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A recent study from Yuka and Harvard Law School’s Food Law and Policy Clinic finds that in the United States, cheap foods are more likely to contain ingredients that negatively impact health compared to more expensive products. The report recommends policies to regulate food safety, hold food companies accountable, and improve public health.

The study analyzed more than 800 packaged foods sold nationwide in the U.S. to determine how a product’s price relates to its nutritional quality. The least expensive products contain 163 percent more additives, 21 percent more sugar, and 10 percent more sodium than the most expensive ones. Some products also contain ingredients that are banned in other countries, according to the report.

“Healthy eating cannot simply be framed as an individual responsibility…without acknowledging the structural realities of the food system,” Julie Chapon, Co-Founder of Yuka, a consumer health app, tells Food Tank.

The products span the 12 most popular processed food categories in the Yuka app that are sold nationwide in major U.S. grocery retailers. Examples include store-bought bread, breakfast cereal, pizza, crackers, cereal bars, and tortilla wraps. The report finds that the products in each category can vary greatly in terms of nutritional quality.

“Most people believe that some types of food are generally healthy and others—like desserts or snack products—are not,” Emily Broad Leib, Director of the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic, tells Food Tank. She points to store-bought bread as an example, with the cheapest breads containing four times more additives than the most expensive ones. While many consumers view bread as a healthy part of their diet, the ingredients can vary widely between loaves.

“Even basic staples can be either fairly healthy or heavily engineered, and price is quietly pushing lower-income families toward the latter,” says Broad Leib. These findings demonstrate the nutrition inequity embedded in the U.S. food system and help explain the more than US$1 trillion a year spent on diet-related diseases, according to the report.

One of the major hurdles to overcoming these challenges is the generally recognized as safe (GRAS) exemption. The loophole allows companies to self-certify and introduce new ingredients into the U.S. food supply without U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notification or review. The report says, “99 percent of new food chemicals introduced since 2000 have bypassed federal oversight.” These novel substances are rarely reviewed by the FDA after entering the market.

The study recommends reforming the food oversight and safety system that allows for this to happen. These include amending the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) to remove the GRAS loophole and require FDA review of new substances. It suggests systematic reassessments and monitoring of food additive ingredients within the food supply, placing limits on specific substances, improving transparency in flavoring ingredients, and requiring the disclosure of ingredient processing and sources.

The report also states that there is a need for policies to reduce consumer exposure to high-risk additives and ultra-processed foods (UPFs). These include banning these ingredients in schools, reforming food procurement within institutional settings, and utilizing tax credits to incentivize product reformulation without these ingredients.

The authors hope that these policy recommendations, along with public pressure, will push companies to reformulate their products and create a more equitable food system. “Healthier food should not be a luxury,” says Chapon, “Public health protections must evolve to better reflect today’s food environment.”

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Each week, Food Tank is rounding up a few news stories that inspire excitement, infuriation, or curiosity.

More Schools Adopt Community Eligibility to Address Child Hunger

A new study from the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) finds that a record number of schools used a federal meal service option to tackle child hunger in the 2025-2026 school year. A reported 55,362 schools—2.1 percent more than the year prior—offered school meals through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which allows high-need schools to provide breakfast and lunch at no charge to all students. Three quarters of eligible schools have adopted CEP, an option FRAC calls a “key step towards Healthy School Meals for All.”

“More schools are demonstrating that offering healthy school meals to every student at no charge is a game changer for children, families, and schools,” says Crystal FitzSimons, President of FRAC.

To maintain progress, FRAC is calling on the administration to reverse cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Program. CEP eligibility is tied to the number of children who qualify for free school meals — a certification process that is based on SNAP participation. FizSimons worries that without action to undo SNAP cuts, “the progress we have made on Healthy School Meals for All could unravel.” 

What We’re Missing About the Cyclospora Outbreak

A former U.S. Food and Drug Administration official argues that a number of the Trump-Vance administration’s actions “actively undermine microbial food safety.”

In a recent op-ed in STAT, Susan Mayne, who previously served as Director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, worries that program cuts and policy delays are hurting efforts to monitor and respond to contaminants like cyclospora—the parasite linked to thousands of cases of foodborne illnesses across the country.

Mayne raises several concerns. FoodNet, a national foodborne illness surveillance program, has been updated to track fewer pathogens. Six, including cyclospora, have been eliminated from federal tracking. Efforts to improve traceability along the supply chain, which should have gone into effect by now, were delayed until 2028. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) closed an research facility in Beltsville, Maryland, where labs were working on a number of issues, including cyclospora. The administration also disbanded the National Advisory Committee on Microbiology Criteria in Food, which provided food safety advice to FDA and USDA. 

Mayne hopes that the cyclospora outbreak serves as a wake-up call so we don’t force eaters to choose between nutrition and food safety. She writes, “health is made possible when food safety supports consumer confidence in fruits and vegetables.”

The Climate Crisis to ‘Suck Soils Dry’ in Europe

Europe’s record-breaking heatwaves are driving high levels of water evaporation from rivers, lakes, soils, and plants, threatening farmers’ crops. At the same time, extreme wildfires are scorching parts of the region, with Spain and France seeing some of the driest soils.

Although droughts are typically linked to low rainfall, that doesn’t seem to be the case this time, suggesting that extreme heat, made worse by the climate crisis, is to play. Dominik Schumacher, a scientist at ETH Zurich who is behind a new analysis of Europe’s high temperatures, says that this “is our own doing.” He explains that as temperatures climb and air becomes hotter,” it will suck the soils dry.”

The trade association COCERAL estimates that 9 million tonnes of grain will be lost across the region. Additionally, France is expected to see the worst Maize harvest in the last 50 years and Romanian farmers may lose over 1 million hectares of crops. 

Mariam Zachariah, a researcher at Imperial College London and another co-author behind the analysis, says, “Without rapid, aggressive emissions cuts, Europe is heading for a future where these scorching, dry summers happen time and time again.”

Reversing Soil Degradation Can Feed an Additional 70 Million People

A new study in Nature Food finds that there are significant food security benefits if we can restore the Earth’s soils.

For the first time, researchers set out to quantify the effects of soil erosion and compaction, soil water deficits, as well as the loss of above ground vegetation cover and soil organic carbon on agricultural yields. Although these trends are threatening food security, there is also a real opportunity. 

According to the study, restoring soils by just 10 percent can produce enough food to feed an additional 70 million people. Project Drawdown Senior Scientist James Gerber, a co-author of the study, says that this reversal also “contributes to a virtuous cycle.” When soils are improved, it reduces pressure on the land, helping to avoid emissions from deforestation. 

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There’s a difference between ensuring that no one goes hungry and ensuring that every person can nourish their bodies with healthful food. Across the globe, we’re making progress on the first goal—but we still have a ways to go on the second.

Every year, we look to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, compiled by five United Nations agencies, as a checkpoint on global progress toward food security and healthy diets. This year’s report, analyzing 2025 data, was released last week.

Global hunger (sometimes referred to as “chronic undernourishment”) declined for the third year in a row last year, which is optimistic. That’s not something we can take for granted! An estimated 7.8 percent of the world’s population experienced hunger in 2025, down from 8.6 percent in 2022—or 43 million fewer hungry people worldwide. Although there are regional disparities in hunger levels, a downward trend from 2024 to 2025 was observed consistently across the board, including for the first time in a decade in Africa.

“I am taking these results as positive, despite of all the risk and uncertainties that this sector is facing, and let’s hope that we can cope even more with the next year’s problems,” Maximo Torero, Chief Economist for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), tells me on an episode of the Food Talk podcast.

Looking at the somewhat more complex metric of food security, which is more effective than hunger at accounting for people having to compromise on diet quantity or quality, we see similar trends but need a nuanced analysis. Yes, moderate and severe food insecurity levels also dropped in 2025, which is positive, but that number sits at 25.8 percent of the global population. Not only is that still higher than pre-pandemic numbers, but on a very basic level, it also means 1 in 4 human beings worldwide are not food-secure—which is morally unacceptable.

Broadly we’re moving in the right direction, though still far off from a previous target of ending global hunger by 2030. That goal, Maximo admitted, is now “close to impossible to achieve.” But I think he and I both agree: The global progress we’re seeing on hunger is firm proof that international collaboration works, and the slow pace only underscores the urgency of scaling up financing and implementation.

But as I mentioned, the SOFI report paints a more concerning picture regarding the affordability of healthy diets.

The number of people unable to afford healthy diets did decrease slightly last year compared to 2024. But within the past five years, the cost of a healthy diet has increased by 25 percent to around $4.28 (in purchasing power parity dollars, a metric that adjusts for cost-of-living and productivity across borders). Still, nearly one-third of the global population could not afford a healthy diet last year.

Maternal and child nourishment is also vastly insufficient, the report finds. Only 30.8 percent of children younger than 2 years old consume a minimally diverse diet, which is unbelievably tragic—and fully preventable.

The climate crisis is already hurting the food system, but in recent years, we’ve also seen global conflicts threaten to drive food prices even higher. As just one example cited in the report, the current conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran that resulted in the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has driven fuel and fertilizer prices up, and food costs have risen alongside.

