Jude Medeiros spoke to Food Tank about her efforts to shift the norms within the food value chain by eliminating food waste.

To change the world, “eat what you buy, and stop buying more than you’ll eat”

Jude Medeiros, Regional Vice President for Sodexo, is inspired to teach a new generation of sustainability advocates to create sustained change within the food system.

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Global food security and agricultural development leader and advocate Sam Dryden has passed away at age 67.

Thought Leaders

Remembering Sam Dryden: Global Leader in Food Security and Agricultural Development

Global food security and agricultural development leader and advocate Sam Dryden has passed away at age 67.

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Carlotta Mast discusses food access, the Esca Bona conference’s 2017 focus.

Climate Change

Carlotta Mast on Food Access, Industry Collaboration, and Food System Change at Esca Bona 2017

Carlotta Mast, Executive Director of Content and Insights at New Hope Network, discusses food access, food system change, and the importance of industry collaboration in preparation for Esca Bona 2017 in October.

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Food Security

Focus on Food: A Conversation with Congressman Dwight Evans

Congressman Dwight Evans of Pennsylvania details his work on food security in America and the importance of strong food policy both domestically and internationally in a conversation with Food Tank.

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Op-Ed

Africa Needs Better Farm Policy—Not Better Farmers

I’ve recently spent several weeks in Malawi, and for about 15 years I have been working with colleagues on measuring the impacts of agricultural input use in Africa. With American budget cuts looming, I spent some of my time overseas…

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Poverty

Insights from Tracking Promises: Guatemala

Malnutrition levels comparable to Malawi, hazard risk exposure greater than Haiti, and lower-middle-income status. These perplexing conditions mark the country of Guatemala, the wealthiest country served by the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative Feed the Future.

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Op-Ed

Free from Debt and Suicide: India’s Natural Farmers

Ashlesha Khadse’s friends in Bangalore’s hi-tech boom are sometimes envious of her work. It’s true that they have their weekends free, but being immersed in a David and Goliath fight for a fair food system seems like pretty meaty stuff.…

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Recently, Sri Lanka experienced the worst flooding in 14 years, brought on by monsoon rains across southwestern portions of the country which have affected an estimated 684,000 people, according to the country’s U.N. Resident Coordinator. A total of 212 deaths had been confirmed and 79 people remained missing as of early June. The main cause for severe flooding was two rivers overflowing, particularly in the southern Galle and Kalutara. CNN reported that Ratnapura—63 miles southeast of the capital Colombo—experienced up to 453 millimeters (17.8 inches) of rain over just three days. Ratnapura was the district with the highest death count of any area, with 79 deaths. There, shops and houses remained submerged in 3 to 9 meters (10 to 30 feet) of water. As average rainfall begins to decrease, it’s replaced by concern about landslides, mainly in Ratnapura, Kalutara, Galle, Kegalle, Matara, Nuwara Eliya, and Hambanota districts. About 22,000 people remain temporarily displaced in 202 safe locations, while 2,500 houses have been destroyed and 15,890 are partially damaged, according to U.N. Resident Coordinator for Sri Lanka. The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) reported that the Government has released a grant of 166 million Sri Lankan rupees (nearly US$1,084,000) for the flood response. A total of 22 agencies are currently providing health, protection, education, food security, WASH, emergency shelter, Non-Food Items (NFIs), and early recovery activities in nine districts. U.N. Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) has set an Emergency Response Plan for US$22.7 million, which outlines the support between U.N. agencies and NGOs. Meanwhile, some are pointing to a lack of prevention measures prior to these events. In a speech in Galle, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said “people who oppose prevention plans are the ones who cry hoarse when the floods occur” The Wire reports. International response has been prompt, as neighboring countries like India, Australia, Russia, China, and Bangladesh have provided assistance with the emergency and recovery operations. Rains have also hit Thailand, producing heavy rainfall and widespread flooding. Extreme weather caused these monsoon rains to be the worst to hit Sri Lanka since 2003. This comes just two months after nearly 900,000 people were affected by the country’s worst drought in 40 years, according to the World Food Programme (WFP), and were undergoing serious food insecurity and malnutrition.

