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We have a busy week ahead of us here at Food Tank!

At summits across the country, we’re bringing regional and global food system leaders together to break bread, share success stories, spotlight creative visionaries, and highlight ways we can build a stronger food system across urban and rural communities and sectors.

We’re tackling a lot—and that means there’s something for everyone! So I’m looking forward to meeting you all in person or seeing your faces in our livestream audiences as we learn together. I want to use this note to you today to highlight our upcoming events, and I hope you’ll find what resonates with you and inspires you.

Starting off, at the annual SXSW festival on March 11, I have the honor of emceeing the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP) Regional Forum, “A Recipe for Change: Cities Leading Food Systems Change.”

The program is hosted by the City of Austin in collaboration with the City of Baltimore, the City of Guadalajara, and Food Tank and aims to provide a platform for city food policy leaders to learn from one another, collaborate more effectively, and use the MUFPP framework as a pathway toward more sustainable, resilient food systems!

Plenary speakers include Karen Bassarab, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future; Moe Garahan, Food Communities Network, Just Food in Ottawa; Tia Schwab, BITE (formerly Food for Climate League); Raj Patel, University of Texas at Austin; Ashanté Reese, University of Texas at Austin; and more for a day of expert presentations, interactive sessions, and tangible deep-dive workshops.

Then, on March 12, we’re kicking off our 7th annual “All Things Food and Environment” Summit at SXSW in collaboration with Organic Valley, the City of Austin, and Huston-Tillotson University. If you’re in Austin, find more info on joining us by clicking on the title of each program. Otherwise I hope to see you in our livestream audience, which you can join HERE.

And with five distinct events throughout the day, the schedule is jam-packed! From 10 to 11:30 AM, in collaboration with the Environmental Working Group conversations will focus on reimagining systems of urban sustainability and food processing.

From 11:30 to 1:30 with Organic Valley, we’re tackling “Farmstead to Future: CEOs, Chefs, and Farmers Building a Better Food System.” Then, we’ll explore “From Cowboys to Carbon: Grazing Solutions for Carbon, Water, Biodiversity & Supply Chain Resilience” from 1:30 to 2:30 in collaboration with Grassroots Carbon.

After a short afternoon break, we’re hosting an amazing short film festival from 2:30 to 5:30PM in collaboration with American Farmland Trust and Common Table Creative. We’ll be able to see clips and selections from works including “America the Bountiful,” “Farm Hero,” “Food 2050,” and Food Tank’s debut original documentary short “Irish Farmers: A Love Story.”

To close out the day, we’re handing over the stage to the folks who know the food system inside and out—farmers. From 5:30 to 8:30 PM, we’re excited to present “Voices of Female Farmers: A Love Story” with Whole Foods Market and in collaboration with Harvest Earnings.

Here’s the lineup of amazing speakers who will be joining us: Xiye Bastida, Climate Justice Activist; Sara Burnett, ReFED; Capri Cafaro, Host, America the Bountiful; John Chester, Farmer and Filmmaker; Richard Chute, Kerry Dairy Ireland; James Clement, EarthOptics; Katie Collins, ROAM Ranch; Chef Kareem El-Ghayesh, KG BBQ; Oliver English, Common Table Creative; Simon English, Common Table Creative; Scott Faber, Environmental Working Group; Brooke Freeman, Food Systems Coordinator, City of Kansas City, MO; Jerome Foster II, OneMillionOfUs; Vanessa Fuentes, Austin City Councilmember; Filippo Gavazzeni, Milan Urban Food Policy Pact; Johanna Hellrigl, AMA; Michelle Hughes, National Young Farmers Coalition; Steven Jennings, Ahold Delhaize; Diana Johnson, Bezos Earth Fund; Ora Kemp, New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Food Policy; Taylor LaFave, City of Baltimore; Jenny Lester Moffitt, American Farmland Trust; Chef Adrian Lipscombe, 40 Acres and Muloma Heritage Center; Finian Makepeace, Kiss the Ground; Gerardo Martinez, Wild Kid Acres; Edwin Marty, City of Austin; Amanda Masino, Huston-Tillotson University; Melanie McAfee, Barr Mansion; Chef Joshua McFadden, Chef and Author; Shawna Nelson, Organic Valley; Jim O’Toole, Bord Bia; Raj Patel, University of Texas at Austin; John de la Parra, The Rockefeller Foundation; Chef Colter Peck, Dashi Hospitality; Ashanté Reese, The University of Texas at Austin; Carina Roseingrave, Burren View Farm; Grace Rude, City of Minneapolis; Rick Simington, Organic Valley; Dr. Jason Slipp, Rodale Institute; Brad Tipper, Grassroots Carbon; Stephanie Tranel, Tranel Family Farms; Todd Wagner, FoodFight USA; Jake Wedeberg, CROPP Cooperative; Haven Worley, Filmmaker; Laura Zaspel, Farm Hero; and more.

Again, please CLICK HERE to join us in-person, and our livestream link is HERE to bookmark in advance.

Then, we’re heading to Boston for Food Tank’s inaugural Blue Foods Summit on Sunday, March 15, presented alongside our friends at Better Food Future, Marine Stewardship Council, the Culinary Institute of America, and Bluefina, taking place at WBUR-NPR’s CitySpace starting at 2:00PM.

I hope you’ll lend your voice to these important conversations we’re having on the future of aquaculture, either in person by CLICKING HERE or in our livestream audience, which you can join HERE.

Throughout the afternoon, we’ll be joined by experts to discuss everything from traceable supply chains and sustainable protein sources to diversifying blue food systems and strengthening retail leadership—plus a book giveaway opportunity by celebrity chef and seafood expert Barton Seaver.

Our speaker and moderator lineup includes: Deb Becker, WBUR; Daisy Berg, New Seasons Market; Jayson Berryhill, Wholechain; Imani Black, Minorities in Aquaculture; Adam Brennan, Thai Union Frozen and Chicken of the Sea; Niaz Dorry, NAMA; Alexandra Emery, Wakefern Food Corp; Alicia Gaiero, Nauti Sisters Sea Farm; Citlali Gomez Lepe, COMEPESCA Mexico; Kelly Hilovsky, ButcherBox; Robert E. Jones, Culinary Institute of America; Mark Kaplan, Wholechain; Charlotte Langley, Nice Cans; Jackie Marks, Marine Stewardship Council; Barton Seaver, Chef and Author; Huw Thomas, Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability; Manuel Vazquez Escudero, Baja Aqua Farms Group; and Andrew Young, Baja Aqua Farms Group.

Following the Summit, we’re headed to the 4th annual Night at the New England Aquarium, an invite-only opportunity to continue the conversation around traceability, transparency, and needed change within seafood supply chains.

At the Aquarium, in collaboration with Wholechain, Envisible, BlueYou, Pesca Con Futuro, Sea Pact, and Better Food Future in support of the UN Global Compact Ocean Stewardship Coalition, we’ll hear from leaders including Mark Kaplan, Wholechain; OB Bera, Beacon Fisheries; Sam Grimley, Sea Pact; René Benguerel, BlueYou; Nick Andoni, Envisible; Blake Stok, Chicken of the Sea; Erin Taylor, Wholechain; Stephanie Pazzaglia, JJ McDonnell; Jon Black, Floribbean; Alex Golub, Acme Smoked Fish; and more to be announced. More info can be found HERE.

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 Vitolda Klein, Unsplash

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The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) is working to empower the women in India’s informal sector. Today, they organize roughly 3.8 million women workers across the country.

For more than 50 years, SEWA has fought for the self-reliance of women, advocating for fair wages, healthcare, insurance, housing and access to markets and training. Their network includes vendors and hawkers, producers, labor and service providers, and home-based workers.

“We come together as poor, as women, and as workers, no matter what caste, community, or religion they belong to,” Reema Nanavaty, Head of SEWA, tells Food Tank. “We come together to build our collective strength in our fight against poverty.”

In a country that remains an agrarian economy, more than half of SEWA’s members are farmers or agricultural workers. And as the climate crisis places a greater strain on food production, men in rural areas are seeking opportunities in cities, leaving women responsible for farms. “There’s a feminization of agriculture happening,” Nanavaty says. 

But SEWA reports that many women farmers are still constrained by gender discrimination, including the lack of land ownership and access to key resources. And the worsening heat and extreme weather events threaten to exacerbate the inequities further.

Unseasonal rains, floods, and cyclones are damaging crops and reducing working hours, leading to a reduction in income. “Everybody was thinking that the climate crisis would eventually come,” Nanavaty tells Food Tank, “but the reality is that climate stress happens twice or thrice in a month.”

Over time, household food security suffers, women are unable to pay their bills, and the risk of eviction mounts. This has forced many of SEWA’s members into the fields, even in life-threatening conditions. That’s why SEWA is making it a priority to build resilience to the climate crisis.