With major global concerns already posed by climate change, the last thing we need is avoidable conflicts piling on even more pressure, Maximo told me.

“We are looking at more intense and frequent weather events like El Niño now, and therefore this sector needs to be prepared for this. If not, we will have a bigger challenge, and we will move backwards,” he says.

He later continued: “We need to minimize [human-made challenges]. We cannot have situations created by men when we have such a challenge right now in the world because of climate issues.”

So let’s talk solutions.

We need significant increases in public-sector and philanthropic investment and a greater willingness to participate in international collaboration and aid programs, especially from governments of powerful countries like the U.S.

There are more targeted efforts we can push for, too. Although animal products are also expensive, fresh fruits and vegetables make up about the largest share of the cost of healthy diets, about 40 percent. Focusing there, policymakers can more effectively support farmers with better subsidy programs and to facilitate access by improving seed quality, storage facilities, and roads for transporting crops. More regionalized, small-scale food chains can also help prioritize traditional crops at reasonable costs.

“It’s very important to put investment in development of local markets, and that includes indigenous foods, that includes nutritious foods,” Maximo Torero, the FAO chief economist, says.

He says we’re getting better at moving from “just in time” responses to “just in case” proactive solutions to instability. “But we need to keep working on that,” he says, “because resilience, at the end of the line is, how much can (we) absorb the shock and how little time will it take to recover.”

We should be seeing even more effort poured into improving the quality and accessibility of these climate-smart, resilient crops—and strong local markets for them!

I encourage you to take the time to check out my full conversation with Maximo—one of my favorite people for when I want to get into the nitty-gritty of global food policy—and even read through the SOFI report yourself.

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The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) advanced an agricultural research portfolio that built resilience, boosted yields, and shaped public policies. When the Trump-Vance administration dismantled it last year, their actions created a vacuum that former agency officials hope will be filled by well-intentioned supporters.

Before its closure, USAID’s funding fell into three main buckets. One share went to universities in the United States equipped for advanced agricultural research—some of which were home to the agency’s Feed the Future Innovation Labs, focused on advancing U.S. innovation leadership in agriculture and global food security. Another portion went to international research centers like the CGIAR network and World Vegetable Center, while a smaller chunk supported work in the private sector. 

“We viewed our investments in those three groups of partners in the context of a larger research ecosystem,” Jerry Glover, the former Deputy Director of the Center for Agriculture and Lead for Agricultural Research Strategy and Budget at USAID, tells Food Tank. “Most importantly,” he adds, “USAID had a wide range of highly skilled, world-recognized thought leaders.”

Rather than make isolated investments, the agency aimed to complement and fill in the gaps from funding from the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other institutions. Research covered everything from crop improvement and horticulture to livestock production and policy issues. 

Glover, who managed an annual portfolio of over US$100 million, saw how this work benefited some of the poorest regions of the world, helping farmers and their communities. The goal wasn’t to prescribe a pathway for individual producers, but to create opportunities that they could pursue to increase their yields. 

“There’s this ripple effect” when farmers’ productivity and livelihoods grow, Glover explains. “Greater local and regional production also greatly impacts local food prices in the market. When those come down…very poor people benefit the most.” 

This shift frees up funds for education and more, “laying the foundation for future improvement,” Glover tells Food Tank. “It’s one of the most robust development theories out there.”

USAID’s investments supported farmers domestically as well—a point often overlooked by critics of the agency. As demand grows abroad, it creates new export markets for U.S.-grown agricultural products. Lessons learned and crop varieties developed also helped prevent problems from becoming crises at home. 

As one example, Glover points to research done on sorghum, a crop that many farmers in the Great Plains rely on. Years ago, a pest decimated the crop, costing millions of dollars in losses. With the agency’s support, U.S. researchers worked with partners in Ethiopia to identify a gene that made sorghum strains more resistant to the bug. 

The result was a new variety of sorghum that U.S. farmers can grow without worrying as much about pest destruction. This single crop has led to savings of more than US$750 million per year, Glover says. 

For decades, investments like these saw broad bipartisan support. When the Trump-Vance administration took office and talk of gutting USAID began, “my first thoughts were that…it wouldn’t be possible to tear it down so quickly,” Glover tells Food Tank. But “they just wiped it out.” 

In the year since USAID’s official closure, Glover says that the research ecosystem has been “so disrupted.” The majority of the Innovation Labs closed, funding was cut off, programs ended, and trust with partners has been broken. He believes that there is no replacing the combination of resources and technical capacity USAID was able to offer, but there is still a way forward. 

The Food Security Leadership Council, where Glover now serves as a Distinguished Fellow, is providing guidance to bring back investments—including for research and development—that support global food security. He hopes that as funding returns, their recommendations will help researchers and development partners pick up where USAID left off without repeating mistakes or reinventing the wheel. 

Glover also sees a glimmer of hope: “I’m confident that we are seeing somewhat of a shift in the traditional donor support in the development arena that could have long-lasting positive impacts.” He also hopes that other governments, including middle-income nations, will support low-income countries and encourage them to increase investments in their agriculture sectors.

“I hope that that vacuum is filled with well-intentioned supporters, and not…by those wanting to extract more from low-income countries.”

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Diet shapes nearly every aspect of human well-being. It influences the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers as well as how we learn, think, feel, age, and function.

That critical connection between food and health was the theme of Food Tank’s Capitol Hill Luncheon on July 29, held in partnership with the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University, “The Power and Peril of Food: The Latest Science on Your Mood, Memory, Metabolism, and Longevity.” The discussions explored how diets rich in fruits, vegetables, and minimally processed foods may benefit mood and mental health, and how nutrition can influence memory, metabolism, and cognitive decline.

According to the National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation, about 6 in 10 Americans live with at least one chronic disease, creating significant health and economic burdens. In 2022, 90 percent of the US$4.5 trillion spent on health care in the United States was for individuals with chronic physical and mental health conditions. And American families feel the impact.

“For an average family of four, we spend US$50,000 a year on healthcare,” says Dariush Mozaffarian, Director of the Food is Medicine Institute. “Imagine if we spent just US$10,000 less per family, what that family could do or what the government could do with the US$10,000 a year, let alone US$20,000 less.”

Eric Verdin, MD, of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, described nutrition as a key influence on multiple systems in the body, serving as a signal to switch metabolic and repair pathways on or off.

“Many of us think about nutrition as a form of energy. Nutrition is actually a lot more than this…The choices that you make when you’re eating influence your metabolism and your brain,” says Verdin, who also connected diet to chronic inflammation and brain health. “What happens when you have a poor diet is you enter a state of chronic inflammation…This affects your brain.”

Ultra-processed foods were a major focus of discussion at the event, with speakers pointing to their prevalence in the American diet and potential connections to chronic disease and other health outcomes. Speakers agreed that more research is needed to understand what makes ultra-processed foods impact health and how the food system might pivot toward more nutritious options.

“Ultra-processed food represents 50 percent of nutrition for most Americans,” says Verdin. “These foods are not engineered for nutrition; they’re engineered for palatability and to make you eat more.”

Nutrition’s influence extends beyond physical health, too. Ashley Gearhardt, PhD, Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, says “some of the strongest evidence between ultra-processed food diets and disease is actually for mental health conditions…We are seeing a strong body of evidence that the food you’re eating is going to influence how your mind is working.”

Jan Ellison Baszucki, President of the Baszucki Group, shared a personal story highlighting the potential for metabolic approaches to address mental health conditions: Her son used a ketogenic diet to help treat bipolar disorder. She questioned whether the country is investing enough in research on the relationship between metabolism and mental health.

“Can we afford, as a society, to not investigate nutritional, metabolic approaches to our most serious mental illnesses?” says Baszucki.

Speakers also challenged the traditional approach to healthcare, arguing that prevention and nutrition should play a greater role. “We have a medical system now that we call healthcare. It is not healthcare, it is sickcare,” says Verdin.

The discussion comes as policymakers and the public are paying greater attention to the role of food in health. At a time when Americans disagree on many issues, speakers agreed that improving nutrition and reducing diet-related disease offers common ground.

“I’ve been thinking about active advocacy in this area for about 10 years, and I’ve never seen such bipartisan support,” says Mozaffarian.

Calley Means, Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, agreed that “wherever we are on the political aisle, we can all hopefully agree that there is a unique political moment right now where we are talking about these things more in this country.”

Speakers called for better data and research to understand how nutrition affects individuals differently, including using emerging technologies.

“The age of AI is here, and we should be implementing it to collect more accurate data to offer personalized solutions for some individuals, but also offer better research,” says Uma Naidoo, MD, Director of Nutritional & Lifestyle Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Ultimately, the event underscored the importance of turning scientific findings into policies and practices that can improve health at scale.

“There’s a handful of policies that we could enact to both improve the science and improve the food right now for Americans,” says Mozaffarian. He emphasizes that while much more investment is needed in science and solutions, “there really is an opportunity here, and we really can fix this.”

