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.
Farmers
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.
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.
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.
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.
Opinion | Indigenous Gardens Boost Food Sovereignty in Canada
Indigenous people in Canada face deep food insecurity; but the Ontario Indigenous Neighbours program from the Mennonite Central Committee is cultivating passions for gardening, and as a result, food sovereignty.
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.
2018 San Diego Food Tank Summit: Farming for A Better Food System Panel
Farmers talk labor, climate, change, and new agricultural ideas from young people in the 2018 San Diego Food Tank Summit “Farming for a Better Food System” panel.
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.
The Growing Case for Returning to Cover Crops and Small Grains in the Midwest
While baby steps such as cover cropping are getting the Midwest closer to protecting their water and soil, more needs to be done to revive soil and water health.
A Woman’s Place: Voices from the Field
When the National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) surveyed more than 3,500 farmers under 40 in 2017, 60 percent of the farmer respondents were women. And in 2012, the USDA Census of Agriculture found that 14 percent of principal farm operators were women, a nearly 300 percent increase since 1978, when it began counting women as farmers.
“Food Has to Be Really Good For Everyone Involved in the Food Chain”
On Food Talk, Sara Brito talks about what better food means for the food system: “to be really good, food has to be really good for everyone involved in the food chain.”
The Fate of a USDA Program That Helps Small Farms Survive Is Uncertain
A USDA study found businesses that received VAPG grants were significantly more likely to succeed compared to similar businesses that did not, and created more jobs. As U.S. farmers face unique economic challenges, the VAPG program may be discontinued.
Helping Farmers Means Working With Them Against Poverty
CORAF’s Research Program on Priority Agricultural Sectors deploys new varieties of maize to producers to prepare them for climate change, strengthen value chains, and lift communities out of poverty.
“Know That We’re Interconnected” In Fighting Farmer Poverty, Says Theyer
On “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg,” Executive Director of Fairtrade America Hans Theyer talks about what it takes to support the faces behind the world’s food.
“Our Motivation Wasn’t Just Organic: It Was Saving Family Farms”
On Food Talk, George Siemon, CEO of Organic Valley, talks about what drives the co-op: an exciting mission, love for organic, and care for farmers and their communities.
Can Measuring Evaporation Help Farmers Save Water?
Farmers often rely on rainfall estimates from radar stations to effectively manage their crops. But what if those estimates are wrong? Scientists from the University of Missouri are developing new weather models that account for evaporation in order to improve rainfall measurements.
Creating a Data Democracy in Agricultural Research
Could making agricultural data open and accessible to everyone open the door to greater impact and better food system solutions?
