Food & Agriculture

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We have a rapidly growing population. In the last 200 years, we have gone globally from 1 billion to 8.2 billion people. Without further action to limit population growth, the UN estimates there will be 9 billion people in 2037 and 9.8 billion in 2050. That is a lot of impact on the planet and its resources and a lot of mouths to feed.

Some facts to consider:

55 percent of the freshwater supply in the U.S. goes to raising animals.
The average person in the US eats close to 2,000 pounds of food each year.
30 percent of food is wastedglobally across the supply chain, contributing 8 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions (40 percent in the U.S., 325 pounds of waste per person).
Food is the single largest componenttaking up space inside US landfills, 22 percent of municipal solid waste.

This FOOD AND AGRICULTURE section is organized so that you can digest information in small bites. There is a lot to learn and a lot of decisions and choices to be made. In FOOD there is help for individuals, restaurants, and organizations to better understand the changing landscape so that they can make decisions that help with climate change.

In AGRICULTURE the focus is on issues, such as the effects of deforestation and industrial farming, as well as some of the nuances which affect the decisions of those who provide food for us: the farmers, ranchers and fishermen.

CURRENT NEWS

Aug 15 2026

cnbc

Extreme heat spurs earliest-ever Champagne harvest, putting its famous taste to the test

By Jenni Reid 08/15/26

Sweltering summer temperatures look set to spur the earliest Champagne harvest on record and potentially one of the most challenging. The French region’s winemakers face lower crop yields, weaker consumer demand and a threat to…

Aug 09 2026

Inside Climate News

A Very American Invention, Pushed to an Extreme

By Georgina Gustin 08/09/26

The far southwestern corner of this state unfurls in a rolling sea of dusky-green prairie where cattle have outnumbered people for generations.

Sep 09 2025

Luma

Special Invite: We Are Eating The Earth: A Conversation on Food, Climate, and the Future with Michael Grunwald

09/09/25

Join us for a powerful and timely conversation during Climate Week NYC with award-winning journalist Michael Grunwald, author of We Are Eating The Earth: The Race to Fix our Food System and Save Our Climate,…

Jul 22 2025

CNN

Extreme weather caused by climate change is raising food prices worldwide, study says

By Lianne Kolirin 07/22/25

Extreme weather caused by climate change is driving up the prices of basic food products worldwide and posing wider risks to society, a new study has found.

Jun 23 2025

The New Yorker

Do We Need Another Green Revolution?

By Elizabeth Kolbert 06/23/25

The Green Revolution got off to a rocky start. In the fall of 1944, Norman Borlaug, who would become known as the revolution’s father, moved to Mexico to set up a plant-breeding program. Right away,…

Jun 09 2025

The Verge

Lab-grown salmon gets FDA approval

By Dominic Preston 06/09/25

The FDA has issued its first ever approval on a safety consultation for lab-grown fish. That makes Wildtype only the fourth company to get approval from the regulator to sell cell-cultivated animal products, and its…

Mar 22 2024

AP NEWS

Higher temperatures mean higher food and other prices. A new study links climate shocks to inflation

By Seth Borenstein 03/22/24

Food prices and overall inflation will rise as temperatures climb with climate change, a new study by an environmental scientist and the European Central Bank found. Looking at monthly price tags of food and other…

Mar 04 2024

The Guardian

We need to talk about water – and the fact that the world is running out of it

By George Monbiot 03/04/24

There’s a flaw in the plan. It’s not a small one: it is an Earth-sized hole in our calculations. To keep pace with the global demand for food, crop production needs to grow by at…

Feb 29 2024

The New York Times

The farming conundrum

By Manuela Andreoni 02/29/24

Two news stories this week — one that made headlines, and one that got less attention — point to the fiendish difficulty of reinventing agriculture to reduce its heavy toll on the climate. The first…

Feb 28 2024

Civil Eats

Walmart Heirs Bet Big on Journalism

By Bill Lascher 02/28/24

From vast riparian watersheds to fisheries to croplands, few corners of the nation’s—and the world’s—food systems have escaped the eyes of the Walton family. The children and grandchildren of Walmart co-founder Sam Walton have long…

Feb 21 2024

CIVIL EATS

What the Latest Farm Census Says About the Changing Ag Landscape

By Lisa Held 02/21/24

These are the kinds of data that can be gleaned from the Census of Agriculture, a massive, wide-ranging survey the federal government has been conducting regularly since 1840. Now completed every five years by the…

Dec 12 2023

The New York Times

The Climate Summit Starts to Crack a Tough Nut: Emissions From Food

By Somini Sengupta 12/12/23

It’s hard enough for world leaders to figure out the future of coal, oil and gas in a warming world. What about the future of bread and milk? The food system accounts for around 30…

Food and Agriculture Organization

Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nation

06/13/22

→ The global production of primary crops increased by 52 percent between 2000 and 2020, to 9.3 billion tonnes in 2020. ...