Watch the full event below:

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This article is part of Food Tank’s primer series, “Food Tank Explains.” Each installment unpacks the ideas, innovations, and challenges shaping today’s food and agriculture systems, offering clear insights into complex topics. To explore more articles in the series, click here.

Blue foods are foods harvested from water. They include fish, seafood, and seaweed—wild caught or farmed—and are derived from marine, freshwater, or aquaculture systems. They play an essential role in the livelihood, cultures, and nutrition of millions, and can strengthen global food security and support sustainable food systems.

Dating back over 100,000 years, harvesting blue foods is one of the earliest forms of food gathering. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 800 million people rely on blue foods for income, with wild capture fishing alone employing about 33 million people.

Blue foods are particularly significant to coastal, island, and river communities. In West African coastal nations, fishing supports 7 million livelihoods and generates US$5 billion annually. Pacific islands rely heavily on tuna revenues, which bring in US$7 billion each year. And for the 30 million coastal Indigenous peoples around the world, who eat four times more seafood than the global average, the ocean has sustained their livelihood for thousands of years.

For many aquatic communities, blue foods form a central part of cultural identity, shaping rituals, traditions, and daily life. In Batanes Province, Philippines, where researchers say fishing is far more than just a livelihood, some families relocate during fishing seasons to remain near important fisheries.

Communities in western Korea gather annually for Daedonggut to honor fishers who have died at sea and pray for a bountiful catch. Nigeria’s Argungu Fishing and Cultural Festival and Mali’s Antogo ceremony both center on communal fishing, celebration, and the sharing of harvests.

In Fiji, nearshore seagrass meadows historically enabled the women of Dawasamu to harvest aquatic foods for their community while remaining close to home. “Our food, medicine, and life came and continues to come from the ocean,” says Kii’iljuus Barbara Wilson of the Cumshewa Eagle Clan. “We are Ocean People.”

Aquatic foods provide nutrition to 3.3 billion people, contributing around 90 percent of protein intake in some communities. Many are rich in essential micronutrients—including iron, zinc, calcium, and vitamin A—and fatty acids. These nutrients support cognitive development, cardiovascular health, and immune function, and are linked to reduced rates of stunting, maternal and infant mortality, and heart disease.

They present “huge opportunities for better nutrition and healthier diets,” according to Jim Leape, Co-director of Stanford’s Center for Ocean Solutions, and a board member for the Blue Food Assessment (BFA).

Even small quantities can have a significant nutritional impact, Rosamund Naylor, a member of the BFA’s Science Committee, tells Food Tank. Fish increase micronutrient availability, Naylor explains, increasing the degree to which nutrients from other foods can be absorbed and utilized by the body.

As corporate consolidation reshapes much of the food system, the blue food sector remains largely operated by small-scale producers, providing about 40 percent of the global catch and generating US$77 billion annually. Small-scale fisheries rely heavily on women, who comprise half the sector’s workforce. Women support every stage, playing a crucial but often underdocumented role in harvesting and marketing.

Despite their substantial contribution to livelihoods and nutrition, blue food systems have even greater potential to strengthen global food security and mitigate the food system’s environmental impacts. Global fisheries recently produced 178 million tons of aquatic animals and 36 million tons of algae in one year, a record high. FAO projects that by 2030, those numbers could grow by 15 percent, a massive potential growth in the food supply.

And according to the U.N., most blue food systems provide animal-source protein with relatively low greenhouse gas emissions and impacts on biodiversity. Certain systems, like aquaculture of mussels and clams, can improve their environment.

But researchers and organizations, including the World Bank and the U.N., agree that without stronger governance and sustainable practices, blue foods could shift from an opportunity to an additional source of environmental strain.

Environmental changes threaten over 90 percent of blue food production, and fishing practices are depleting some of the world’s most important ocean stocks. A third of wild seafood populations cannot regenerate quickly enough to meet demand.

Aquatic food systems are also threatened by unsustainable fishing, according to the BFA. And they are rife with unethical practices, says Mark Kaplan, Co-Founder and Partner of the blockchain-based traceability system Wholechain.

“Integrity and supply chain stakeholders are not synonymous,” Kaplan tells Food Tank. “That’s why traceability is so necessary.” He believes that with greater transparency comes improved sustainability.

Integrating blue foods into policymaking alongside land-based foods offers another opportunity to strengthen these systems, blue foods advocates say. “I would like food policymakers to not think twice about including blue foods in food system strategies,” says Naylor. According to Chef and Advocate Andrew Zimmern, “we have to include our blue spaces everywhere that we’re talking about our green spaces.”

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Blue foods can be complex; consumers can easily be overwhelmed. With so many species, preparation methods, and marketing claims. Because of size, scale, and accessibility, the ocean remains a largely invisible part of the food system for many consumers. Not everyone can walk down to the dock and watch a local fisherman coming in with the catch of the day.

And yet, the importance of blue foods for people and the planet is simple: we must navigate complexities by educating consumers while encouraging science-based fishery management and transparent verification along the seafood supply chain.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) recent State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) 2026 report paints a complex but encouraging picture on the state of our wild capture fisheries. While overfishing persists as a serious global challenge—with the share of fish stocks classified as biologically sustainable declining slightly to 62.4 percent—the report also demonstrates that we already have a solution: sustainable management of fisheries.

The SOFIA report shows more than one-third of the global population gets at least one-fifth of their animal protein from blue foods. The report indicates that global trade in aquatic animal products reached $184 billion, rivaling the value of all other animal proteins combined.

Simultaneously, new data from the world’s largest survey of more than 20,500 seafood consumers revealed increased awareness and optimism about the state of the world’s oceans. The survey, done in partnership with the Marine Stewardship Council and GlobeScan, details environmental and seafood awareness and understanding from consumers in 23 countries.

The data show that consumers appear to increasingly understand the challenges and opportunities facing oceans and fisheries. While 58 percent of Americans correctly recognize that overfishing is more widespread today than it was 50 years ago, 17 percent believe fish populations can never recover from overfishing, and another 25 percent remain unsure.

The reality is that fish populations can and do recover when fisheries are managed sustainably. Around the world, there are countless examples of depleted fisheries rebuilding through science-based catch limits, strong monitoring programs, and collaboration among fishers, scientists, governments, and environmental organizations.

Seafood consumers have increased confidence that positive change is possible; 51 percent believe our oceans can be saved from irreparable damage over the next 20 years, up from 41 percent in 2024.

And consumers in the United States increasingly want to be part of that future. The survey found that 58 percent of U.S. seafood consumers say purchasing products with ecolabels aligns with their personal values. Participants report taking actions such as reducing plastic use and seeking seafood they believe to be sustainably sourced. Shoppers are increasingly noticing ecolabeled products, rising from 28 percent in 2024 to 40 percent in 2026. Awareness of the MSC blue fish label similarly increased from 28 percent to 35 percent.

As consumers navigate increasingly complex and crowded seafood aisles, independent certification and ecolabels help provide confidence that sustainability claims have been verified by a credible third party. 60 percent of seafood consumers say ecolabels increase their trust in brands, while sustainably sourced seafood continues to rank among the most important purchase considerations, following quality, health, and price.

And consumers recognize their choices can make a difference. Market demand for responsibly sourced seafood sends important signals throughout the supply chain, rewarding fisheries that invest in sustainable practices and encouraging broader adoption of effective management.

At the same time, concern about ocean health remains high, with nearly nine in ten U.S. seafood consumers worrying about the state of the world’s oceans. And that concern is warranted. Overfishing persists in many regions, and the SOFIA report highlights significant disparities between areas with strong management systems and those where management capacity remains limited.

The challenges facing our oceans are real, but so are the solutions. Science-based fisheries management, independent verification, robust monitoring, and collaborative action have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to rebuild fish populations and support thriving fishing communities.

Awareness and optimism are essential ingredients for the long-term work of protecting oceans and ensuring that sustainable seafood remains part of our future. The survey data represents a win for fisheries and businesses and all partners prioritizing healthy oceans and sustainable seafood for future generations. This awareness and optimism can buoy us, knowing we are making a difference, and sending positive market signals to fisheries. After all, a rising tide lifts all boats.

The benefits of blue foods are simple: they provide sustainable protein to a growing global population, foster global food security, and secure and provide livelihoods, among many other benefits. The onus is on us to produce and use these resources sustainably to ensure we have them for the future.

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The Los Angeles Food Policy Council’s (LAFPC) Cultivating Farmers program helps urban and peri-urban farmers navigate land access, business development, and long-term viability.

Through workshops, technical assistance, and free one-on-one advising, the program supports growers as they work to build and sustain their operations. For Black Thumb Farm, a nonprofit urban farm in the San Fernando Valley, that support has supported them through a years-long effort to secure long-term access to public land.

Cultivating Farmers launched in 2024 to provide business-focused support to farmers across Los Angeles. Rather than focusing on production practices, the program centers business planning, insurance, grant writing, marketing, and sales strategy.

“The program is all about supporting urban farmers with the business side of running a farm,” Nikhita Jain, Senior Urban Agriculture Program Associate at LAFPC, tells Food Tank. “Outside the work of growing food, starting and operating a farm business has its own learning curve.”