Climate Change

Sri Lanka: From Drought to Flood in Less Than Two Months

Get a hold of Sri Lanka’s situation after its worst flooding in 14 years, measures being taken and what’s to come.

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Food Waste

Food Rescue: Helping the Earth and the Hungry

Boston-area organization Lovin’ Spoonfuls serves a dual mission: reduce food waste and feed the hungry. Lauren Palumbo, the organization’s COO talks with Food Tank about food rescue, the environment, and reducing our food waste footprints.

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Agriculture

Smart Food for a Global Population, an Interview with Joanna Kane-Potaka

The Smart Food Project is hoping to popularize nutrient-rich, drought-tolerant crops in an effort to diversify diets and ensure global food security. An initiative by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the Smart Food Project is…

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Op-Ed

Saving Lives and Livelihoods

Hunger weakens people to the extent that they cannot fight off even the simplest illness—a common cold can become a death sentence. In South Sudan, this is happening right now.

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Food Bank works towards systemic change to end hunger in San Francisco and Marin County.

Food Heroes

SF-Marin Food Bank: “We Can Do Better”

Teri Olle, Policy and Advocacy Director at SF-Marin Food Bank, emphasizes the importance of collaboration in order to end food insecurity and hunger in San Francisco and Marin County, where 1 in 4 residents need food assistance.

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Books + Films

New Book Examines Agroecology as the Future of Farming

The Institute for Food and Development Policy, a nonprofit known as Food First, released a new book entitled Fertile Ground: Scaling Agroecology from the Ground Up, edited by Groundswell International Executive Director and co-founder Steve Brescia. Fertile Ground presents nine innovative case…

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For the seventh year, the nonprofit organization Feeding America has conducted its Map the Meal Gap study to analyze how the need for charitable and federal nutrition assistance varies among communities across the country.

Food Security

Ross Fraser: “There is no one-size-fits-all solution to hunger”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that 42 million people, including 13 million children, in the United States were food insecure in 2015. While food insecurity rates have been declining since 2009, the last year of the Great Recession, food insecurity…

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A documentary film adapted from the book Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé and Anna Lappé launched on Kickstarter in May 2017.

Books + Films

Documentary to Highlight Those Finding Solutions to Hunger, Poverty, Landlessness

A documentary film adapted from the book Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé and Anna Lappé launched on Kickstarter in May 2017. Fifteen years after the book’s original publication in 2002, Luis Medina, a…

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Agriculture

The System of Rice Intensification’s Role in Hunger, Climate Change, and Communities

Norman Uphoff is the Senior Advisor for the SRI International Network and Resources Center (SRI-Rice), a program at Cornell University engaged with the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), which is a climate-smart, yield-increasing agriculture methodology that is being utilized by…

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Business

Interview With Feedback Founder Tristram Stuart

Tristram Stuart and his organization Feedback are raising awareness about food waste, and making some delicious food along the way

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Food Heroes

20 Food Leaders Under 40

Whether they are combatting food waste, training the next generation of young farmers, or using media to capture the impacts of food production, these 20 food heroes are under 40 and actively shaking up today’s global and local food systems.

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Food Waste

A Global Effort to Fight Food Waste

The Slow Food Youth Network (SFYN) is bringing ugly produce, funk music, and food waste education together for the world’s largest food waste awareness event on April 29: World Disco Soup Day.

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The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) released a report about the impact of rapid urban growth on food security and nutrition.

Policy and Organizing

IFPRI Report Examines How to Feed a Rapidly Urbanizing Population

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has released its 2017 Global Food Policy Report. This year, it particularly focuses on ensuring food security in a world where two-thirds of the population is projected to live in urban centers by 2050.

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