“Earlene Cruz is on a mission to make people hungry for climate action every time they sit down to eat. Cruz is the Founder and Executive Director of Kitchen Connection Alliance, an entity that seeks to improve systems for growing and distributing food worldwide. She was at COP27 last November to launch the Cookbook in SupportContinue reading “A recipe for change: The Cookbook In Support of The United Nations – For People and Planet”
Category Archives: Biodiversity
Healthy food and health: The role of pollinators and urban gardening
In a recent study by Smith et al. (2022) published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers “calculated that 3%–5% of fruit, vegetable, and nut production is lost due to inadequate pollination, leading to an estimated 427,000 (95% uncertainty interval: 86,000, 691,000) excess deaths annually from lost healthy food consumption and associated diseases. Modeled impactsContinue reading “Healthy food and health: The role of pollinators and urban gardening”
Ultra-processed foods should be central to global food systems dialogue and action on biodiversity
A recent commentary article published BMJ Global Health (2022) points out that, “The global industrial food system and consequent rapid rise of ultra-processed foods is severely impairing biodiversity. Yet although the impacts of existing land use and food production practices on biodiversity have received much attention, the role of ultra-processed foods has been largely ignored.Continue reading “Ultra-processed foods should be central to global food systems dialogue and action on biodiversity“
Scientists offer blueprint for sustainable redesign of food systems
A new perspective article published in the journal Nature Sustainability describes food systems designed not by the logic of growth such as efficiency and extraction, but by principles of sufficiency, regeneration, distribution, commons, and care. It argues that food systems can instead be the foundation of healthy communities, ecologies, and economies. “For this agenda-setting article,Continue reading “Scientists offer blueprint for sustainable redesign of food systems”
Why beans? For people and the planet
“The possibilities for positive change in our food systems are endless! With focused and coordinated action we have the potential to create a more sustainable, resilient planet that provides good food for all.” See: Good Food for All – https://www.goodfood4all.org/ “Unfortunately, as cost, conflict, COVID, and climate continue to negatively impact the rates of hungerContinue reading “Why beans? For people and the planet”
Parts of the world are heading toward an insect apocalypse, study suggests
“Extreme land use combined with warming temperatures are pushing insect ecosystems toward collapse in some parts of the world, scientists reported Wednesday. The study, published in the journal Nature, identified for the first time a clear and alarming link between the climate crisis and high-intensity agriculture and showed that, in places where those impacts are particularly high, insectContinue reading “Parts of the world are heading toward an insect apocalypse, study suggests”
The secret to better coffee? The birds and the bees: new research
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220404152702.htm “A groundbreaking new study finds that coffee beans are bigger and more plentiful when birds and bees team up to protect and pollinate coffee plants. Without these winged helpers, some traveling thousands of miles, coffee farmers would see a 25% drop in crop yields, a loss of roughly $1,066 per hectare of coffee. That’sContinue reading “The secret to better coffee? The birds and the bees: new research“
Biodiversity effects of food system sustainability actions from farm to fork
In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers simulated the potential effects of dietary shifts and food waste reduction on the biodiversity impacts of food consumption in the United States. The authors found that “[a]dopting the [EAT-Lancet] Planetary Health diet or the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)–recommended vegetarian dietContinue reading “Biodiversity effects of food system sustainability actions from farm to fork”