According to Jain, many urban farmers in Los Angeles face barriers that extend well beyond growing food. She says the city lacks some of the support systems available in other cities.”The City of Los Angeles does not have a dedicated person or office focused on urban agriculture,” Jain tells Food Tank.

Without those resources, Jain says many farmers rely on informal agreements with schools, churches, and community organizations to access land. While those arrangements with landowners can create opportunities, they can also leave farmers vulnerable if leadership changes or properties are sold.

“It’s all relationship-based,” Jain explains. “Maybe there’s a city council member who really believes in what the urban farmer is doing. But then if that person changes, that’s where that uncertainty comes in.”

The lack of long-term land security can make it difficult for farmers to plan. Jain says growers may hesitate to invest in infrastructure or soil improvements when they do not know whether they will still have access to the land several years later. Informal arrangements can also make it harder to access certain grants and federal programs that require documentation of land tenure.

Black Thumb Farm has experienced many of those challenges firsthand.

Founded by Alexys Romo and Analisa Joh, the nonprofit urban farm centers BIPOC youth and communities through land-based programming, culturally sustaining food production, and environmental education. The organization operates programs that introduce young people to farming, workforce development, food sovereignty, and stewardship of the natural world.

Black Thumb Farm has spent roughly five years working to secure access to a 2.3-acre publicly owned parcel in the northeastern San Fernando Valley.

“There is no formal or institutionalized process,” Jain tells Food Tank. “They just started calling the city and trying to figure out who to talk to. Eventually they got a call back.”

Throughout that effort, Black Thumb Farm has worked with partners including the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust while navigating multiple layers of local government. Jain says the experience illustrates both the persistence required of urban farmers and the need for stronger institutional support.

Helping farmers navigate those challenges is a central part of Cultivating Farmers’ mission. In addition to workshops, the program offers individualized advising sessions with Jain where growers can receive support tailored to their specific goals and obstacles.

Jain believes additional public investment and dedicated support structures could help more urban farmers establish long-term roots. But she also points to organizations like Black Thumb Farm as evidence of what is possible when growers receive the support they need.

For communities across Los Angeles, the benefits extend beyond food production. Farms can create green space, provide educational opportunities, and strengthen community connections. Through Cultivating Farmers, LAFPC is working to ensure that the people building those spaces have the tools and resources to succeed.

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Photo courtesy of Black Thumb Farm

The post How One Los Angeles Program Helps Urban Farmers Thrive appeared first on Food Tank.

Each week, Food Tank is rounding up a few news stories that inspire excitement, infuriation, or curiosity.

Bangladeshi Farmers and Environmentalists Protest Harmful Pesticides

This week, food producers and environmentalists gathered in northwestern Bangladesh, where they called on national leaders to phase out extremely hazardous pesticides including paraquat. 

Fishers say that they used to catch a wide variety of local fish, but over the years, populations—and their income—have declined. Indigenous communities are also losing wild and medicinal plants and other foods they rely on. Advocates say that Bangladesh, as a member of the Rotterdam Convention and the Stockholm Convention, is obliged to play a role in implementing international commitments. 

“Agriculture dependent on pesticides and chemicals can never be sustainable,” says Atikur Rahman, President of the Barendra Youth Forum “We want a farming system where safe food, biodiversity conservation and climate justice are ensured together.”

USDA Reorganization Threatens Major Programs

Employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are warning that the agency’s reorganization plans threaten several key programs that support food aid, food safety,  and agricultural research. 

If employees are relocated as planned, less than 10 people will oversee the billions of dollars managed through the country’s international food aid program, Food For Peace, according to Collin Bradley, President of AFSCME Local 3976, the labor union representing USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. He believes the changes will “decimate the agency.”

Last week, food safety groups also asked Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to pause the relocation of the Environmental Microbial and Food Safety Laboratory. In a letter, they wrote, “The loss of highly specialized scientific expertise would be substantial” and similar moves in the past have led to “gaps in institutional knowledge and reduced effectiveness.”

One Agricultural Research Service employee, who asked to remain anonymous, worries about the toll the moves take on morale as well, telling Politico, “everybody is just really in a bad place mentally.”

Rodale Institute Launches Campaign to Transition 10 Million Acres

Rodale Institute launched a new campaign to transition 10 million acres of U.S. farmland to organic and regenerative organic by 2030.

CEO Jeff Tkach says, “Our goal is simple: give farmers the research, education and support they need to succeed. When they do, the benefits reach far beyond the farm to strengthen our communities and the economy.”

One of the central pieces of the campaign is their Center for Regenerative Organic Innovation, which officially broke ground. Set to open in 2028, it will serve as a national hub for farmer education that includes three virtual classrooms.

The Institute aims to raise US$139 million to support the full campaign, which is guided by their new five-year Strategic Plan. These funds will help them conduct 10 long-term research trials; educate 100,000 farmers, agricultural professionals, and consumers; and reach 100 million people. At a time when the average age of U.S. farmers is on the rise, the Institute hopes to create more career paths to bring young people into agriculture. 

Brazil Invests in Thriving Namibian Food Systems

The government of Brazil announced a US$120,000 investment to continue a successful program boosting food security in Namibia. The new funding is expected to benefit more than 1,000 people. 

The project, which was implemented by the Namibian government in 2021 with support of the World Food Programme, has grown into a network of community farms that produce vegetables and eggs for schools, clinics, and vulnerable households. They also offer training to help farmers develop their business skills. 

National Planning Commission Director General Ambassador Kaire Mbuende says the program proves that people can move from relief to resilience. “Communities that once received food are now producing it,” he says. 

Mbuende sees Brazil’s support as an prime example of South-South cooperation, stating, “Brazil shares with us the lessons of its own journey, from school feeding linked to family farming to public procurement from smallholder producers. These are lessons between equals.”

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Photo courtesy of Immo Wegmann, Unsplash

The post Food Tank’s Weekly News Roundup: Farmers Protest Toxic Pesticides, USDA Plans Threaten the Agency, Rodale Institute Invests in Agricultural Transformation appeared first on Food Tank.

A version of this piece was featured in Food Tank’s newsletter, released weekly on Thursdays. To make sure it lands straight in your inbox and to be among the first to receive it, subscribe now by clicking here.

Do you remember what you ate for dinner last night?

Good diets can actually help support our memories! And our moods, and our metabolisms. Every day, scientists are working to better understand the powerful connections between nutrition and nearly every component of human health, both physical and mental.

Many people, including policymakers in Congress, know that high-quality nutrition can help us live longer and more healthful lives. But it’s the specific details—which nutrients are most beneficial; what metabolic and cognitive impacts do our diets have; how we can make sure people can access good food—that are particularly important for us all to understand.

That’s why Food Tank is heading to Capitol Hill next week with our partners at the Tufts University Food is Medicine Institute, for a bipartisan luncheon event titled “The Power and Peril of Food: The Latest Science on Your Mood, Memory, Metabolism, and Longevity.”

The program runs 12:00PM to 1:30PM ET, with lunch provided when doors open at 11:30. If you can join us in person, CLICK HERE to reserve a spot at the event, in Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 106, in Washington, D.C.

Otherwise, we’ll see you in our livestream audience, which you can bookmark HERE.

We’ll also be joined by an expert lineup of speakers including United States Senators Roger Marshall of Kansas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana; Calley Means, Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Dariush Mozaffarian, Food is Medicine Institute; Ashley Gearhardt, PhD, University of Michigan; Eric Verdin, MD, Buck Institute for Research on Aging; Jan Ellison Baszucki, Baszucki Group; Uma Naidoo, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital; and more to be announced.

Events like Food Tank’s Capitol Hill luncheons are powerful opportunities for you to get to talk with researchers and legislators on the front lines of food science and food policy! This is about having a voice in the future of nutrition policy—and it’s also about accountability. In my opinion, it’s important to the health of our democracy for these conversations to be happening with science-backed experts and attendees who can fact-check and hold politicians to their word, rather than behind closed doors.

HERE is the link to tune into our livestream, and you can CLICK HERE to reserve a seat in person.

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Photo courtesy of Sara Cottle, Unsplash

The post Can Better Food Policy Improve Our Memories, Moods, and Metabolisms? appeared first on Food Tank.

Ryan Brodersen has always wanted to be a farmer. Unfortunately, his parents made the difficult decision to quit farming in the early 1990s, ending a legacy of at least four generations of farming in Nebraska. Ryan’s future was uncertain, he says, as high land prices and upfront costs have made it difficult for young people to get started independently.

“They chose to quit, and I hated them for it, honestly,” says Ryan, who was 14 years old at the time. “I just wanted to farm. That was never a question.”

The family moved to South Dakota, where he later met his wife, Angie. Ryan went five years without planting a crop until he was “in the right place at the right time,” he says. His grandmother had been renting out some farmland, and it was available for new tenants. With the help of a beginning farmer loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency, the Brodersens were farming again.

But those early years weren’t easy. Ryan worked multiple jobs to keep the farm afloat: Driving a truck, working in a factory, and working on a pig breeding farm at various times, all while earning a college degree. Their long-term dream was taking care of and earning a living on their own land, full-time.