Parametric climate insurance offers one solution. When measurable indicators, such as temperature or rainfall, surpass a predetermined threshold, the women enrolled in the program receive a payout that keeps them both financially secure and safe. According to Nanavaty, 20,000 of SEWA’s members signed up for their program in 2022. Since then, awareness of the program and its impact has grown. By 2025, roughly a quarter of a million people were enrolled.

The Association also launched a climate school, where women can learn about the climate crisis and find new opportunities to support their livelihoods. The climate educators teach women about the climate crisis, the causes, and how they can mitigate its effects.

A second group Nanavaty calls “climate entrepreneurs” helps households move toward cleaner energy sources. They “generate the demand for adaptation” through solutions like solar-powered precision irrigation pumps and efficient electrical appliances. Women receive commission based on their level of involvement supporting the transition.

These solutions, SEWA believes, are essential. “We are not here to fight a government or a trader or a contractor,” Nanavaty tells Food Tank, “but how do we fight poverty and earn a life of dignity and self respect?”

Listen to the full conversation with Reema Nanavaty on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to hear about how SEWA is expanding on their parametric insurance program, the social and environmental benefits of clean cooking, and the Association’s vision for the next 50 years.

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 As Climate Stress Grows, SEWA Equips Women Farmers With New Tools appeared first on Food Tank.

Joyce Uptown Food Shelf in Minneapolis, Minnesota is stepping up for a community in crisis. Following the official end of the Federal Operation Metro Surge, the food shelf says innovation remains important as they work to meet neighbors’ needs. 

The Federal Operation Metro Surge, launched in December, brought several thousand agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) into Minneapolis. During this period, Department of Homeland Security agents shot and killed two Minneapolis residents, 37-year-old Renee Good and 37-year-old Alex Pretti, as well as taking children into custody. The White House reports that more than 4,000 arrests were made.

Although the Trump-Vance Administration recently announced the surge’s end, many immigrant families report they still fear leaving their homes, including for school and work.

Over the last few months, Joyce Uptown Food Shelf shifted their processes to ensure that households can still access food and other necessities. For Matthew Ayres, Executive Director of Joyce Uptown, this flexibility will remain important to keep families safe. 

Ayres says he began to see the number of drop-ins decline months before the start of Operation Metro Surge, as federal agents began moving into the city. “Two years ago, we saw a huge influx of Ecuadorian families coming in… and they disappeared, starting in September, October,” he tells Food Tank.

Located within two miles from where both Good and Pretti were killed, the food shelf has become a prominent site for donations and volunteers, both locally and nationally, Ayres says. At the height of the Surge, he estimates the shelf was running at 130 percent capacity, with an approximate 120,000 pounds of food going out in February.

When asked how things changed after the killing of Good, Ayres tells Food Tank, “We started getting money and attention and volunteers and donations. Everything changed for us, but not for the people that were getting food.” 

The organization altered their model to help get food to families unable to visit in person. In the past, long-term clients came in to shop at the shelf, while others picked up pre-made bags. Today, Joyce Uptown fills emergency food bags stocked with essentials: apples, potatoes, onions, eggs, chicken, rice, beans, pasta, milk, and canned goods. 

Through a partnership with local schools, teachers come by to retrieve the bags for their students, or the food shelf delivers the bags to the schools themselves. Patrons of the food shelf and other volunteers are also bringing bags to families unable to leave their homes.

Ayres says that Joyce’s Volunteer Coordinator didn’t have a model to work off to deliver groceries at the start. “She really created this from scratch,” he says.

The food shelf also streamlined their processes to deter ICE, Ayres says. “People move through here so fast. It used to be a five to eight minute wait, now it’s one to two.” They found that if people aren’t lingering at the food shelf, ICE is less likely to use it as a staging area.

Although Ayres says the work is exhausting, he also calls it deeply rewarding. “Random people are coming up and giving us hugs or crying… this in particular is the center point of hope, but also despair.”

Ayres tells Food Tank that since the end of Operation Metro Surge, “Joyce has seen a few more Spanish-speaking shoppers come in, but [their] deliveries and school pickups are still steady or growing…You still have tons of families sheltering, classroom chairs are still empty, and people are still pretty reluctant to get out.”

But since the start of the year, organizations like Joyce Uptown and other mutual aid programs “have finally found a rhythm,” Ayres says. Processes have become streamlined and mutual aid groups have professionalized.

To food pantries across the country who may need to step up similarly in the coming months or years, Ayres shares what he’s learned: “Connection to schools is important…[so is] listening to and learning from mutual aid groups.” He also sees the importance of defining clear roles. “My lane is being able to purchase large scale eggs, beans and potatoes. Those schools need to be getting produce.”

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 Joyce Uptown Food Shelf

The post ICE’s Impact on Food Security, as Seen Through Joyce Uptown Food Shelf appeared first on Food Tank.

The 4th Annual Youth Storytellers Field to Film Festival is inviting young people from smallholder, rural, and Indigenous farming families to document how their communities are transforming food systems through agroecology.

The festival runs until March 12 and is part of Groundswell International’s Youth Storyteller Program.

In honor of the United Nations’ International Year of the Woman Farmer, the 2026 festival places a special emphasis on the central role of women farmers in rural food systems. “Many of the female youth who participate in this program play many roles,” Groundswell International Program Director Rebecca Wolff tells Food Tank. “While they are youth, they are also parents, entrepreneurs, farmers, or students, responsible for the wellbeing of their families and land.”

The program and festival began in 2021, and originally included four partner organizations across Ecuador, Burkina Faso, Nepal, and Honduras. It has since expanded to engage nearly 500 youth participants and create over 50 nonfiction and fiction short films. The program now includes 11 partner groups across Mali, Ghana, Senegal, Mexico, Guatemala, and Haiti.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that women farmers, especially young women, face more precarious working conditions, heavier workloads, and less equitable access to resources than their male counterparts.

Justine Natama, a filmmaker from Burkina Faso, will present “Women’s Access to Resources: A Lever for Agroecology and Sustainability,” the film she developed through the Youth Storyteller Program.

Melissa López, a youth Honduran filmmaker, explores similar intersections of gender and agriculture in her work. “At the local level, I would like people to value the work done by rural women,” she tells Food Tank.

Youth also face significant challenges in the rural agrifood sector. According to the FAO, nearly 85 percent of global youth live in low- and lower-middle-income countries where agrifood systems are essential to their livelihoods. And although 44 percent of working young people rely on agrifood systems for employment, compared to 38 percent of working adults, youth perspectives are rarely centered in stories about agriculture.

“Centering youth voices is also a matter of justice. The next generation is inheriting food systems that deplete landscapes, harm health, and deepen inequality,” Maylis MouBarak, Groundswell International’s Storytelling and Communications Manager, tells Food Tank. “Including rural youth in these conversations is essential. They bring firsthand experience of what works on the ground and can help identify and scale solutions that are relevant not only to their own communities, but to broader efforts to build food systems that work for people and the planet.”

The Youth Storyteller Program equips participants to effectively share these stories. Youth filmmakers receive equipment, ongoing support, and long-term training from local consultants and professional storytellers, covering interviewing, filming, editing, and narrative development. Creative control remains entirely in their hands. The filmmakers are also able to deepen their knowledge and understanding of their agency in food and agriculture systems.

“Initially I used to think agriculture meant farming in large areas, huge production and not suitable for marginal farmers,” Saroj Upadhyaya, a storyteller and filmmaker from Nepal, tells Food Tank. “But when I visited farmers during the YST [Youth Storyteller] video shooting, I saw people practicing agriculture on their own, raising three to four goats in small spaces nearby their house, maintaining kitchen gardens, and getting healthy nutritious foods year-round.”

Youth Storyteller Program participant and Nepali filmmaker Bimala Shrestha shares similar insights. Through the filmmaking process, she discovered the human health benefits of botanical pesticides and natural farming practices.

For others showing their work in this year’s Field to Film Festival, the process is an affirmation of their existence in farming and storytelling. “As a young girl, I used to think that photojournalism and fieldwork were jobs for men,” says Justine Natama. “Today, I am proud to prove the opposite.”

The Field to Film Festival’s short films are available to livestream and watch here.

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 Groundswell International

The post Field to Film Festival Amplifies Indigenous and Rural Youth Voices appeared first on Food Tank.

The Lexicon of Food and BBC StoryWorks recently announced a new digital film series Unearthing the Future: Writing the New Lexicon of Food. Each episode spotlights key figures, ideas, and practices shaping food and agriculture, while highlighting the role language plays in the transformation of these systems.

The six films, which explore topics including land access, alternative proteins, and school lunches, help viewers understand how food choices and farming systems affect wellbeing. Together, the series explores what it will take to build food and agriculture systems that regenerate the land and promote social inclusion and wellness while reducing negative environmental impacts.