USDA ERS

Ag and Food Sectors and the Economy

12/27/21

The U.S. agriculture sector extends beyond the farm business to include a range of farm-related industries. The largest of these are food service and food manufacturing. Americans' expenditures on food amount to 13 percent of…

Nature Food

Global greenhouse gas emissions from animal-based foods are twice those of plant-based foods

09/30/21

Agriculture and land use are major sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but previous estimates were either highly aggregate or provided spatial details for subsectors obtained via different methodologies. Using a model–data integration approach that…

Scientific American

Here’s How Much Food Contributes to Climate Change

09/13/21

As with most things related to people, the food we eat comes with a carbon cost. Soil tillage, crop and livestock transportation, manure management and all the other aspects of global food production generate greenhouse…

Civil Eats

04/17/19

Civil Eats is a daily news source for critical thought about the American food system.

Food Politics

Resources for Advocacy School Food and Ag Policy

08/13/19

A list of organizations working on food issues, particularly school food and the farm bill. Note that information about how to contact government officials appears at the end.

GreenBiz

17 Organizations Feeding the World Through Regenerative Agriculture

08/13/19

Transitioning to more sustainable forms of agriculture remains critical, as many current agriculture practices have serious consequences including deforestation and soil degradation. But despite agriculture’s enormous potential to hurt the environment, it also has enormous…

Food Tank

119 Organizations Shaking Up the Food System in 2019

06/24/19

Food Tank compiled a list of 119 organizations to keep an eye on in 2019 that are working towards a more sustainable food system.

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MORE NEWS

BLOOMBERG

The Money Food Badly Needs for Climate Fight Is Rolling In

By Agnieszka de Sousa 12/10/23

Supercharging crop seeds to better withstand drought. Breeding cows that burp out less methane. And tracking cattle to prevent deforestation.

DeSmog

A Guide to Six Greenwashing Terms Big Ag Is Bringing to COP28

By Rachel Sherrington and Hazel Healy 09/21/23

Agriculture, which is responsible for over one third of the world’s emissions, will be under the spotlight at the upcoming COP28 global climate summit in Dubai.

Greener Ideal

How Climate Change is Affecting Agriculture and Food Supply

By Simon Elstad 07/13/23

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and it significantly impacts agriculture and food supply. Rising temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, and more extreme weather events make growing food more…

The New Indian Express

South East Asian countries try to head off climate change impact on agriculture, fishing

By Renuka Kalpana 07/10/23

With global temperatures rising, countries in South East Asia are being forced to take mitigation measures, including in the agricultural and fishing sectors. Each passing year adds to the evidence that rising temperatures, shifting precipitation…

Axios

Florida’s strawberry industry threatened by climate change

By Deirdra Funcheon 06/05/23

Florida's strawberry industry is likely going to be impacted by climate change. Why it matters: Higher temperatures and water stress are already impacting agricultural yields, according to a new report from the Environmental Defense Fund…

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Slim pickings: Peach crop wiped out across much of Georgia

By Meris Lutz and Drew Kann 06/02/23

Jim Markley’s 1,300 peach trees are usually so laden with fruit this time of year his workers take a Wiffle bat to the branches to thin out the crop, leaving thousands of tiny unripe peaches…

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Final Day of AIM for Climate Summit Announces Groundbreaking Initiatives on the Road to COP28

05/10/23

Special U.S. Presidential Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry issued an urgent call today for climate action by announcing ways to partner and accelerate investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation during the final…

World Food Program USA

The 8 Countries Most Affected by Climate Change

04/21/23

In regions around the world, the climate crisis is causing more frequent and intense extreme weather events. From droughts to hurricanes to floods, these climate extremes are driving more people into severe hunger and poverty.…

Wilson Center

A Threat to Global Food Security

By Manuel Otero 04/21/23

In the context of more frequent extreme climate events, South America is experiencing a severe drought for the third consecutive year – the worst in a century, primarily due to the La Niña phenomenon that…

Greenbiz.com

What does the IRA mean for agtech?