The Brodersens found stability by partnering with a specialty pork company. Niman Ranch, a network of more than 600 independent U.S. farmers, offers a guaranteed market for pigs raised to high standards of sustainable and humane farming practices. Once the Brodersens started raising pigs in partnership with Niman Ranch, “the barns have never been empty ever since,” Ryan says. By 2018, their farm quadrupled in size, and they had purchased land of their own.

“We used to raise a few hogs as a side hustle with growing crops, and now we just grow crops to feed hogs,” says Ryan, explaining that once they found a stable market, they made a conscious decision to shift their farm’s focus to hogs. 

Today, the Brodersens don’t need to purchase artificial fertilizer for any of the farms they own; instead, they cycle their hog manure and composted bedding onto the fields. Spreading manure is labor-intensive, and labor is the most limited resource on a farm, says Ryan, but he sees the long-term benefit for the land: “I would say that the fertility in our soil is extremely high.”

There have been tough times since, including when a grain elevator near their Randolph, Nebraska, farm went out of business, Ryan says. But “the hogs carried us through.”

Ryan also simply enjoys the work, he says. He raises hogs outdoors, as opposed to the highly controlled environment of confinement barns, where the vast majority of U.S. hogs are raised. This requires more decision-making in the day-to-day operations of the farm, but Ryan likes the problem-solving that is required. He is constantly finding new ways to be efficient and sustainable.

 “I see the pigs thrive in this environment. They do well. They’re healthy,” says Ryan. Hogs also have a fast turnaround compared to other livestock like cattle, so he has more opportunities to improve throughout each year: “Can I make this one better than the last one?” 

With companies like Niman Ranch and consumer interest in sustainably and humanely produced food, the Brodersens are hopeful that their farm can not only survive but also be passed on to the next generation. If any of their three children want to return to the farm one day, they won’t have to buy more land. They can build a more diversified, integrated, and sustainable farm on their existing acreage. And they say their diversified farm is a great place to raise their family. 

“It allows our kids to bring their own individuality to the farm,” says Angie. “We don’t want them to fill our shoes. We want them to find where their strengths are and improve our operations. And now they have the platform to do that.”

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Photo courtesy of the Brodersens

The post From Risk to Resilience in Nebraska’s Hog Industry appeared first on Food Tank.

Global hunger declined for the third year in a row, but nearly one-third of the world’s population still cannot afford a healthy diet, according to a new United Nations report.

The new State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report finds that an estimated 7.8 percent of the world’s population experienced hunger in 2025, down from 8.6 percent in 2022—a reduction of 43 million people.

Although progress is slow, Maximo Torero, Chief Economist for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), welcomes the news. 

“The surprising part, which puts us in a very positive mood, is the fact that in all regions we are seeing a decline,” Torero tells Food Tank. Due to population growth, Africa is now home to the highest number of hungry people. But the percentage of people experiencing hunger on the continent has stabilized, even falling slightly for the first time in ten years. 

The world remains far off track from ending hunger by 2030, however. U.N. projections show that there will likely be between 500–522 million people in chronic undernourishment by the end of the decade. These numbers will be heavily impacted by how nations navigate shocks created by the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, which severely limited access to fuel and fertilizer.

“It’s close to impossible to achieve zero hunger by 2030,” Torero tells Food Tank. “But the goal is to reduce as much as we can, and if we can achieve zero hunger by 2050, I think that would be great.”

The report also reveals that around one-third of the global population can’t afford a healthy diet. The cost now sits around $4.28 per day. That’s 25 percent more than it was in 2020 and “significantly higher” than the extreme poverty line of $3.00, Torero explains. 

The U.N. calls on governments to take action to make the foods that are most expensive and nutrient-dense—including fruits, vegetables, and animal-source foods—more affordable. Improving storage, roads, and seed quality can have a significant impact, Torero says. Improving trade and repurposing subsidies offer governments other interventions. 

Healthy school meals are also worth investing in for the generational impacts. “That will help you to reduce the problem of undernourishment in children. It will help you reduce the problem of overweight and obesity in children,” Torero tells Food Tank. “But at the same time you are assuring that these kids’ cognitive ability is growing over time…it’s also their capacity in the future to evolve that will bring a lot of benefits to the country.” 

Watch the full conversation with Maximo Torero on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to hear more about the solutions that can make a healthy diet accessible to all, what the decline in development assistance means for ending hunger, and the countries that are leading the way on reducing food and nutrition insecurity.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Shi, Unsplash

The post Global Hunger Falls for Third Straight Year, But Zero Hunger by 2030 Remains Out of Reach appeared first on Food Tank.

This article is part of Food Tank’s primer series, “Food Tank Explains.” Each installment unpacks the ideas, innovations, and challenges shaping today’s food and agriculture systems, offering clear insights into complex topics. To explore more articles in the series, click here.

Organic farming intends to maintain and improve healthy soils, support ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity through a combination of cultural, biological, and mechanical farming practices.

Although organic agriculture is defined, regulated, and certified differently across countries and institutions, a core value of organic farming is working in harmony with nature. Organic standards typically prohibit or strictly limit many synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and synthetic growth hormones.

Instead, farmers build soil fertility with practices like composting, cover cropping, and crop rotation. Healthy soils support plants that are more resistant to pest pressure and can attract populations of beneficial insects, according to the Rodale Institute.

More serious pest problems are managed with methods like applying pheromones to disturb pest mating cycles, or mechanical controls like trapping. Organic livestock standards also generally require greater access to the outdoors and practices that support animal welfare.

Because of bans or limits on artificial fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, organic systems often require less fossil fuel-derived inputs. This means they also have a lower carbon footprint compared to conventional agriculture. In a 40-year trial, Rodale Institute found that organic farming systems used 45 percent less energy than conventional systems while maintaining crop yields.

Organic practices that foster soil health also help increase carbon sequestration. A review of 400 studies comparing thousands of farms shows that organic systems contain higher levels of stable soil organic carbon and produce lower nitrous oxide emissions than conventional agriculture. And according to Soil Association research, organic farms have on average 44 percent more soil carbon, and 50 percent more wildlife.

Yazen Al Komadi, an organic farmer based in the United Arab Emirates, likes to show the tangible benefits of organic farming systems to his farm’s visitors. “We’re not trying to use scare tactics about sustainability or chemicals,” he tells Food Tank. Instead, he encourages them to feel the difference in their soil, admire the insects living under their feet, and take in crop diversity.

Research also suggests that organic farming can make agricultural systems more resilient. By increasing organic matter in the soil, organic farming improves water infiltration by 15–20 percent, helping crops better withstand drought and heavy rainfall, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. In the Rodale Institute’s Farming Systems Trial, organic crop yields were as much as 40 percent higher than conventional yields during drought years.

“I think that folks are realizing that what you do to the planet, you do to yourself,” Matthew Dillon, the Co-CEO of the Organic Trade Association (OTA), tells Food Tank. “I want us to think about organic not just as an investment in any given season, but an investment in the future generations.”

Organic certification requirements vary across countries, but they generally establish standards for how food is produced, processed, and labeled. In the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Organic Program requires crops to be grown on land that has been free of prohibited substances for at least three years before harvest.

Farmers must prioritize practices such as crop rotation, cover cropping, and biological pest management, while genetic engineering, sewage sludge, and ionizing radiation are prohibited. Livestock must receive certified organic feed, year-round access to the outdoors, and preventive health care. Products bearing the USDA Organic seal must contain at least 95 percent certified organic ingredients.

As U.S. eaters become increasingly concerned about the overuse and misuse of pesticides, interest in alternative practices is growing, says Kathleen Merrigan, Executive Director of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University. “I think [that] will cause more and more people to look at organic and I think that’s a great thing,” she tells Food Tank.

Under the European Commission Organic Farming regulations, artificial fertilizers and chemical pesticides are banned unless explicitly pre-approved by the European Commission, and crops are required to be rotated. Soil Association Certification is the United Kingdom’s leading organic certifier, certifying around 70 percent of all organic food.

Canada regulates organic claims only for products traded across provincial or international borders. Across much of Africa, organic certification remains closely tied to export markets, and national legal frameworks range from comprehensive legislation to voluntary standards that continue to evolve.

Global temperatures are rising, precipitation patterns are changing, and pest populations are developing pesticide resistance. That’s why the Rodale Institute believes now is the time to transition to organic practices.

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The post Food Tank Explains: Organic Agriculture appeared first on Food Tank.

Last night, I slept beneath the stars in the mountains and wondered. As darkness dissolved the contours of the trees into shadow, the night sky revealed itself in astonishing detail. In that vastness, my thoughts wandered between the known and the unknown.

For as long as humans have existed, we have looked toward the stars and the horizon, asking enduring questions: Where did we come from? Who are we becoming? And how do we shape what comes next?

Across cultures, answers to these questions often emerged through food and our relationships with the living world. In the origin stories of communities across Southwest China, the Himalayan foothills, and Southeast Asia, humans emerged from a gourd. In the Maya creation story, humans are formed from maize. In other traditions, people emerged from rice, yams, coconuts, animals, fertile landscapes, and the earth itself. In Abrahamic traditions, humans are created from the earth and placed within a garden, where nourishment shapes humanity’s earliest story.