“Our food system isn’t failing because we lack solutions, we’re failing because we’ve lost the patience to go deep enough to uncover them, again and again within their own contextual realities,” says Laura Howard-Gayeton, Executive Director of The Lexicon of Food. “This series is a call to share long knowledge, community by community and to unearth the future, without shortcuts in harmony with nature.”

After watching the films, audiences can also dive deeper into the concepts introduced in each episode through The Food Library and test their knowledge of key terms through an online quiz.

Learn more about the series and watch now by clicking HERE.

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 Barbara Krysztofiak, Unsplash

The post ‘Unearthing the Future’ Unpacks the Food and Farming Systems Impacting Human Health appeared first on Food Tank.

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

House Agriculture Committee Prepares for Farm Bill Markup

The House Agriculture Committee’s Farm Bill markup will take in the coming days after being delayed due to a winter storm.

But the latest draft of the House Farm Bill has been a source of concern for some anti-hunger and sustainable agriculture advocates. Ty Jones Cox, Vice President for Food Assistance, at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says that the latest draft “fails to address the crisis created by cuts to SNAP enacted last summer.” And Abby J. Leibman, President and CEO of MAZON, says that the legislation “is not a viable or reasonable legislative response to the sabotaging of our federal anti-hunger programs, and [House Agriculture Chair Glenn] Thompson knows it.”

This past week more than 100 hunger organizations—worried about cuts to a bipartisan food security program for rural seniors—also sent a letter to House and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders. They urged Congress to preserve the Delivering for Rural Seniors Act in the Farm Bill.

On the agriculture side, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) says that the draft “falls unmistakably short.”  NSAC notes there are some bright spots, such as a greater investment in 1890 land grant universities and updated Agriculture and Food Research Initiative priority areas, which include language around regionally adapted cultivars and breeding for environmental resilience. But they also worry that after significant cuts to the workforce of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the legislation does nothing to stabilize the agency or increase staffing levels to ensure farmers can access the federal programs they rely on. 

U.S. Farmers Reject Bid for Land

The Guardian reports that U.S. farmers are rejecting multi-million dollar bids for their land as tech companies race to build the massive data centers needed to power artificial intelligence. A report from Hines, a real estate investment manager, estimates that 40,000 acres of land for datacenter development will be needed over the next five years to support new projects. That’s double the amount currently in use. 

But companies are facing resistance to their plans. One Kentucky farmer, Ida Huddleston, received an offer on the farmland worth more than US$33 million. But the land has been in her family for centuries, and she told them she wasn’t interested. Huddleston, who’s 82, says that her entire life “is nothing but the land,” which has provided her with “anything and everything” she has needed. When the offer came through, she responded, “You don’t have enough to buy me out. I’m not for sale.”

And when Timothy Grosser in Kentucky rejected his first offer of US$8 million, developers asked him to name his price. He pushed back again, telling them “There is none.”

Grosser reports that some neighbors are giving in—and he doesn’t blame them, especially when the offers are high and companies are warning they may invoke eminent domain to have the land seized. But around the country, many producers are continuing to hold out. One farmer in Pennsylvania rejected a US$15 million offer on his land last month. Around the same time another, based in Wisconsin, turned down an offer of US$80 million. 

It’s an encouraging story, especially in light of new U.S. Department of Agriculture data, which shows that the number of U.S. farms shrank by 15,000 in 2025.

Brazil Celebrates Drop in Deforestation

Satellite monitoring shows that deforestation has continued to decline in early 2026 and the clearing of trees between August 2025 and January of this year is at the lowest levels for this period since 2014. 

Brazil’s Environment Minister Marina Silva said that the progress is thanks to coordinated government action. Seventy of the 81 municipalities with the most deforestation have joined federal initiatives that are focused on reducing illegal clearing. Authorities are also leveraging resources from the Amazon Fund to further support enforcement and prevention efforts. 

According to Silva, if the current trend is maintained, Brazil could see the lowest deforestation rate in history this year. 

Major Food Brands Voices Support for the Food Date Labeling Act (FDLA)

More than 30 brands and food industry supporters recently signed onto an open letter from the Zero Food Waste Coalition and the Consumer Brands Association, which calls on Congress to pass the bipartisan Food Date Labeling Act. 

Roughly one third of food goes to waste in the United States each year. According to data from ReFED, confusion over date labels leads to 4.3 million tons of food waste in the U.S. each year, which costs households and businesses more than US$22 billion annually. ReFED also reports that more eaters are discarding edible food prematurely due to date label confusion than they did a decade ago.

Now, major companies are backing legislation that can help curb the problem. FMI-The Food Industry Association, Walmart, Amazon, and Unilever are among the businesses that signed onto the letter, which urges policymakers to clarify date-labeling standards.

The Food Date Labeling Act would require that businesses choose from one of two standard date labels. The options are a Best if Used By label, which indicates when a product’s quality begins to decline, and the Use By label, which indicates when a product should be discarded. The Act also requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Food and Drug Administration to work together to provide education on the standardized date labels. And it makes donations of food past the Best if Used By date allowable if the products meet safety specifications.

Action on Food Waste Can Help Curb AMR Risks

A new review paper from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization looks at the risks of spreading anti-microbial resistance. According to FAO, food loss and waste can be “a reservoir and even an accelerator” for anti-microbial resistance (AMR) because it’s a good substrate for bacterial growth, especially in landfills and open dumps. The researchers say some studies have actually found a higher abundance of antimicrobial resistant genes in food waste than sewage sludge or swine manure. 

Although animal agriculture is a known contributor to AMR, the researchers say that their work shows that food loss and waste should be integrated into AMR surveillance and management strategies. And when conditions are optimized, composting, anaerobic digestion, and converting surplus food to animal feed can reduce antimicrobial resistance genes and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. 

Junxia [jun-shah] Song, Chief of the One Health and Disease Control Branch at FAO who helped lead the review, says that linking food loss and waste to AMR is “both timely and strategic” because “it creates an opportunity for coordinated action that reduces waste while strengthening global efforts to contain AMR.”

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 Yogesh Pedamkar, Unsplash

The post Food Tank’s Weekly News Roundup: The Next Farm Bill, Producers Stand Their Ground, and the Latest Progress on Deforestation appeared first on Food Tank.

A version of this piece was featured in Food Tank’s newsletter, typically 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.

Around the globe, 36 percent of working women are employed within agriculture and food systems—around the same percentage as men. But sadly, that’s about where the similarities end.

Women working in agriculture make about 82 cents for every dollar men earn, and much of the work women do, more than 4 hours a day, goes unpaid altogether. Women are often more economically vulnerable than men, who tend to have greater ownership or management rights over their land and more stable employment in off-farm food jobs, according to data from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

But from major cities to rural communities, women are at the forefront of leading sustainable and equitable food system transformations!

Over the past year or so, I’ve had the opportunity to talk with some amazing women on the front lines of building a better food system. I’ve been reflecting on these inspiring conversations, especially now during International Year of the Woman Farmer and with International Women’s Day coming up on March 8.

From St. Lucia across the Caribbean, Keithlin Caroo-Afrifa is transforming women’s food and farm leadership through the organization Helen’s Daughters, which she founded and directs.

“We try to take a very holistic approach,” she told me on Food Talk. “So we’re not just building the capacity of a farm worker or farmer, we’re building the capacity of somebody who could essentially be a leader in their family, in the community, even in the region.”

In Philadelphia, Christa Barfield’s Farmer Jawn is a 128-acre working farm, building a model that enables regenerative organic food production by and for underserved communities. As she reminded us, “How you eat now isn’t just about you. Food is about lineage. It’s about everyone in your bloodline before you and the ones that are coming after you.”

And in the Philippines, men and women farmers both experience challenges accessing land, markets, and training—but these are much more severe for women, says Esther Penunia, Secretary General of the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA). The organization works across Asia to increase resilience and well-being for small-scale family farmers.

“When we unleash their potential to contribute to food security, to health and nutrition, when we help them to be able to fulfill these roles…[there will be a] dramatic increase in terms of the availability of healthy food,” she told me on Food Talk. “It is very important for women farmers that they are able to see that their work is valuable…and their work is supported.”

The data also backs this up: Empowering women means strengthening the food system! If even half of producers were able to benefit from development programs that focus on uplifting women, some 58 million people would see higher incomes; closing that wage and productivity gap would lift 45 million people out of food insecurity, per the FAO.

“Particularly for women, the inequalities are deeply entrenched in the food system,” Ismahane Elouafi, the Executive Managing Director of CGIAR, told me on Food Talk. “As we are talking about women, adaptation to climate change is very important, and nutrition is super important because they are the custodians of nutrition when we talk about the household, particularly for small kids.

As entrepreneurs and leaders at major companies, women are helping transform the private sector, too. As the Vice President of Sustainability at Whole Foods Market, Caitlin Leibert told us at Climate Week NYC last year that her goal is “to strip out the elitism of regenerative agriculture and get back to the joy, beauty, and importance of farming.”