By Daniel Rath and Lara Bryant 04/10/23

In the wake of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)’s historic $19.5 billion investment in climate-smart agriculture, agtech companies have a unique opportunity to help mitigate U.S. agriculture’s contributions to climate change. The recent Intergovernmental Panel…

Food Navigator Europe

IPCC report findings suggest how food production must change to cope with climate crisis

By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton 03/22/23

On Monday 20 March, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the final part of its Sixth Assessment Report. The report was clear about the catastrophic effect that climate change could have on the food…

Reuters

Food brands struggling to weather the ‘polycrisis’ unleashed by war and climate change

By Sarah LaBrecque 03/13/23

If you were looking to make a Greek salad in the UK in late February of this year, you would have had to get creative in the kitchen. With national shortages of tomatoes and cucumbers,…

National Institute Of Food and Agriculture

Climate change presents real threats to U.S. agricultural production, forest resources and rural economies.

01/17/23

Producers and land managers across the country are experiencing climate impacts on their operations through shifting weather patterns, often resulting in increasingly frequent and severe storms, floods, drought and wildfire.

McKinsey

Green farming: The shift in food and agriculture

By Joshua Katz and Others 08/01/22

Close to one-third (27 percent) of the world’s greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions stem from food and agriculture—over half from animal farming. A net-zero transition in food and agriculture would impact how we farm, what we eat,…

The Washington Post

Extreme heat and humidity kill thousands of cattle in Kansas

By Amy Cheng 06/16/22

Thousands of cattle in Kansas have died in recent days due to high heat and humidity, dealing a blow to one of the country’s leading cattle production states as the industry grapples with extreme weather…

npr.org

World Food Prize goes to former farmer who answers climate change question: ‘So what?’

By Julia Simon 05/05/22

In the early days of climate science in the '80s, she was one of the first researchers making projections of how the changing climate would affect North American crops. Still, the researcher at NASA's Goddard…

Carbon Brief

UN land report: Five key takeaways for climate change, food systems and nature loss

By Daisy Dunne and Others 04/27/22

It says that human activities have already altered 70% of the Earth’s land surface, degrading up to 40% of it. Four of the nine “planetary boundaries” – limits on how humans can safely use Earth’s…

The Guardian

Five charts that show why our food is not ready for the climate crisis

By Nina Lakhani, Alvin Chang, Rita Liu and Andrew Witherspoon 04/22/22

The industrialization of agriculture in the last century boosted production around the world – but that success also made our food systems much more vulnerable to the growing climate crisis.

Civileats

The Field Report: New UN Climate Report Urges Food Systems Solutions—Before It’s Too Late

By Lisa Held 04/04/22

According to the world’s top climate scientists, greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise over the last decade, and that trend must be stopped by 2025 in order to limit warming to 1.5°C and avoid catastrophic…

The Regeneration Weekly

The Next Cloud-size Disruption: Food and Agriculture?

By Kevin Silverman 01/21/22

The food and agriculture sectors are on the precipice of a fundamental shift that shows many of the hallmarks of the change that software and computer infrastructure started going through 15 years ago.

Carbon Brief

Rich nations could see ‘double climate dividend’ by switching to plant-based foods

By Ayesha Tandon 01/10/22

Adopting a more plant-based diet could give rich countries a “double climate dividend” of lower emissions and more land for capturing carbon, a new study says.

Civil Eats

The Food System’s Carbon Footprint Has Been Vastly Underestimated

By Greta Moran 06/30/21

As drought, heatwaves, and hurricanes ramp up for the summer, and the United Nations’ Food Systems Summit draws near, a group of scientists and policy experts hope to send a clear message about just how…

Forbes

Not A Marketing Moment’: Brands Increase Support For AAPI Causes Through Donations And Dialogue

By Marty Swant and Jenny Rooney 04/05/21

In an effort to assist the Biden administration’s effort to combat climate change, an alliance between organizations which have butted heads in the past is forming. The Food and Agriculture Alliance (FACA), a mix of…

Eos

Climate Change May Reduce Children’s Diet Diversity

By Christian Fogerty 03/02/21

When it comes to improving nutrition in marginalized communities, education and infrastructure are some of the first investment targets that come to mind. But these kinds of efforts are not sustainable unless they take into…

Genetic Literacy Project

Climate change vs agriculture: Can one farming method—conventional, organic or agroecology—help slow global warming?