Food was origin. Across cultures, humanity understood itself emerging from the living world. These origin stories explained our beginnings and expanded humanity’s sense of what was possible. Wonder has always done this. It expands the boundaries of what we believe is possible, allowing us to imagine futures that do not yet exist.

For more than 95 percent of our existence as a species, we lived within the living world by hunting, gathering, fishing, foraging, and moving with the rhythms of landscapes, seasons, and the migrations of other living beings. Then, over thousands of years, communities in different parts of the world began one of humanity’s most consequential expansions of possibility: saving seeds, domesticating plants and animals, and cultivating the landscapes that would eventually give rise to villages, civilizations, and the food systems we know today.

Agriculture emerged as people responded to changing conditions with necessity, curiosity, and imagination. The first cultivators learned by observing the living world: the relationships between seed and soil, rain and harvest, seasons and scarcity. Perhaps they noticed seeds sprouting in the disturbed soils around campsites and wondered what might happen if those seeds were planted with intention. Through generations of experimentation, gathering gradually gave rise to cultivation, one of humanity’s defining transformations.

Agriculture reshaped humanity’s relationship with food, living systems, and one another. People remained rooted in place as trade routes connected distant landscapes through the exchange of foods, seeds, knowledge, culture, and conquest. Villages and new forms of governance emerged. Communities formed around shared labor and stewardship. Farmers, seed keepers, tool makers, healers, artisans, traders, and storytellers all became part of the living web that allowed communities to flourish. Like every food systems transformation, agriculture expanded possibility while creating new responsibilities and unintended consequences.

These relationships shape food systems around the world. I have witnessed them with remarkable clarity in one of the most biodiverse and resilient food systems I have ever encountered: Akha communities in Yunnan Province in the Upper Mekong River Basin.

For the Akha, a food system is community. The food system does not create the community. Communities co-create the food system with the living world.

Over time, I asked Akha elders what makes a community. They taught me that a community is created through the relationships and elements that sustain life across generations: seeds, fire, the shaman, the knowledge of cultivation, the silversmith who forges the agricultural tools, and the tools themselves. No single element creates a community. It is the relationships among them that allow a community to emerge and flourish.

People plant trees for their grandchildren that they themselves may never harvest. In that simple act lies a profound understanding of what sustains life.

Food systems are often defined by their structures and functions: the people, places, institutions, and activities that produce, process, distribute, consume, and dispose of food. Those structures and functions matter, yet they emerge from something deeper. A food system is the living web of relationships that sustains life across generations.

The relationships we cultivate shape what becomes possible. When those relationships flourish, food systems flourish. We flourish.

Food systems transformation begins by reimagining our relationships and what we believe is possible and who are we becoming.

For millennia, stars guided humanity toward horizons it could not yet fully see, from the way finders of Polynesia to cultures around the world guided by the night sky.

Food systems transformation is much the same. We know the world we are leaving behind. There is gratitude for what has sustained us, relief for what we are ready to release, and loss for what may not come with us. While we cannot fully see what lies beyond the horizon, wonder invites us forward.

Years ago, while preparing a seminar on what I had learned throughout my career, I realized that the familiar arc of scientific discovery never captured the whole story. When I shared this with my husband, he responded, “Talk about the liminal space.” That idea stayed with me.

Derived from the Latin limen, meaning threshold, anthropologists use liminality to describe the space between one way of being and another, where familiar assumptions begin to dissolve before new ones have fully emerged.

Liminality is often mistaken for uncertainty. From the perspective of history, the liminal space is where innovations are born. Innovation is not always invention; sometimes it is the rediscovery of enduring relationships in new contexts.

As the health of people and the planet comes under increasing strain, our capacity to understand and shape the future is expanding in extraordinary ways. Just as we have long looked to the stars, we are discovering new universes closer to home, in our soils, our food, and our gut. Artificial intelligence is synthesizing relationships across ecosystems, molecules, microbes, and human biology at a scale and precision previously beyond our reach, opening new frontiers of discovery. Regenerative agriculture is restoring relationships with soil and biodiversity while drawing upon knowledge cultivated across generations.

Wonder has always expanded what we believe is possible. Now it invites us to decide what possibilities we pursue, what relationships we carry forward, what values guide us, and ultimately, who we are becoming and how we shape what comes next.

In my early years of teaching food systems, I noticed something unexpected that now seems obvious. As students moved deeper into their degree program, many began to lose hope. Complexity does not necessarily expand our sense of possibility; without hope, imagination, and resilience, it can narrow it. It made me question how we teach food systems and the stories we tell about them. In preparing food systems leaders, we need to cultivate knowledge, hope, resilience, and the capacity to imagine and co-create what comes next.

Resilient people create resilient communities, and resilient communities co-create resilient food systems with the living world. Every day, we make decisions that shape the food system that future generations will inherit, from the crops farmers plant and how they steward their land to the meals families prepare, the investments funders support, and the policies that govern our food environments.

We often search for a single innovation or policy that will transform everything. History suggests otherwise. Innovation may expand our capability, but it cannot tell us what future is worth creating. That remains profoundly human.

The most enduring transformations emerge from cultivating the relationships and values that shape what becomes possible.

Systems thinker Fritjof Capra reminds us that the horizon is not a destination but a guide. As we move toward it, it moves with us. We never fully arrive because every horizon reveals another beyond it. The same is true of food systems transformation. Every discovery reshapes our understanding. Every challenge reveals new possibilities. Every possibility reveals another horizon.

As I look back to the stars, I wonder what stories my daughter and the generations that follow will tell about who we chose to become and the relationships we chose to cultivate with the living world.

We are becoming the ancestors of future food systems.

This essay is part of Food Tank’s Flourish Series: Food and Health from Molecules to Systems, authored by Selena Ahmed, exploring how food connects us to the living world while asking what it means to flourish. For more in the series, click here. 

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The post Op-Ed | Food Systems at the Threshold: Wonder Between What Is and What Could Be appeared first on Food Tank.

As fertilizer prices rise and farmers face growing pressure from climate change, researchers in Kenya are looking to an unlikely allies—insects.

At the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, scientists are developing insect-based fertilizers and biopesticides that can improve soil health, reduce dependence on expensive imported agricultural inputs, and help farmers build more resilient agriculture systems.

“The residue that remains behind is an excellent source of organic fertilizer,” Dennis Beesigamukama, a postdoctoral fellow at icipe, tells Food Tank.

The process, he explains, begins with black soldier flies. Researchers feed the insects organic waste, which the larvae convert into protein that can be used in animal feed. What’s left behind is a nutrient-rich organic fertilizer known as frass.

According to icipe, insect-derived fertilizers contain three to nine times more nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium than many conventional organic fertilizers. And they have the potential to increase crop yields by as much as 27 percent compared with similar organic alternatives.

The organization is also developing biological alternatives to synthetic pesticides. Researchers have identified naturally occurring bacteria, fungi, and viruses that target insect pests without harming crops. Several of these biopesticides are already registered for use across Africa, with commercialization underway in Europe, North America, and Asia.

These inputs are designed to become part of integrated pest management systems, helping farmers reduce their dependence on agrochemicals and protect biodiversity.

Beesigamukama says the benefits extend far beyond pest management. Insect-based fertilizers improve soil water retention and support carbon sequestration, making them what he describes as “climate smart” inputs.

The need for alternatives is becoming increasingly urgent. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the overuse and misuse of artificial fertilizers and pesticides contributes to soil degradation, water and air pollution, and human health problems.

At the same time, African farmers remain heavily dependent on imported fertilizers. The International Food Policy Research Institute estimates that roughly 80 percent of fertilizer used across the continent is imported, leaving producers vulnerable to supply chain disruptions and volatile global markets. The World Bank reports that fertilizer prices climbed sharply this year, reaching their highest levels since 2022.

“Insect-based fertilizers, produced from locally available organic waste, create a more resilient and self-sufficient system,” says Beesigamukama.

icipe believes insect-derived agricultural inputs can help farmers reduce costs while strengthening local production capacity. Because they rely on resources that are already available within communities, Beesigamukama says they are “one of the most decentralized and scalable technologies” available to support more resilient food systems across Africa.

For researchers at icipe, insects are more than just bugs. They can be practical tools for helping farmers improve soil health, reduce dependence on imported inputs, and build food systems that are better equipped to withstand economic and climate shocks.

And for farmers facing rising input costs and increasingly unpredictable growing conditions, these insect-based solutions could offer a locally produced, lower-cost alternative that strengthens both livelihoods and ecosystems.

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Photo courtesy of icipe

The post At a Kenya Research Center, Insects Are Helping Farmers Reduce Their Reliance on Synthetic Fertilizers and Pesticides appeared first on Food Tank.

Earlier this year, the House passed a Farm Bill packed with giveaways to Big Agriculture. Rather than confronting the environmental, public health, and economic harms of industrial agriculture, lawmakers doubled down on the status quo—protecting powerful agribusiness interests while falling short on meaningful investments in sustainable farming, conservation, and rural communities.