And as the Founder and CEO of Matriark, Anna Hammond is showing how farm surplus and fresh-cut items can be upcycled into nutritious food service and retail products that are climate-smart while supporting farmers’ incomes. Down in Australia, Ronni Kahn is also transforming food rescue through OzHarvest, for which she’s the Founder and Visionary in Residence.

“Innovation is in our DNA,” Ronni told me on Food Talk. “I never thought of myself as an entrepreneur, but clearly what I care about most is innovation, creating, and recreating. … We really have to redesign society. Some people probably think I’m completely mad—they probably always have, and that’s okay—but I have set a goal that we need to end hunger because we’ve created it, so we can uncreate it.”

We’ve been able to feature so many more amazing changemakers on the Food Talk podcast and at our events, too. Ndidi Nwuneli, the President and CEO of the ONE Campaign, talked about how important women are not just on farms but as chefs and storytellers and business leaders, too. Mariangela Hungria, the 2025 World Food Prize Laureate, explained why “the science of the future will be a female science.”

And as we’ve turned the stage over to farmers for evenings of authentic storytelling, we’ve heard heartwarming and motivating stories—like at Climate Week NYC last year, when we heard personal tales from folks like Karen Washington and Sea Matías.

When we talk about a sustainable, resilient, nourishing future for the food system, we need to be talking about gender equity! And trust me, I could go on forever sharing stories from women who are leading the way. For now, I hope you’ll take time to dive deeper into the conversations I’ve linked throughout this newsletter, and find even more over on our Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg podcast feed and on our YouTube channel.

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 Gatete Pacifique, Wikimedia Commons

The post These Stories Prove How Inspiring Women Are Leading Food System Transformation appeared first on Food Tank.

In the fishing town of Astoria, Oregon, the 29th annual FisherPoets Gathering will bring together commercial fishers to share poetry, essays, and songs about life in a changing seafood industry.

Every year, on the last weekend of February, fishers, tourists, and artists gather in the breweries, bars, and playhouses to hear stories about making a living on the water.

Jon Broderick, commercial salmon fisherman and schoolteacher, founded the FisherPoets Gathering nearly 30 years ago. “We never met with the goal of maintaining or continuing culture, but just to continue to enjoy our own,” Broderick tells Food Tank.

The first gathering grew out of Broderick’s desire to reconnect with his fishing friends and celebrate their shared love of the work through poetry. In 1998, 39 poets and their guests squeezed into an Astoria bar called the Wet Dog. Today, the festival fills venues across town and features poetry, workshops, and presentations from environmental advocates, artists, and heritage craftspeople.

Over the years, the workshops have featured speakers from Global Ocean Health, along with habitat restoration leaders and advocates working on issues such as Pebble Mine—a proposed large-scale copper and gold mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed that has raised concerns about risks to one of the world’s most productive salmon fisheries.

The 2026 lineup continues that tradition, bringing policy, science, and community voices into the heart of the gathering. Participants represent organizations including the North American Marine Alliance, Wild Salmon Center, Oregon Sea Grant, FishHer Columbia Pacific CommUNITY Alliance, and the Columbia River Maritime Museum.

Amanda J. Gladics, Associate Professor of Practice with Oregon Sea Grant’s Fisheries Extension, works closely with the FisherPoets Gathering to help organize its events and create accessible pathways to sustainable fishing programs. For her, poetry and community-driven narratives serve as a gateway to broader conversations, with many poets weaving these issues directly into their work.

“These topics, along with family legacy and transitions, risk and uncertainty, and the impacts of environmental change on fisheries management, become relatable in a different way,” Gladics tells Food Tank. “They’re filtered through individual artistic expression rather than the analytical arguments we might hear in the news or in policy forums.”

That relatability is one of the gathering’s defining strengths, Broderick emphasizes. He makes it clear that participants do not need to be professional poets or writers. “You just have to have lived a life and tell your truth about it,” he says. “It’s got to be authentic.”

The Gathering also aims to challenge common stereotypes about fishing, including the idea that it is a dying industry.

The Alaska Department of Labor reports that seafood harvesting jobs fell for the fifth consecutive year in 2024, bringing the workforce to its lowest level since data collection began in 2001 in one of the West Coast’s major fishing grounds. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration finds US$1.8 billion in wholesale revenue losses from 2022 to 2023 and more than 38,000 fishing and related jobs lost nationwide, with effects reaching Washington, Oregon, California, and beyond.

But Gladics sees a demographic shift emerging in the seafood sector. “We have a younger generation in their 20s, 30s, and 40s who are redefining what it means to be part of this self-selected community,” she says.

The gathering tries to challenge the misconception that modern fishing on North America’s West Coast is dominated by industrial fleets. Many of the poets who share their work at the festival are commercial fishers, but most are owner-operators or work for them. “They’re not answering to a corporate structure,” says Broderick.

Both Broderick and Gladics believe the gathering is a testament to the people and communities navigating this changing landscape, with shifting regulations, environmental pressures, and evolving misconceptions.

“If we can each be open to really hearing another person’s experiences—sometimes vastly different from our own,” Gladics says, “it allows for empathy and connection, and hopefully a window into valuing the bounty of the ocean and the people who bring it to us in a new way.”

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 Jeff Taylor

The post Astoria’s FisherPoets Give Testimony to Transition appeared first on Food Tank.

Azeem Zakir Kareem, co-founder of the Samad Gardens Initiative in Bloomfield, Connecticut, did not grow up planning to become a farmer. As a hip-hop artist and breakdancer from Hartford, his path into agriculture began unexpectedly through his wife, Sarah Rose Kareem, who worked on a 26-acre organic regenerative farm. Despite having little exposure to farming, Azeem found a job on the same farm. The experience highlighted how disconnected many urban communities are from the sources of their food.

“I had the craziest culture shock,” says Azeem. “The plant looks like the grocery store, but it’s different…Peppers grow on plants. Tomatoes grow on a vine…There’s pigs over there, and where I’m from, our livestock is pitbulls and rottweilers.”

This planted the seed for what would become the Samad Gardens Initiative, an herb farm and education initiative. The Kareems’ vision was to inspire a new generation of farmers of color and bridge cultural divides in agriculture. They became full-time farmers providing locally grown, nutritious food and hands-on experiences to their community.

But then came the COVID-19 pandemic. Azeem started getting calls from his friends in the cities, who couldn’t find enough food in their neighborhoods. For him, this moment was an epiphany.

“I grew up being hungry…there’s a time in my life I had to steal food to eat,” says Azeem. “My brain was like, I can’t do this by myself. And I’m looking at and dealing with other farmers…We have over 100 black and brown farmers in my state on one network…We have to do something to combat this.”

Azeem realized that individual farms could not meet community needs alone. He leaned into collective action, creating and expanding farmer-led efforts such as the Liberated Land Cooperative, which launched Connecticut’s first-ever statewide Community Supported Agriculture program. The initiative now connects Black and Brown farmers from across Connecticut to provide fresh, locally grown produce to their communities.

Azeem also helped establish the Black-led Sovereign Land Trust and the Venture Farming Institute, an emerging educational and training program aiming to increase the number of underrepresented farmers in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Through this work, Azeem has become a vocal critic of inequities embedded in the food system.

“The food system works as intended. It’s not broken. It works as intended,” says Azeem, emphasizing that systemic failures disproportionately harm marginalized communities. “What are we going to do when someone sneezes too hard, and the whole thing collapses? That’s been my primary concern.”

Today, Azeem helps farmers not only increase yields but also integrate regenerative practices and prepare for future disruptions. His approach blends agriculture, culture, and empowerment. But his role also extends beyond the field: As a longtime hip-hop artist who has shared stages with popular artists like KRS-One and Public Enemy, Azeem uses his platform to connect with audiences who may not see themselves reflected in traditional food and farming spaces.

“I get to bring this message to different people who look at me like, ‘Yes, it’s real. It’s real,’” says Azeem.

Azeem’s philosophy is grounded in respect for the land. Regeneration, for him, is both ecological and cultural: Repairing soil while restoring relationships between people and the sources of their food.

“How do we treat the Earth like how you treat your mama?” says Azeem. “We call it Mama Earth for a reason.”

This article is part of Food Tank’s ongoing Farmer Friday series, produced in partnership with Niman Ranch, a champion for independent U.S. family farmers. The series highlights the stories of farmers working toward a more sustainable, equitable food system. Niman Ranch partners with over 500 small-scale U.S. family farmers and is committed to preserving rural agricultural communities and their way of life. Food Tank was proud to collaborate with Niman Ranch in lifting up family farmer stories, including Azeem’s, at Climate Week NYC: A Night of Storytelling Honoring Our Farmers. Watch his story and others on Food Tank’s YouTube channel.

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 Azeem Zakir Kareem

The post Collective Action Confronts Food System Inequities in Connecticut appeared first on Food Tank.

A new YouTube channel from author and researcher Jules Pretty makes the case for stories as a powerful tool for climate action and systems change.

