Even before the Russian army crossed into Ukraine, food prices had been on the rise for the past year. But the world has seen large jumps in the cost of food over the the last two months. By Alfons Weersink, University of Guelph and Michael von Massow, University of Guelph The Conversation Globally, food is […]
The threat that climate change poses to human well-being and the health of the planet is “unequivocal”, says the latest report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In this in-depth Q&A series, Carbon Brief unpacks the key findings of the report and the developments since the IPCC’s last assessment. (Read previous section here) By […]
Planting season for corn and soybeans across the U.S. will begin as soon as March in Southern states and then move north. As farmers plant, they will deploy vast quantities of insecticides into the environment, without ever spraying a drop. John F. Tooker, Penn State The Conversation Almost every field corn seed planted this year […]
The conversion of forests to agricultural land is happening at a mind-boggling speed. Between 2015 and 2020, the rate of deforestation was estimated at around 10 million hectares every year. Compared to 2012, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is predicting a massive increase in agricultural demand of 50% by 2050. In South America, […]
If you’ve pumped gas at a U.S. service station over the past decade, you’ve put biofuel in your tank. Thanks to the federal Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS, almost all gasoline sold nationwide is required to contain 10% ethanol – a fuel made from plant sources, mainly corn. With the recent rise in pump prices, […]
Coming into COP26 in Glasgow, nature was expected to feature heavily at the summit – one-fourth of UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s mantra of “coal, cars, cash and trees”. Food systems – despite the growing recognition of their role as both a source of and solution to climate change – were not so prominently featured on […]
Sejal Choksi-Chugh, Executive Director of the San Francisco Baykeeper, believes that “it’s nuts” to ask California’s urban water users to voluntarily reduce water use while allowing almond, walnut, and pistachio growers to use big amounts of water during a record drought. By Dan Bacher On July 15, Governor Gavin Newsom added nine counties to the regional drought state of emergency and […]
I have a gold medal show for you, listeners. Today’s guest is Bart Hansen, the founder and owner of Dane Cellars, a winery in Sonoma Valley, California. With a lifelong passion for fine wine, Bart became a winemaker early on in his career. Then in 2007 he and his wife opened their own place where they make […]
There’s a new policy to fight climate change: incentives given to farmers to plant cover crops to extract carbon out of the air. Such cover crops are able to extract carbon out of the air and into the soil. Once in the soil, the carbon acts as an exceptionally good fertilizer for consumer crops to […]
Currently, no federal policy exists that encourages or provides resources to mobilize a national composting effort, though several states do have policies that support and recognize the benefits of composting. Furthermore, The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not yet recognize composting as an approved conservation practice, thus rendering composting ineligible for USDA conservation program funding and […]
The world faces a growing food systems crisis. The number of people who go to sleep hungry around the world grew by over 100 million in 2020. Obesity rates are up too, having tripled since 1975. Food supply chains continue to be disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change — and commodity-driven deforestation remains a […]
As the effects of climate change intensify and paths for limiting global warming narrow, politicians, media and environmental advocates have rallied behind “carbon farming” as a mutually beneficial strategy for society, the environment and farmers. By Laura van der Pol, Colorado State University; Dale Manning, Colorado State University; Francesca Cotrufo, Colorado State University, and Megan […]
Palm oil is everywhere today: in food, soap, lipstick, even newspaper ink. It’s been called the world’s most hated crop because of its association with deforestation in Southeast Asia. But despite boycott campaigns, the world uses more palm oil than any other vegetable oil – over 73 million tons in 2020. By Jonathan E. Robins, […]
Led by sponsors Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), the Growing Climate Solutions Act has achieved a major milestone: passage in the U.S. Senate. This week the bill came up for a floor vote and was passed with a vote of 92 to 8. By Flannery Winchester Citizens’ Climate Lobby This legislation recognizes […]
President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan proposes to spend US$16 billion plugging old oil and gas wells and cleaning up abandoned mines. But there’s no authoritative measure of how many of these sites exist across the nation. By Matthew D. Moran, Hendrix College The Conversation In a recent study, my colleagues and I sought to account […]