Unfortunately, the recent Senate draft doesn’t do much better. As senators debate their version of the Farm Bill, they face a fundamental question—will federal farm policy continue subsidizing and entrenching the factory farm model, or will it help build a healthier, more resilient food system?

That question is especially urgent with the emergence of a new generation of technologies that promises to solve the problems of industrial livestock production. Chief among them are genetically engineered animals.

Instead of addressing the overcrowding, disease, pollution, and animal suffering that factory farms create, biotechnology companies are redesigning animals to better tolerate those conditions. The message is clear: don’t fix the system—change the animals.

A new Friends of the Earth report, Engineering Harm: Why Genetically Engineered Animals Deepen Risks to Public Health and Animal Welfare, documents how this approach is moving rapidly from the laboratory into the food system. Since 2020, federal regulators have approved three genetically engineered animals for human consumption, including cattle engineered to better tolerate heat and pigs engineered to resist disease.

Supporters present these genetically engineered animals as innovative solutions to agricultural challenges. In reality, they represent a troubling extension of the same industrial model that created many of those challenges in the first place.

Consider cattle engineered for heat tolerance, which are being promoted as a response to rising temperatures, even as industrial livestock production remains a major contributor to the climate crisis.

Likewise, disease-resistant pigs. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) costs the pork industry hundreds of millions of dollars annually, largely because the virus spreads rapidly in the crowded conditions typical of industrial operations. Rather than reducing animal density or improving living conditions, the industry is engineering pigs to withstand the disease.

At the same time, corporate interests have doubled down on their efforts to advance the so-called Save our Bacon Act in the Farm Bill, which would overturn state animal welfare laws designed to move away from the extreme confinement of pigs and other farm animals. And the stakes extend beyond animal welfare—it would also undermine states’ authority to establish stronger agricultural production standards that protect public health, the environment, and local communities. Though this harmful provision wasn’t included in the base text of the Senate Farm Bill, industry allies are expected to continue pushing to include it as the legislative process moves forward.

For decades, federal farm policy has helped prop up industrial animal agriculture through commodity subsidies, crop insurance programs, and policies that favor large-scale production. Taxpayer dollars already support a system linked to water pollution, antibiotic overuse, greenhouse gas emissions, and the hollowing out of rural communities. Genetically engineered livestock threaten to make things even worse by helping factory farms adapt and expand without addressing the conditions that make them harmful in the first place.

And genetically engineered animals raise serious concerns of their own.

Creating these animals often involves cloning and other invasive procedures with high failure rates. Friends of the Earth finds that thousands of cloned embryos used in the development of the genetically engineered GalSafe pig resulted in only a handful of successful animals. Mortality rates among genetically engineered piglets were significantly higher than in conventional pigs. In other cases, animals developed abnormalities or died during the development process.

Scientists have also documented unintended genetic changes associated with engineering animals, including mutations that can affect animal health and welfare. Despite industry claims of precision, the results of gene-editing technologies are often not predictable, and the long-term consequences remain poorly understood.

The public health risks deserve equal scrutiny. One genetically engineered pig approved for sale contains an antibiotic-resistance marker gene, raising concerns about the potential spread of antibiotic resistance—one of the most pressing public health challenges of our time. Disease-resistant animals may also create evolutionary pressures that encourage viruses to evolve in unexpected ways. Yet federal regulators have largely brushed aside these concerns.

Perhaps most troubling is how little independent oversight exists. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration relies heavily on data generated by the companies seeking approval. Public access to safety data is limited. Independent scientific review is often absent. In some cases, regulators have exempted genetically engineered animals from full approval processes altogether.

This should concern anyone who cares about food safety, scientific integrity, or democratic accountability.

The Senate’s Farm Bill debate offers a chance to begin charting a different course.

Instead of helping factory farms become more efficient at producing disease, pollution, and animal suffering, lawmakers should invest in farming systems that already provide proven benefits for public health, animal welfare, and the environment. Congress could expand support for well-managed pasture-based livestock systems, organic agriculture, regional food infrastructure, conservation programs, and farmer transition assistance. It could strengthen local processing capacity, improve animal welfare standards, and reduce dependence on routine antibiotics. And it must reject the Save Our Bacon Act and any effort to strip local communities and states of their authority to set strong agricultural production standards.

These approaches do not require redesigning animals to fit factory farms. They require redesigning farming systems to work with animals, people, and ecosystems.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Yaw Ansu-Kyeremeh, Unsplash

The post Op-Ed | First We Subsidized Factory Farms. Now We’re Redesigning Animals for Them. appeared first on Food Tank.

Each week, Food Tank is rounding up a few news stories that inspire excitement, infuriation, or curiosity.

700,000 Dead from USAID’s Dismantling

An estimated 700,000 people have died from the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to Atul Gawande, USAID’s former Assistant Administrator for Global Health.

During a recent interview on The New Yorker Radio Hour, Gawande discussed what has happened in the aftermath of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts to USAID.

Elon Musk has repeatedly stated there’s no evidence that the cuts caused a single death. But Dr. Gawande says this simply isn’t true.  While the closure of USAID means that we also lost some of the best data and tracking systems, it is clear that the abrupt disappearance of aid supporting nutrition security and maternal health has led to devastating consequences. 

It takes years to recover the expertise and infrastructure of our global public health systems, eradicate preventable diseases, build surveillance for pandemics, reduce malnutrition, Gawande says. “And if we’re divided about that and it becomes political fodder, the institutions can’t function and we won’t be able to make a way forward. He argues it’s important to return to a place “where we believe that these kinds of institutions are what we all want.”

Ugandan Farmers Push Back against East African Oil Pipeline

A group of farmers in Uganda filed a lawsuit in the UK High Court against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline. 

In the lawsuit against the UK-registered company, the farmers allege the $5.6 billion project violates legislation that protects citizens’ right to a clean and healthy environment. They argue it affects more than 100,000 people—mostly producers—through land acquisition and threatens biodiversity by crossing through freshwater systems and protected habitats.

Avaaz, an NGO supporting the farmers, calls the litigation the “first-of-its-kind” and says it is a “global test case for whether new fossil fuel megaprojects can still be forced through despite mounting legal, financial, climate, and community opposition.” 

The project is being built to carry crude oil from Ugandan fields to Tanzania. According to developers, the 1,444 kilometer pipeline is nearly 80 percent complete. Avaaz says this is the “final chance to stop one of the worst oil pipelines on the planet.”

U.S. Farmers Win Right to Repair

Farmers in the United States secured the right to repair last week when the Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement with John Deere. 

Previously, faulty equipment could only be fixed by dealers authorized by John Deere. The company also kept independent repair companies from accessing the necessary tools. This drove up costs for farmers and increased wait times. 

Under the settlement, which was filed as part of a lawsuit in January 2025, this changes. The decision “enables farmers to do what they’ve done for generations—fix their own tractors and other farm equipment—without having to pay an authorized John Deere dealer to do it for them,” says Daniel Guarnera, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition.

‘Super’ El Nino May Cause Food Price Shock into 2028

Economists warn that the extreme weather events expected from El Niño may cause a nearly 16 percent spike in global food commodities that lasts into 2028.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs say countries are already seeing changes—with some regions of India receiving just a quarter of their usual rainfall—and the global impacts are likely to ramp up as we reach the end of 2026. 

The Iran war has already pushed world food prices to the highest levels in three years and El Nino means that supply chains now face “two shocks at once.” According to the Italian bank UniCredit, climateflation is “back on the agenda” as El Nino compounds the effects of the climate crisis.

A School Farm Program in Kenya Pays Off

In Kenya’s Kajiado County, one school has more than doubled enrollment thanks to a farm pilot program. 

Inaarok Lukuny Comprehensive School is one of four schools in Kajiado and Isiolo counties that were selected to convert unused land into working farms as part of a project led by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation alongside university partners, government agencies, and local groups. Inaarok converted dry, uncultivated land into a four-acre farm growing maize, beans, cowpeas, green grams, and leafy vegetables.

Inaarok’s head teacher says that the farm has allowed them to integrate more nutritious foods into school meals, which helped boost enrollment from 240 to more than 525 students over the last year.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Unsplash

The post Food Tank’s Weekly News Roundup: Right to Repair Won, School Enrollment Boosted, an Oil Pipeline Fought appeared first on Food Tank.

People of the Forest is working with the Yawanawá People of Mutum Village in Acre, Brazil to regenerate degraded forest, empower community members and leaders, and advance Indigenous food sovereignty. A new fundraising campaign aims to help the project deepen its impact.

The project uses agroforestry and Traditional Ecological Knowledge to regenerate degraded Yawanawá land, which spans approximately 500,000 acres of the Amazon rainforest. Their holistic approach aims to strengthen ecological leadership, learning pathways for young people, seed-saving, and community resilience.

“If you know how to use the resources you have in the forest, this is wealth,” Julia Yawanawá, a community leader, educator, medicinal plant wisdom keeper, tells Food Tank.