Pretty, an Emeritus Professor of Environment and Society at the University of Essex, launched Story for Climate and Nature Recovery to explore how people can build agency in the face of today’s most pressing challenges. The channel’s videos, each five to ten minutes in length, cover topics around storytelling, climate, and nature.  

“Transformations are hard. They’re psychologically difficult, physically difficult to do,” Pretty tells Food Tank. But, he asks, “how do we talk about these things without increasing anxiety and stress?”

Too often narratives of nature loss and the climate crisis are overwhelmingly negative, Pretty says. And while there is a time and place for this messaging, he voices caution about relying too heavily on fear.

“We have to choose our moments when we talk about the bad stuff really carefully because it’s scaring people,” Pretty states. “Maybe scaring them is not the right thing to do. Maybe people are scared enough.”

But Pretty believes that stories, when crafted skillfully, can inspire action and lend strength, helping communities tackle challenges that are both old and new. The best ones, he argues, do three things: They map multiple pathways forward, create agency, and bring people together.

“It’s about the journey that we go on and how we acquire that inspiration, that feeling that we’re not alone, that humanity has been doing this forever,” says Pretty, noting that imagination will be key.

“Imagine things,” Pretty tells Food Tank, “because that’s going to give us a sense of a range of possibilities in front of us.”

Listen to or watch the full conversation with Jules Pretty on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to hear about the buy-in that’s needed from communities to drive systems change, the power of rituals and celebrations, and the vulnerability we need to move forward.

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 Beyond Doom and Gloom: Transforming Climate Anxiety into Agency and Action appeared first on Food Tank.

The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) recently hosted a webinar to examine how expanding use of GLP-1 weight-loss medications is reshaping food consumption, nutrition priorities, and product innovation. The changes extend beyond appetite suppression, influencing consumer preferences and sensitivity to flavors and textures.

Whitney Evans, Director of Nutrition and Scientific Affairs at Danone U.S., says that about 10 percent of adults in the United States have used or are currently taking a GLP-1 drug, and over half of American adults meet the criteria for the medication. With growing adoption, the food industry is rethinking product design to align with evolving nutrition needs and consumer preferences.

In the webinar, “Smaller Plates, Bigger Opportunities: Designing Food for Post-GLP-1 Appetites,” speakers discussed what that redesign could look like. Reduced appetites and new eating patterns are prompting companies to develop products with portion size, nutrient composition, and sensory experience in mind. As this happens, Evans emphasizes the importance of meals delivering sufficient protein, fiber, and micronutrients within reduced serving sizes.

“We know that GLP-1 medications not only reduce gastrointestinal transit, but they also impact the brain,” Evans says.

David Lundahl, founder and CEO of InsightsNow, adds that eaters often experience diminished appetite, sensory changes, and reduced thoughts around food while on the medications. He explains that GLP-1 users can have heightened sensitivity to flavors and textures, including aversions to greasy and overly sweet foods. As users eat slowly and develop sensitivity to strong flavors, Lundahl says, “texture can be a dealbreaker.”

In response, food companies may focus more on texture as flavors become less enticing. “Instead of trying to develop things that people would crave, it shifts to food product guidance that is about tolerance, avoiding displeasures, or slowing down eating rates through textural design,” Lundahl says.

As portion sizes decrease, food companies are reformulating products to deliver sufficient protein and key nutrients. “There is a lot of demand for novel protein formats,” Lundahl offers. He also notes an opportunity to fortify foods. “As people eat to live rather than living to eat, vitamins and minerals are going to be lacking,” he says.

Limited data on users’ diets before starting GLP-1s and while taking them has made it challenging to offer evidence-based recommendations. “We’re not exactly sure what this population needs, but we do know what’s relevant for individuals seeking weight loss in other areas,” Evans says.

Danone is prioritizing research and product development to better understand the role of protein and the nutritional needs of GLP-1 users. In consumer research, the company finds GLP-1 users seek small, readily available products.

“One of the things we heard over and over again is that it’s really difficult to eat on the go,” Evans says. “Our current ecosystem is not built for smaller portion sizes, and particularly for this population.” Danone’s yogurt brand OIKOS Fusion was the first cultured dairy drink designed specifically for the nutritional needs and preferences of GLP-1 users.

Access to education is another area of focus for Danone. “Ninety percent of GLP-1 users had no contact with a registered dietitian prior to initiating the medication,” Evans says. “A lot of people starting these medications are unfortunately flying blind with respect to what type of nutrition they should be prioritizing.”

Danone has built several tools to address this gap. This includes a website providing users with nutrition recommendations from registered dietitians. They’re also equipping pharmacists with nutrition guidelines to help support GLP-1 users as they pick up their medications.

Evans also notes the importance of building healthy routines, so eaters aren’t relying entirely on GLP-1s to maintain a healthy weight.

Evans says that similar nutritional needs apply to both GLP-1 users and non-users. “If we all focus on eating a more nutrient dense diet and prioritize essential nutrients, we’re going to be better off to the point where maybe we won’t need medication…to be doing some of this work for us.”

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.

The post How GLP-1 Medications Are Driving Food and Beverage Innovation appeared first on Food Tank.

Chefs in the Schools (CITS) recently released a new report on its three-year program bringing sustainable nutrition to New York City Public Schools, during which they fed nearly 1 million children daily. They hope their takeaways can serve as a blueprint to scale sustainable school meals nationally. 

Wellness in the Schools (WITS), a national nonprofit educating children on healthy habits, launched CITS in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy, the New York City Department of Education, and the Office of Food and Nutrition Services. The program aims to increase the quantity of plant-based, scratch-made, and culturally inclusive meals served in NYC schools, while decreasing the amount of processed food. They did this through developing menus, training school cooks on best practices for healthful meals, and providing nutrition and culinary education to children.

The new report shows that CITS established 44 recipes fitting their desired criteria. Food education and side-by-side training reached 1,035 public schools, hundreds of school cooks, and more than 850,000 students. Multiple training methods including side-by-side training and an off-site CookCamp training, teaching staff new skills and providing a higher level of support, collaboration with the city of New York, and student engagement, all contributed to the program’s success.

Alexina Cather, Director of Policy and Special Projects for WITS, tells Food Tank, “Our findings make clear that transforming school food requires more than swapping ingredients. It requires investing in people, training, and systems. Through Chefs in the Schools, we’ve demonstrated that when schools are supported with culinary expertise and professional development, scratch cooking becomes scalable and sustainable.”

The pilot also faced challenges. Both the high cost of fresh produce and assumptions that produce will be expensive even when it’s not created difficulties. Additionally, school cafeteria staff shortages and inadequate kitchen equipment were setbacks the program faced. Difficulty measuring and quantifying outcomes was another factor CITS needed to contend with

According to the report, these issues are not unique to New York City. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that most of the calories consumed by youth nationwide are from ultra-processed foods (UPFs). These products, prevalent in both school and packaged meals, are associated with health concerns including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. The CDC also reports that children who eat nutrient-poor diets are at increased risk of hindered cognitive development, more school days missed, academic delays, and behavioral and emotional challenges.

Food insecurity is also a justice issue. Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities are more impacted by the health concerns caused by lack of access to sufficient nutrition, experiencing diabetes at a 1.5 times greater rate than white populations. 

But WITS sees schools as uniquely situated to transform the systemic challenges facing food and agriculture systems into an opportunity for societal change. Their report provides a series of policy recommendations with the aim of scaling nutritious, culturally-relevant, and sustainable school meals.

 One recommendation is to eliminate ultra-processed food from school menus. California, for example, made progress towards this through its passing of Assembly Bill 1264, known as the Real Food, Healthy Kids Act. This law will phase-out ultra-processed food from school meals, eliminating them entirely by 2035.

WITS also advocates for the alignment of federal policy with public health goals. They argue that subsidies for fruits and vegetables would create greater incentive for schools to use them in their meals.

Additionally, the report advocates for reform in school food procurement, encouraging schools to invest in local supply chains that can provide healthy and whole ingredients. They also stress the importance of kitchen infrastructure that is well-suited to scratch-cooking, and the importance of opportunities for professional development for school food workers.

True-cost accounting, healthy school meals for all legislation, and higher federal reimbursement rates for school lunches are amongst the other policy avenues the report recommends.

Cather tells Food Tank, “This report is both a celebration of what’s possible and a call to policymakers and funders to prioritize school food as a cornerstone of health equity.”

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 Wellness in the Schools 

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Bruce Friedrich’s new book Meat: How the Next Agricultural Revolution Will Transform Humanity’s Favorite Food―and Our Future argues that plant-based and cultivated meat are humanity’s best hope of mitigating the harms of modern animal agriculture. As a part of making that case, Friedrich offers an insider’s analysis of what’s gone right and wrong in the quest to create plant-based and cultivated meat that compete on price and taste with their conventional counterparts. What follows is a section from chapter seven, which focuses on plant-based meat. Find out more about the book at MeatBook.org.

