A group of scientists won the 2017 Olam Prize for Innovation in Food Security for applying advanced breeding techniques to strains of primitive and modern wheat to develop a set of durum wheat varieties that can not only withstand constant 35 to 40 degree Celsius (95 to 104 degree Fahrenheit) heat, but also grow remarkably fast, in only 92 days.
Agriculture
25 Children’s Books Growing Young Minds
Food Tank has compiled a list of 25 children’s books to nourish inquisitive young minds and encourages children’s creativity and participation in building healthier food systems.
New Video Series Explores Local Food Initiatives Across North America
This 10-part documentary series highlights the work of the farmers, small-businesses, and food advocates that are building stronger and healthier food communities. Read about this filmmaker’s experience of traveling 4,800 kilometers from Monterrey, Mexico, to Toronto, Canada, interviewing the heroes of North American local food.
India’s Public Stockholding: “Much more than a welfare program”
India’s food security and stockholding program uses precisely the same policies that the U.S. used in its early farm policy coming out of the Great Depression. Exactly the same: price supports, food reserves, administered markets, subsidies. The U.S. government used them because they work. India and other countries should be allowed to use them, too. Because they work.
WTO and Food Security: Biting the Hand that Feeds the Poor
India’s National Food Security Act (NFSA), is one of the most ambitious food security initiatives in the world, planning to buy food grains from small-scale farmers to distribute to some 840 million poor Indians, two-thirds of the country’s people.
France Takes Top Spot in 2017 Food Sustainability Index
The Food Sustainability Index, developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Foundation, ranks 34 countries according to their food system sustainability.
Building A Better Future Through Agroforestry
BCFN Alumni Achmad Solikhin is embedding agroforestry education into Indonesia’s school curriculum and helping to build the next generation of food leaders.
BCFN Award Recognizes Young Food System Researchers
This year’s winners are researching food security and interventions to improve mother/child health in Lebanon and integrated pest management to lower negative rice production impacts.
13 Soil Scientists to Watch
To celebrate World Soil Day, Food Tank is highlighting 13 soil scientists from around the globe working to better understand soils and promote practices for maintaining healthy, fertile lands.
Food Fight: the Battle Over Sri Lankan Food Production
Once known as ‘the granary of the East’, Sri Lanka’s food production has suffered over recent decades, with civil war, natural disaster, and failed policy all contributing to a fall in domestic food production and a rise in imports. In 2016, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena published an ambitious three-year agricultural plan to build a ‘toxin-free nation.’ The plan reimagines the country’s agricultural future based on the principles of agroecology: an approach which prioritizes sustainable and people-centered practices over corporate profit.
Food Network Chef Justin Warner Talks Food System, Sustainability, Tiny Cabbage
Food Tank talks with Food Network chef Justin Warner about sustainability, cooking around the world, and how Food Network avoids wasting ingredients.
BCFN Eighth International Forum On Food and Nutrition
The BCFN Forum is an international platform bringing together policymakers, the scientific community, the private sector, and civil society to share knowledge, analysis, and best practices in sustainable food and agriculture.
Bananageddon Film Examines How to Save America’s Favorite Fruit
America’s favorite fresh fruit, bananas, face extinction as we know them. New documentary examines how a shift in agriculture can save bananas and the workers who produce them.
Young Farmers Conference Emphasizes Equality
The 10th Annual Young Farmers Conference is bringing together more than 300 farmers, chefs, and leaders in the food and agriculture movement to discuss an equitable and resilient way forward for agriculture.
15 Gleaning Initiatives Fighting Food Waste
With 133 billion pounds of food ending up in landfills, gleaning organizations across the country are working with farmers to help fight food waste and food insecurity.
Vote With Your Turkey: How Your Holiday Purchase Can Save Lives
Americans eat approximately 40 million turkeys on Thanksgiving and another 22 million for Christmas. Consumers have an opportunity this holiday season to help move turkey producers away from misusing life-saving medicines.
The Tea Industry: A Model for a Sustainable Future
First discovered 5,000 years ago in China, tea is the most consumed beverage in the world, besides water, and more than half of Americans drink tea on a daily basis. Consumers are increasingly demanding fair trade, organic practices, and sustainable farming.
Fighting Hunger Through Aquaponics
INMED Partnerships for Children has adopted an innovative and sustainable food production technique known as aquaponics, combining aquaculture (fish farming) with hydroponics (soilless crop production).
Julie Kunen Discusses the Food Revolution in the Amazon
The Rainforest to Table initiative is shaking up the world of conservation. Learn how chefs, conservationists, and communities across Latin America are working together to tackle the biggest problems in our food system.
Artificial Intelligence in the Food Industry: Empowering Farmers’ Decision-Making
Can artificial intelligence save our food system? In the final piece of her three-part series, Chiara Cecchini investigates the main challenges and opportunities of this niche, exploring how we might use artificial brains leverage to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being.
