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SESYNC Senior Fellow Lisa Palmer recently published this blog in Scientific American.
Feeding a Hot, Hungry Planet
Creating sustainable food systems in the face of a changing climate isn't easy—but innovators around the world are making real progress
We need to move beyond thinking about the environment—our land, water and air—only as a source of inputs for the food system. Instead we need to recognize that global environmental changes can diminish yields, reduce the amount of food we produce, and affect how nutritious it is and where we produce it.
But just how does the experience of change prompt food systems actors and institutions to work toward solutions?
Weather extremes and environmental shocks, for instance, will likely occur more frequently in the future. In California, the multi-year drought and recent lifting of the drought emergency after a heavy rain and snow year has had a cascade of lingering effects, calling for greater management of both extremes and making water conservation “a way of life” by executive order. The four objectives of California’s new management plan include educational and policy nudges such as using water more wisely, eliminating water waste, strengthening local drought resilience and water holding capacity, and improving agricultural water use efficiency and drought planning.
Read the rest of the blog at Scientific American.
Image Credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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