In my experience, most people—even those excited about alternative meats—believe that making plant-based meat is a culinary endeavor. Mix the right ingredients, get creative with spices and flavors, and voilà: meatless meat.

Their intuition is failing them. That’s not it at all.

GFI scientist Erin Rees Clayton explained to me that plant-based meat is asking biology to do something outside its nature: Plant proteins are globular; animal proteins are fibrous. Plant oils are liquids at room temperature; animal fats are solids. Replicating the structure and functionality of meat with entirely different ingredients isn’t just a matter of culinary craft; it’s a scientific problem.

The two plant-based meat pioneers, Impossible and Beyond, understand this. They weren’t playing with recipes. They hired tissue engineers, molecular biologists, chemists, meat scientists, extrusion engineers, plant breeders, and more. Their goal was not different in degree from the plant-based meat companies that had existed up until that point; their goal was different in kind. They were building a brand-new category from scratch, applying the rigors of science and engineering to food.

Erin expanded on this challenge, explaining her view that the underlying science of plant-based meat is, contrary to my intuition, a lot more complex than the science of cultivated meat: “Virtually no one is trained across the entire plant-based meat production process. Plant breeders can modify and improve crops but often don’t know what happens once those crops leave the field. Protein chemists can extract high-purity proteins but may not understand how different extraction techniques affect flavor, digestibility, or food functionality. Food scientists understand formulation but may not have experience with extrusion. Meat scientists know meat, but they’ve rarely applied their knowledge to plant proteins.”

Pat Brown put it bluntly: “The most important scientific problem in the world,” he said, was “What makes meat taste delicious?” And Impossible Foods was going to find the answer. Pat recruited a team of scientists and treated plant-based meat like an Apollo-level mission.

Allen Henderson joined Impossible in 2014 and worked there for about a decade. He spent his first two years as one of many scientists working on the 2016 burger launch. He told me that most meat and food companies spend less than 1% of their budgets on research, while pharma companies often invest closer to 30%. Pat’s goal, he said, was to out-science pharma. Allen holds a PhD in biochemistry and focused his doctoral and postdoctoral work on protein science. Still, “during my time at Impossible, I learned so much,” he told me. “It felt like we were all living in the protein Renaissance.”

The Impossible team figured out how to mitigate the off flavors from plant proteins. Nature creates many of those off flavors, Allen told me, specifically to protect plants from being too delicious. They don’t want to be eaten. The team built a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer to identify flavor molecules created when meat cooks. They tested heme (an iron-containing compound that contributes to the meaty taste of meat) from 31 different sources, from clover to cattle to soy, finally settling on a process that produces a synthetic soy-based heme.

Even someone as deeply trained in protein sciences as Allen said there was no way around trial and error: “You really don’t know what you’re going to get until you try it,” he told me. Scaling up or down changed everything. Small tweaks could dramatically shift texture or flavor.

The Quest to be the Next Gardenburger

After Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods started raising substantial sums and Beyond went public at a multi-billion-dollar valuation, a flood of plant-based startups appeared, each pitching themselves as “the next Beyond Meat” or “the next Impossible Foods.” Over and over, their pitch decks featured Impossible and Beyond as comparators. And over and over, though with a few notable exceptions, it was obvious they were fooling themselves.

The biggest red flag? The R&D budgets for almost all these companies were tiny or nonexistent, they didn’t have a chief science officer, and they projected product launches within six to eight months. That’s possible, but only if you’re not actually trying to compete with conventional meat on taste. They weren’t. And they didn’t.

Recall that Impossible Foods—founded by one of the world’s top scientists—spent north of $100 million and more than five years before releasing a product. Similarly, Beyond Meat spent tens of millions of dollars and three years on research before launching its first product. Its breakout hit, the Beyond Burger, took seven years and tens of millions more. That Beyond Burger was the only product besides the Impossible Burger that performed well in FSI’s 2019 taste panels.

Another flag: expensive ingredients and clean labels. Many of these companies’ pitch decks for investors would distinguish themselves from Impossible and Beyond by noting that they used healthier proteins like lupine or lentils. They would also display side-by-side nutrition comparisons indicating that their products would have fewer ingredients, less fat, less sodium, and no unpronounceable ingredients. The focus on lupine and lentils guaranteed that the product would cost a lot more. The focus on low fat and clean labels guaranteed that it would taste nothing like animal meat. In other words: the health food strategy of the past four decades.

All of these veggie meat companies with no research budgets and a commitment to non-soy plant proteins, low fat, and clean labels? They were not the next Impossible; they were the next Gardenburger. That’s fine; that was the entire category until Beyond and Impossible were launched. But just be clear: You’re competing for a share of the $1 billion dollar US veggie meat market; you’re not ever going to compete with the $2 trillion global animal meat and seafood markets.

Pat Brown believes the deeper issue is a failure of imagination: People can’t picture plants precisely mimicking animal meat. Their thinking is stuck in the era of veggie burgers and tofu dogs. He told The New Yorker’s Tad Friend in 2019: “Nobody else has caught on to the fact that this is the most important scientific problem in the world, so their results are just a reheated version of veggie burgers from 10 years ago—maybe with a little lipstick on them.”

Publishers Weekly selected Meat as a top 10 new release in science, writing: “This packed account makes food science feel like an urgent and essential undertaking.” Find out more at MeatBook.org

Photo courtesy of Kateryna Hliznitsova, Unsplash

The post Book Excerpt | Meat: How the Next Agricultural Revolution Will Transform Humanity’s Favorite Food―and Our Future appeared first on Food Tank.

The PFAS and Agriculture Policy Workgroup, led by American Farmland Trust (AFT), recently released policy recommendations urging federal lawmakers and agencies to address PFAS contamination on agricultural land.

Often referred to as forever chemicals, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of thousands of synthetic chemicals widely used in industrial and consumer products. They break down very slowly, and research in the Journal of Environmental Research has shown that they can accumulate in water, air, soil, and plants.

On farms, PFAS contamination can be a result of the spreading of wastewater sludge, or biosolids, by farmers unaware that their fertilizer is contaminated. They can also infiltrate soil and water through runoff from manufacturing plants, landfills, and military facilities.

Several studies have linked PFAS exposure with negative health outcomes, including liver, kidney, and immune diseases, according to a study in the Journal of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. PFAS exposure has also been associated with certain forms of cancer.

Amid growing concern about the threat PFAS contamination poses to farmers, farm businesses, and food safety nationwide, AFT launched a multi-stakeholder effort in 2024 to create a set of policy recommendations. Representing commodity, farmer, conservation, health, and research groups, as well as state departments of agriculture, the Workgroup calls for a coordinated federal response.

“This is not just another set of recommendations on PFAS. This is the first and only set of comprehensive federal policy recommendations on PFAS and agriculture,” Emily Liss, Farm Viability Policy Manager at AFT, tells Food Tank. She describes them as first steps, designed to be pragmatic and bipartisan.

The Workgroup advocates for Congress to create a dedicated agricultural PFAS relief and support program. Contamination can be devastating for farmers and ranchers, who may be forced to stop or change their production, in addition to grappling with potential health implications. This program would support farmers’ physical and mental health, assist them in replacing lost income, and help farmers invest in operational changes to stay safely in production, among other supports.

“This is about people. This is about families and human health first and foremost,” Liss tells Food Tank.

This approach draws from Maine’s experience, where PFAS was first detected on a dairy farm in 2016. The state established a comprehensive safety net to support PFAS-impacted farmers’ health, businesses, and land. “In Maine we have found that, with adequate support, many farms impacted by PFAS contamination are able to stay in operation,” Shelley Megquier, Policy and Research Director at Maine Farmland Trust, tells Food Tank.

The Workgroup also recommends measures to reduce additional PFAS contamination—an approach they call “turning off the tap.” As there is currently no known, scalable way to remove PFAS from soil, the Workgroup says this is critical. “The only way that we’re ever going to get ahead of the PFAS issue is if we stop putting it on farmland,” says Liss.

To achieve this, the Workgroup calls for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to consider setting a threshold for PFAS in biosolids used in agriculture and to identify existing programs to help farmers transition away from their use. But Liss says this is a challenging issue, as many farmers have long relied on biosolids as a low-cost fertilizer. She emphasizes that the EPA should conduct research to set a threshold that is protective of human health. “Farmers just want to know what they’re putting on their land. They want to make sure that they’re putting safe things on their land,” she says.

Research on PFAS is another priority area of the recommendations. The Workgroup urges the federal government to establish PFAS as a research priority and to coordinate research across federal agencies. “PFAS is still an emerging issue, there is established research that can inform a policy response but there also continues to be a lot to learn,” Megquire tells Food Tank. “We know that the most severe levels of PFAS contamination are highly localized – better understanding where those ‘hotspots’ are around the country is important so that impacted farmers can get support.”

