Up Soil Carbon and Meet Paris Pledges
One-third of carbon emissions are absorbed by the earth’s biosphere. After forests, agricultural lands and wetlands have the most potential to do this. A panel of experts convened at COP24 last week to discuss ways in which this potential can be realized.
Training Youth Key to Growing African Agriculture
For CORAF, training youth is not just a matter of preparing for the rising age of researchers or increasing unemployment, but a matter of enhancing the food system as a whole.
Reckless Soy Expansion Engulfs Tropical Savanna
Nearly three million hectares of natural vegetation in the Cerrado have been stripped for soy production since 2000. Beyond disrupting water systems and threatening the soy business, habitat destruction is destroying life in the most biodiverse tropical savanna region in the world.
A Conversation About Artificial Intelligence and Technology in Food Systems
Experts in agriculture, artificial intelligence, and technology sit down to discuss the current and future role of tech in agriculture. Former Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack opens the discussion.
Through Regenerative Agriculture, Dr. Bronner’s Is Setting a New Example
“We want to make sure that everyone who is involved in the production of our raw materials… that those lives are being respected and that labor is not being exploited,” says David Bronner on Food Talk.
2018 Food Tank San Diego Summit: Science–Ag–Tech Connect
At the 2018 San Diego Food Tank Summit, Michelle Lerach, Josh Henretig, Ryland Engelhart, and more talk about the possibilities of science, agriculture, and technology for the future of sustainability.
Alfalfa, Queen of Forages: Reconquering the Grasslands of Inner Mongolia
Alfalfa, “queen of forages,” a high-yielding crop with high nutritional quality, could make a big difference in the lives of the rural folk that carve out a living in Inner Mongolia.
Wisconsin Nonprofit Re-Imagines Traditional CSAs
“[Our] goal is to grow a resilient local food community for organic farms,” says Layne Cozzolino, Executive Director of Farmshed, the nonprofit putting a spin on Wisconsin CSAs.
