Our global capacity to achieve food security will strongly depend on how crops and agroecosystems will be impacted by climate change. Unfortunately, rising levels of atmospheric CO2 will have more negative than positive effects on our food systems.
Plants
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.
Greening Uganda: Restoring Native Forest Cover To Increase Local Resilience
The Native Seeds Project is providing local farmers and refugee communities with sustainable nutrition and increasing their resilience to climate change.
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.
World Soil Day: Soil Health is Key to Environmental and Human Health
“Land and soils constitute the foundation for sustainable agricultural development, essential ecosystem functions, and food security,” according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). “They are key to sustaining life on Earth.”
Opinion | Cutting Waste & Keeping Food Fresh with Packaging Made from Plants
“New innovative plant-based packaging materials are finally catching up, bridging the gap between consumer demand and business practicality.”
15 Organizations Creating Edible Landscapes
Edible perennials make parks and backyards more beautiful, ecologically resilient, and productive. These 15 organizations are creating edible landscapes around the world.
“It Is Our Goal That Volunteers Leave Our Gardens Empowered to Do More” says Shane Tippett
A creative partnership between Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens and Kroger brings sustainable, organic gardening methods and hunger relief to a community in need.
A New Breed of Plant-Based Protein Aims to Compete on Meat-Centric Menus
The Beyond Burger, a new plant-based burger, has won fans from both vegetarian and vegan eaters as well as traditional meat eaters.
At the Butchers Club in Hong Kong, this new trend suggests a growing market for plant-based protein on traditionally meat-centric menus.
Digging Deeper: Annie’s Connects their Products to Healthy Soil
Annie’s unveils new programs in regenerative agriculture for improving soil health, fighting climate change, and connecting customers to the source of their food.
Revealing Food’s Hidden Costs: New Framework for Food and Agriculture
Culminating over a decade of research by dozens of experts, the TEEB for Agriculture & Food (TEEBAgriFood) Scientific and Economic Foundations report evaluates the impacts of the value chain, from farm to fork to disposal, including effects on livelihoods, the environment, and health.
Opinion | Global Agriculture Fund that is Reducing Hunger, Threatened by Trump
The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program has a proven track record for reducing poverty in Nepal and other countries where food security is a critical issue. Now, the future of this program is in danger as the Trump administration reconsiders the commitment of the United States to multilateral policies.
Can Organic Soil Help Mitigate Climate Change?
A new study comparing the carbon sequestering potential of organic soil vs. soil from conventional farming reveals that organic soil is able to store significantly larger amounts of carbon for longer. Can organic farming help combat climate change?
Camel Meat: From the Australian Outback to the American Midwest
Over the last twenty years, an spike in immigration from Somalia has had a surprising outcome for the American food system: an increased market for camel meat. This article explores the intricate connections for food economics that underlie this new market.
The Bitter and Sweet: Dispatch from the 2018 World Cocoa Conference
The cocoa and chocolate sector convened at the World Cocoa Conference to discuss the future of the crop we love. Learn key insights on sustainability in the sector from conference moderator, Simran Sethi.
Fusarium Wilt Disease Threatens Worldwide Banana Supply
Bananas are one of the world’s most popular fruits and more than 400 million people depend on banana crops for their livelihood. But a new strain of a destructive disease, Fusarium wilt, threatens the global banana supply.
Agroecology: A Path to Sustainable Development
FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva writes about the importance of agroecology to put forward sustainable food systems that offer health, nutritious and accessible food for all, ecosystem services, and climate resilience.
Soil Microbes “Key to the function of agricultural systems”
Dr. Kristine Nichols is a Soil Microbiologist. Her research focuses on the microbes living in soil and how to make soil more productive.
Lynsi Burton: On Writing, Food Policy, and a Meat-Free Lifestyle
Lynsi Burton opens up about a meat-free lifestyle, food waste, and food policies that can help build a better food system.
To Save Family Farms, We Must Oppose Monsanto-Bayer Merger
The pending Monstanto-Bayer merger will increasingly limit farmers choices while increasing the price of required agricultural inputs. Congressional candidate Austin Frerick is out to right this wrong, restore competition within the market, and save family farms.