The recommendations also propose measures to protect farmers from legal liability for having contaminated land, strengthen collaboration across federal programs and agencies, and improve communication to farmers and the general public.

The recently reintroduced bipartisan, bicameral Relief for Farmers Hit with PFAS Act addresses critical needs outlined in these recommendations and was strongly endorsed by AFT.

“PFAS contamination is a threat to American agriculture—but with the right policies, we can protect the health of farmers and farm families, keep farms in business, maintain a safe food supply, and protect our farmland,” Megquire tells Food Tank. “Lucky for all of us, this is a nonpartisan issue with commonsense solutions.”

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 Bill Sturgell, Unsplash

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The United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF) are launching a new intervention to strengthen the macadamia nut value chain in Rwanda.

This is the second venture of the IFAD and MAFF’s joint Enhanced Linkages between Private Sector and Small-scale Producers (ELPS) initiative. ELPS is a strategic partnership to engage Japan’s private sector in fighting hunger, malnutrition, and poverty by investing in rural development globally.

The new intervention forges an economic partnership Rwanda Nut Company Ltd. and its parent company OSTI to help ensure Rwanda’s macadamia nut value chain is secured with core resources. According to Rick van der Kamp, Lead Specialist on Markets and Value Chains at IFAD, a main objective of the partnership is increasing Rwanda Nut Company’s productivity, therefore increasing farmers’ revenue.

“We currently expect this to lead to better prices and higher volumes for the farmers,” van der Kamp tells Food Tank. “The idea is to get farmers almost US$90 per year more income—that’s significant when many farmers in Rwanda only earn about US$500 or so per year.”

More than 70 percent of Rwanda’s population work in agriculture, and the agricultural sector contributes 33 percent to the country’s GDP, according to the World Resources Institute.

Rwanda Nut Company also aims to secure organic certification, which would both serve as a further income generator for farmers and “ensure sustainable, environmentally-friendly production,” says van der Kamp.

Organic certification “plays an important role in domestic and international organic trade since it enables organic producers to access export and local markets, and to obtain premium prices while improving farming practices,” states the Rwanda Standards Board. IFAD expects that OSTI Japan’s resources can help Rwanda Nut Company farmers work towards obtaining this certification.

According to Rwanda Nut Company, macadamia trees take five years to produce fruit from seed to harvest, and an additional 15 years to reach peak harvest. “The amount of time it takes to bear fruit is almost as long as raising a family. The process is important to farmers in the same way family is important to us,” the Company says.

The ELPS initiative, which supports the development of Rwanda Nut Company’s value chain, aims to leverage the innovation and efficiency of the Japanese private sector. They hope this will help to raise incomes and create job opportunities for rural small-scale producers in Africa, according to IFAD.

“With hunger on the rise in Africa for yet another year, the need to partner with the private sector has never been more pressing,” President of IFAD, Alvaro Lario says.

And van der Kamp believes this partnership is a good example of how leveraging corporate investment can directly impact the quality of life of small-scale producers. “More than anything, we work to get farmers more income from their farms,” he tells Food Tank, “so they can buy nutritious food [and] pay for their children’s schooling and unexpected medical bills.”

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 Neil Palmer, Wikimedia Commons

The post IFAD Boosts Investments in Rwanda Nut Company’s Farmers appeared first on Food Tank.

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Here at Food Tank, we talk a lot about the power of optimism and community solidarity to combat feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. And these are not abstract conversations! On the ground around the world, true food system transformation starts with local success stories like the one I want to share with you today.

Over the past couple years, Kenya has celebrated a number of local agroecology wins that can illuminate the path forward for countries around the globe.

The story starts in Murang’a County, a predominantly agricultural county in south-central Kenya. In 2022, leaders there passed the Agroecology Development Act and enacted a 10-year agroecology policy. The legislation was the first of its kind in the country—and was a powerful recognition of the transformative effects of agroecology, from food systems to climate resilience to youth empowerment to Indigenous food sovereignty.

Since then, momentum has grown! Last year, four more counties launched their own agroecology policies, and five more have advance legislation in the works with support from organizations like the Participatory Ecological Land Use Management Association (PELUM).

PELUM is a network of civil society organizations working with small-scale farmers in East, Central, and Southern Africa to strengthen agroecology through policy work, network capacity development, knowledge sharing, and more.

“Agroecology has been feeding the world and will continue to feed the world,” Rosinah Mbenya, the Country Coordinator for PELUM Kenya, told me on the Food Talk podcast this week.

And national leaders have taken notice, too. In 2024, Kenya adopted the National Agroecology Strategy for Food System Transformation, which aims to promote a sustainable transformation of Kenya’s food and agriculture systems to build nutrition security, climate-safe livelihoods, and social inclusion. By integrating and coordinating local approaches at the national level, the Strategy is helping Kenya bring about more resilient, long-lasting change than county-level governments alone could.

Agroecology is “a practice, a science, and a social movement,” Million Belay, General Coordinator of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, tells Food Tank.

And as Rosinah explained on Food Talk this week, other legal wins in Kenya have helped build a brighter food system. A recent court decision affirmed farmers’ right to save, share, and exchange seeds—which had not always been guaranteed, she said. And last summer, Kenyan policymakers banned more than 75 pesticides and tightened restrictions on hundreds more that are linked with health complications and climate impacts.

“Agroecology builds resilience,” she said. “In Africa, we need solutions that enable the community to be adaptive to climate change.”

But investment is still lagging far behind, she said. The public demand and policy frameworks are falling into place, and it’s time for the private sector to step up and scale up agroecology.

“There is a lot of work that needs to go into capacity-building,” she said, but without investments into landscape transformation, youth- and women-focused initiatives, and other on-the-ground efforts, “there’s usually that gap. But I’m looking forward to seeing more investments so that we can have increased financing and attention.”

I hope you’ll take a moment to listen to my whole conversation with Rosinah Mbenya of PELUM Kenya on Food Talk by clicking here.

Rosinah reminded me that local steps matter toward building a better food system for the next generation! Making a change in your neighborhood, in your city, or in your county can have much wider ripple effects across your entire country or even continent. I hope you’ll keep the momentum going by sharing grassroots progress in your communities.

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Photo courtesy of McKay Savage, Unsplash

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The Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Association is working to advance agroecological principles and practices in East, Central, and Southern Africa. Their Kenyan chapter, PELUM Kenya, engages in advocacy, networking, knowledge sharing and capacity building to support the country’s smallholder farmers produce food in a way that heals the planet and supports their livelihoods.

“Agroecology has been feeding the world and will continue to feed the world,” Rosinah Mbenya, PELUM Kenya’s Country Coordinator, tells Food Tank.

The organization advocates for practices including organic, regenerative, conservation, bio-intensive, and biodynamic agriculture; family farming; agroforestry; and permaculture. They do not promote genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or the use of synthetic agricultural inputs.

Some critics of agroecology believe this approach is only for small-scale farmers, Mbenya explains. But she disagrees, stating that the practices can also be used in larger operations. “I think it’s the future,” she says.

But investment is needed to help farmers transition to agroecological techniques at scale. When compared to the financing available for conventional farming, the amount directed toward agroecology “is still very, very low,” Mbenya tells Food Tank. This is something both the private sector and governments will have a role to play in addressing, she says.

“We really need to ensure that we…are fast tracking the investments in agroecology, because there is a lot of work that needs to go into capacity building,” Mbenya says. But she remains hopeful this can be done. “I’m looking forward to seeing more and more investments, more and more interest in the agriculture sector.”

Listen to or watch the full conversation with Rosinah Mbenya on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to learn more about recent policy wins for farmers, what’s attracting the next generation of Kenya’s young people to pursue careers in agriculture, and the financing that will catalyze an agroecological transformation.

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 PELUM Kenya

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The award-winning documentary Common Ground is now available in a free educational format, designed to bring regenerative agriculture into learning spaces. The film aims to elevate soil health in food and climate conversations.

Directed by Josh and Rebecca Tickell, Common Ground, a sequel to Kiss the Ground, centers farmers, ranchers, and advocates using regenerative practices to build resilience in the face of climate and market pressures. The documentary examines the consequences of industrial agriculture and follows producers who are implementing regenerative alternatives on the ground.

Through farmer-led storytelling, the film explores how soil health, land stewardship, and diversified farming practices can restore ecosystems and strengthen farm livelihoods. Ryland Engelhart, Executive Director of Kiss the Ground, tells Food Tank the film has resonated widely. It has “inspired a new generation of wellness moms, environmentalists, farmers, and food lovers to understand the critical role soil health and regenerative agriculture play in our future,” he says.

To expand access to these ideas, Big Picture Ranch, an organic farm and film studio founded by Josh and Rebecca Tickell, produced Common Ground: Redux, a 45-minute, free version edited specifically for use in educational settings. The abbreviated film distills the documentary’s core themes into clear, actionable takeaways for students, educators, farmers, and communities. Engelhart says Big Picture Ranch released this version with the belief that “essential education–especially for students, farmers, and grassroots changemakers–should never sit behind a paywall.”