The project recently entered its third round of fundraising. Donations made through Ma Earth, a collaborative fundraising platform, will be matched through July 21. Provided by Biome Trust, Naia Trust, Imaginal Seeds, and Ma Earth Foundation, the matching funds will help increase the impact and create a greater opportunity for positive change.

According to Ma Earth, there is an estimated US$1 trillion per year funding gap preventing regenerative and community-led initiatives from accessing the resources they need.

Extractive practices, including logging, mining, and ranching, harm the local ecosystems of the Yawanawá territory. The effects of the climate crisis, industrialized farming practices, and the introduction of processed foods further threaten the community members’ wellbeing and livelihoods.

Three years ago, Chief Matsini invited People of the Forest to visit Mutum, the second-largest village of the Yawanawá, and collaborate on a project to support healthier food systems for his people. “A person with a bad heart comes—you give him food and he will feel good,” Chief Matsini tells Food Tank. “Food is the greatest unifier.”

The Indigenous-led initiative is hoping to restore a natural equilibrium between people and the land, which the Yawanawá have stewarded for thousands of years. Its three main goals are to regenerate food systems, reforest native plants, and educate the local communities.

More than 20 Yawanawá have been trained in regenerative practices and over 1,000 native fruit and nut trees have been planted. A 10,000-square-foot agroforestry demonstration plot offers community members a place to engage in land stewardship and ecological leadership. Film, photography, and field documentation also help to amplify Indigenous voices. Through mentorship, youth are learning how to tell their stories in their own voice.

“It is important that this project doesn’t depend on us, it is theirs,” Timo Granzotti, Co-Founder of People of the Forest, tells Food Tank.

The next phase will expand its agroforestry work into other communities by cultivating household kitchen gardens and building nurseries to propagate native species. It will begin community-led design of aquaculture infrastructure to further build local food systems and continue to educate community members. Funding will also provide emerging Indigenous leaders with scholarships to agroforestry schools in Brazil.

“We are not guardians. We are multipliers,” Yawanawá says. “We sow the world, we sow the forest. We are the hands that multiply the food.”

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Archie Macpherson

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A version of this piece was featured in Food Tank’s newsletter, released weekly on Thursdays. To make sure it lands straight in your inbox and to be among the first to receive it, subscribe now by clicking here.

Before I travel on ground-truthing trips to rural and agricultural communities around the globe, the Food Tank team does prep research. Sometimes, the first data points that jump out at us are challenges that folks are facing, global crises hitting close to home.

But here’s the thing: When I’m in Guatemala or Ethiopia or even at home here in Baltimore actually talking to people on the ground, what shines far brighter are the visionary individuals and organizations working hard to make their communities better.

By highlighting these stories of hope and success from on-the-ground efforts to build better food systems, Food Tank aims to be the antidote to the helplessness and hopelessness we might feel sitting at a computer or scrolling on our phones. There’s plenty of good in the world, too, if we open our eyes to it!

This week, we’re sharing 10 bright spots—big and small—in the world of food systems, guiding us like beacons toward more equitable, resilient, nourished communities.

Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming, India

This agroecology project, led by the organization Rythu Sadhikara Samstha, is one of the largest and most successful in the world. The project earned the 2026 Food Planet Prize for their work empowering women farmers, helping them transition to practices that are better for them and the environment.

“What we are doing is very simple but very profound. It’s something anybody can do anywhere in the world,” says Vijay Kumar Thallam, Executive Vice Chair.

Asociación De Agricultores Tinecos (ADAT), Guatemala

I was fortunate to spend time with women coffee farmers in the ADAT co-op during a ground-truthing trip to Guatemala, where I saw how women are involved in every part of the supply chain—from planting to harvesting to roasting to selling—giving them access to resources they often lack.

“Every step we take opens a door for another woman,” group members told me.

ARISE-Farmers, Asia-Pacific Region

Since ARISE-Farmers was launched in 2021 to champion producer-led solutions, the program has reached over 20,000 farmers in 12 countries across Asia. It’s supported by the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), to strengthen food and nutrition security and improve livelihoods.

CIMMYT, Global

CIMMYT, a Spanish acronym for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, is demonstrating how science-driven approaches can help farmers respond to shifting weather patterns, improve local systems and access to innovations, and boost productivity sustainably.

“The innovations we invested in together are now protecting harvests and building resilience for millions of farmers across Africa and beyond. This is what science diplomacy looks like in practice — and it is a model the world needs to see more of,” says Gisele Fernández Ludlow, Ambassador of Mexico to Kenya.

In just a couple weeks, I’m heading to Mexico to visit CIMMYT researchers there, so stay tuned for dispatches from on-the-ground.

EMBRAPA (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), Brazil

At EMBRAPA, researcher Mariangela Hungria was named the 2025 World Food Prize laureate for work helping Brazil become an agricultural powerhouse while proving that success is possible while reducing farmers’ reliance on harmful synthetic inputs. Take a listen here to a fascinating conversation I had with Dr. Hungria last year on the Food Talk podcast!

ROAM Ranch, United States

At ROAM Ranch in Texas, Katie and Taylor Collins are showing their neighbors the power of regenerative agriculture. Thanks to their stewardship practices, the creek on their property is flowing again after not flowing for decades, and wildlife from deer to birds have returned to the land.

OzHarvest, Australia

OzHarvest, Australia’s leading food rescue organization, is using innovative food redistribution models, social entrepreneurship, advocacy, and education to tackle food waste and deliver food to those in need.

“We have forgotten how to value our farmers’ effort it takes to grow food,” says Ronnie Kahn, OzHarvest Founder and “Visionary in Residence.” “If you can embed this in young people, perhaps we’ll start shifting and changing the narrative.”

Solid’Africa, Rwanda

Solid’Africa provides medically tailored meals to more than 100,000 patients in public hospitals, connect public schools with healthy food and nutrition education, and support market stability and training for regenerative farmers.

“If you are building toward regenerative school meals, hospital meals…it has to be a plate that is full of health, full of taste, and most importantly that’s full of dignity,” says Isabelle Kamariza, President and Founder of Solid’Africa.

Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative, United States

The Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative, rooted on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, is helping community members learn how to grow, produce, harvest, and prepare their own food. The initiative’s 7Gen project has also helped revive buffalo populations; the organization’s buffalo range has grown from 50 to 1,000 heads since 2020 alone.

Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Norway

Tucked inside a mountain in the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (or “Doomsday Vault,” as it’s sometimes known) is the largest backup facility for the world’s crop diversity. As of June 2026, new additions to the vault have brought the total collection to 1.4 million seed samples, a major milestone.

Each of these bright spots began as a small, visionary point of light in a community. That, to me, is so inspiring because it reminds us all of our power to make a difference.

So let’s let these stories illuminate our own work to transform the food system, too!

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Jono Hirst, Unsplash

The post These 10 Bright Spots Are Beacons for a Stronger Global Food System appeared first on Food Tank.

Meteorologists warn that this year’s El Niño may be one of the strongest on record. As communities around the world brace for more extreme weather events, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is helping farmers build resilience.

Every two to seven years, El Niño causes widespread disruptions around the world, from drought to heavy rains. Past ones “have left economies devastated,” Sara Mbago-Bhunu, Director of East and Southern Africa Division at IFAD, tells Food Tank. 

The U.N. agency works with governments and development partners to put prevention measures in place before a crisis hits. Seasonal climate forecasts and early warning systems can inform planning, identify vulnerable areas, and establish preparedness measures.

“All regions really should be willing to prepare for this,” Mbago-Bhunu says. Because El Niño will look different across geographies, mapping helps IFAD understand the likely impacts and how to adapt accordingly.

Ethiopia, northern Uganda, Zambia, and Mozambique, for example, are likely to see less rain during their main growing season. In these regions, water capture technologies must be scaled up. Meanwhile in Tanzania and coastal Kenya—likely to experience higher-than-average rainfall—flood-resistant roads, warehouses, and markets are needed.

Mbago-Bhunu says that governments across the continent understand the importance of building more resilient systems, not only to respond to El Niño, but also to the broader effects of the climate crisis.

“They understand if they don’t invest in their water tables, in their water towers, they will not be able to have productive capacities to feed their populations in the future,” she tells Food Tank. “They also understand that supporting soil fertility might not see immediate gains, but will definitely have future returns.”

But funding for climate adaptation in Africa remains inadequate. “We get a fraction of global funding as it is,” Mbago-Bhunu says. “So [governments] have to mobilize cheaper sources of financing domestically and then…channel those into longer term solutions.”

This approach pays off, Mbago-Bhunu argues. She points to the last El Niño in 2023, which affected more than 1 million Zambian households. Around US$900 was required to provide life-saving aid and early recovery assistance—far more than the cost of preventative measures.

“Investing in resilience is cheaper than responding to disaster.”

Listen to the full conversation with Sara Mbago-Bhunu to hear about the unique vulnerabilities women and girls face from extreme weather events, how IFAD leverages resources from its projects to respond to urgent needs, and what the private sector can do to support farmers and governments.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

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The post Investing in Resilience Will Help Farmers Weather the Super El Niño appeared first on Food Tank.