Common Ground: Redux builds on the widespread reach of Kiss the Ground For Schools, which has been viewed in more than 60,000 schools worldwide and incorporated into curricula ranging from environmental science to social studies. Like its predecessor, Common Ground: Redux is meant to serve as an entry point into essential conversations about the future of food, and the regenerative practices already in use across diverse landscapes and production systems.

Viewers will hear from farmers, ranchers, and advocates who have committed their lives to these practices. Featured voices include Gabe Brown, Rick Clark, Leah Penniman, Kelsey Ducheneaux, Jonathan Lundgren, Ray Archuleta, Brandon Bock, Glenn Elzinga, and Roy Thompson. Their collective experiences help to illustrate both the opportunity and complexity of transitioning to regenerative food systems.

“It shares inspiring, real-world stories of American farmers and ranchers who are finding both ecological and economic success through regenerative agriculture,” Engelhart shares, “proving that healing the land and feeding communities can go hand in hand.”

“Common Ground: Redux” can be accessed online by clicking HERE.

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 Common Ground

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The Food & Society Program at the Aspen Institute recently launched their Food is Medicine Community Action Plan. The plan builds upon the work that began with Food & Society’s Research Action Plan published in 2022 and revised in 2024, this time providing tangible ways for community-based organizations (CBOs) to develop and launch food-based health interventions that address food and nutrition insecurity while improving health.

The Food is Medicine Community Action Plan includes case studies, collaborative knowledge sharing, a community action framework, and partner resources and toolkits. It provides a blueprint for communities to take Food is Medicine from concept into practice.

“This resource is designed for organizations at any stage of their Food is Medicine journey…by sharing proven strategies and community-centered approaches, the Action Plan aims to speed up the growth of Food is Medicine programs nationwide,” Corby Kummer, Food & Society’s Executive Director, tells Food Tank.

The Community Action Plan is rooted in community needs, and created through partnerships with organizations across the U.S. Through three convenings, in Boston, Tulsa, and Tucson, Food & Society heard from practitioners and community leaders about their experience implementing Food is Medicine principles in their work.

At these convenings, participants brought their on-the-ground expertise with them, collaborating honestly and openly to create the Action Plan. Faith-based groups, food banks, health care providers, and medically tailored meal providers, are among those the plan convened and hopes to reach.

But scaling Food is Medicine is not without its hurdles, Kummer says. “The biggest challenge, which we explored at our convening in Boston, highlighted inconsistent resources to implement these programs.”

Kummer says that funding, and the interests of various stakeholders, are essential to keep in mind when working to scale Food is Medicine initiatives. During community convenings, one participant pushed back on the idea that Food is Medicine is linked to poverty and hunger. 

While Kummer believes Food is Medicine and food security are “inextricably intertwined,” he understands that making the case to some stakeholders requires advocates to couch arguments “in terms of health.” Until payers—those responsible for medical care’s cost—understand the cost savings that come when eaters’ wellbeing improves, they “are not going to be convinced or interested” he says.

The Action Plan is coming at a time where Food is Medicine is gaining greater national political traction, and Kummer believes the focus from Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission offers an opportunity. He does not agree with all recommendations from MAHA, citing issues with their guidance on saturated fats as an example. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently called for an end to the “war on saturated fats,” stating that past dietary guidelines wrongly discouraged their consumption. 

But Kummer tells Food Tank this is a moment worth seizing: “Nutrition and fewer ultra-processed foods and more whole foods have the attention of the very top policymakers in government.” It’s important to look at the bigger picture, he says, and push for funding for things like getting ultra-processed foods out of school lunches.

Scaling Food is Medicine also requires intermediaries between CBOs and health care companies—a need that Kummer says everyone can agree on. A large health care payer does not have the capacity or vested interest to pay attention to many small organizations. That’s why intermediary organizations work to unite small CBOs across an area, which allows the organizations to be more visible to a larger healthcare payer. This is already happening in New York City, with the 1115 Medicaid waiver, which enables healthcare money to go towards food, and Social Emergency Medicine networks (SEM) that serve as “in-between” organizations.

The Food is Medicine Community Action Plan hopes to serve as its own kind of bridge, bringing practical steps to communities that need them. For an organization that wants to implement its own Food is Medicine program to support the local community, Kummer paraphrases Amy Headings and Jennifer Parsons of the Mid-Ohio Food Collective. “Start with leadership commitment, build broad coalitions, integrate across your organization, keep it simple, and focus on progress over perfection.”

“Nutrition and food are part of the national conversation, in a way they haven’t been,” Kummer tells Food Tank. “It’s a really exciting moment with a lot of potential.”

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 Zoe Richardson, Unsplash 

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A recent report from Health, Environment, Agriculture, and Labor (HEAL) Food Alliance argues that precision agriculture is “a costly distraction” from real climate solutions, and cautions policymakers against overreliance on it to solve agricultural challenges.

Precision agriculture (PA) refers to technologies including GPS, drones, robotics, and AI, used to efficiently apply chemical inputs on specific areas of a field. Public sector investments in PA technologies have been increasing–amounting to about US$11.1 billion in 2021, according to the HEAL Alliance–as corporations and lawmakers suggest that technologies can boost agricultural automation and productivity.

But HEAL’s report calls PA a “false solution that diverts attention and resources away from proven solutions.” They believe that regenerative farming methods such as intercropping, agroforestry, and silvopastoralism are more climate-resilient, and more accessible to small and mid-sized farms.

The wide-spread adoption of PA is a conflation between efficiency and sustainability, Celize Christy, Member Organizing Lead at HEAL, tells Food Tank. She says that while proponents of PA argue innovations can reduce the amount of water or fertilizer used per acre, it doesn’t cut the emissions from these fertilizers.

According to HEAL’s report, precision agriculture technologies were utilized on approximately 50 percent of U.S. corn and soybean acreage by 2010 to 2012. But data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows fertilizer use did not go down over this time—it actually increased. After 30 years of observing developments in the field, the Alliance concludes that there is minimal reliable evidence to support that PA has reduced the use of chemical inputs.

There are also concerns about the resources needed to power PA tools.  According to Christy, as farms harness efficiency through technology, “precision ag might make one farm more efficient, but across the system it drives more extraction of water and energy to power the data centers.”

HEAL finds that the 2,600 U.S. data centers used to operate AI in agriculture were among the top 10 water users in the country’s commercial and industrial sectors as of 2022. The report calls this an example of the Jevons Paradox, the principle that increased resource efficiency can actually lead to an increase in resource consumption in the long-term.

“What [PA] has done is drive consolidation, putting more power and land into the hands of corporation giants like Bayer and John Deere,” Christy tells Food Tank. “Precision ag doesn’t transform agriculture; it just makes industrial systems more efficient at causing harm.”

PA technologies also disproportionately favor large farms, predominantly owned by white farmers, HEAL argues. Due to discriminatory land access and lending practices excluding Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, the U.S. Government Accountability Office finds that BIPOC farmers are more likely to operate small-scale family farms. HEAL also notes that BIPOC farmers are more likely to grow diversified specialty crops with regenerative practices. But their research shows that PA technologies are better suited to large monocropping systems of commodity crops like corn and soybeans. And research published in Journal of Rural Studies states that they can give inaccurate and unreliable assessments for more diversified cropping.

Considering the financial barriers to adopting PA, authors worry that these tools will further exacerbate the deeply-rooted racial and economic equities in agriculture. “High costs and data-driven platforms will push out small BIPOC farmers… it creates a future where farming is dictated by algorithms, not ecosystems,” Christy tells Food Tank. “It’s a model that prioritizes machines over communities, and efficiency over equity, deepening the very crises it claims to solve.”

HEAL calls for policymakers to reckon with the environmental and social costs that accompany the production and use of precision agriculture technologies. They recommend divestment from PA methods and more investment in federal support and incentives for practices that holistically reduce input use. Christy also wants policymakers to promote Farm Bill initiatives that better reach small, diversified, BIPOC producers. “Redirect funding toward practices that regenerate soil, strengthen rural economies, and prioritize equity,” she says.

HEAL also wants to see policymakers have greater oversight in PA use, and more collaboration with small and mid-size farmers to determine what practices benefit their production – including fair labor and pay practices. In turn, collaboration with farmers can support practices that naturally transform farming systems such as agroforestry and silvopasture, cover crops, integrated crops, and livestock production.

The HEAL Alliance already sees biodynamic farming systems, relying on agroecological practices such as intercropping and cover cropping, adopted across the country that have been shown to decrease emissions and increase nutrient availability—reducing reliance on chemical inputs. Now they want to see them adopted at scale.

“Climate solutions should serve communities,” Christy tells Food Tank. “Not corporations.”

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Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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