By Andrew Porterfield 03/02/21

Climate change and agriculture appear joined at the hip. Agriculture—through methane, carbon dioxide, and land use—has had an impact on the global climate. And climate change—through drought, heat, and pests—will have an impact on agriculture,…

Green Biz

Global agriculture will be drastically altered by climate change

By Kimberly M. S. Cartier 02/18/21

This story originally appeared in EOS.org and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalistic collaboration to strengthen coverage of the climate story.

Organic Farmer

Transforming Agriculture to Mitigate Climate Change and Support Public Health

By Lauren Snyder and Cristel Zoebisch 02/11/21

Many of us spent most of 2020 sheltering at home, doing our part to curb the pandemic we are weathering as a global community. While there is solidarity in the fact that people around the…

The Wall Street Journal

The Environmental Upside of Modern Farming

By Robert Paarlberg 02/05/21

If you wanted to produce food at the lowest cost to the environment, what methods would you use? Would you select modern farming methods (large-scale, specialized, mechanized and increasingly digital), or would you opt for…

The Washington Post

Clues From Wines Grown in Hot, Dry Regions May Help Growers Adapt to a Changing Climate

By Liza Gross 01/02/21

Wine connoisseurs can talk endlessly about how terroir—the mysterious alchemy of soil, climate and landscape conditions—conjures the classic flavor profiles of their favorite wines. Climate change will likely disrupt these conditions, leaving some regions too…

The Washington Post

The Energy 202: Biden takes aim at historic inequities with his environmental picks

By Dino Grandoni 12/18/20

A trio of recent picks by President-elect Biden for his environmental team will put environmental justice issues at the center of his administration's agenda. As Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis and I report, Biden made a…

Ohio State News

Ohio State soil scientist honored for increasing global food production

By Alayna DeMartini 10/05/20

A renowned soil scientist at The Ohio State University has just been given the Canadian-based Arrell Global Food Innovation Award for improving soil health, and in doing so, increasing food production around the world. Across…

Guardian

Loss of bees causes shortage of key food crops, study finds

By Oliver Milman 07/29/20

A lack of bees in agricultural areas is limiting the supply of some food crops, a new US-based study has found, suggesting that declines in the pollinators may have serious ramifications for global food security.

Civil Eats

Will COVID-19 Make Big Meat Look Like a Bad Investment?

By Lisa Held 07/29/20

Jeremy Coller would like to be remembered as a man who saved “a few cows from a factory farm.” But unlike animal rights activists who break into barns to document abusive practices or environmentalists who…

The Guardian

How do you like your beef… old-style cow or 3D-printed?

By Gareth Rubin 11/10/19

After the success of the Greggs vegan sausage roll and the juicy-yet-meatless Impossible Burger, the next new food sensation is coming to a plate near you: 3D-printed steaks and chicken thighs....

NBC News

Can regenerative agriculture reverse climate change? Big Food is banking on it.

By Gosia Wozniacka 10/29/19

Regenerative agriculture works to draw carbon out of the atmosphere and into the soil, but there’s an ongoing debate on how much carbon can be stored there and for how long.

The Conversation

lowa’s farmers – and American eaters – need a national discussion on transforming US agriculture

By Lisa Schulte Moore 10/16/19

Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses bring the state a lot of political attention during presidential election cycles. But in my view, even though some candidates have outlined positions on food and farming, agriculture rarely gets the attention…

Civil Eats

With $100, You Too Can Invest in Regenerative Agriculture

By Lisa Held 10/02/19

Steward is putting capital into helping sustainable, small farms grow, while cultivating a new kind of farm investor.

The New York Times

The Great Flood of 2019: A complete picture of a slow-motion disaster

By Sarah Almukhtar, Blacki Migliozzi and Others 09/14/19

This year's flooding across the Midwest and the South affected nearly 14 million people, yet the full scale of the slowly unfolding disaster has been difficult to fathom. The volume of water is only one…

State of the Planet

Q&A with Juan Nicolás Hernandez-Aguilera on Coffee and Climate

09/06/19

How research at Columbia University is making coffee production more sustainable. ...

Des Moines Register

Vilsack and Glickman: The next 30 years are critical for agriculture’s future

By Tom Vilsack and Dan Glickman 08/20/19

For U.S. farmers and ranchers, who are on the front lines in the battle against climate change, tremendous challenges lie ahead: how to nourish an unprecedented population while protecting and enhancing the world in which…

GreenBiz

A systems approach to global agriculture could solve food insecurity

By Michael Ferrari 08/14/19

When we look across the spectrum of challenges facing humanity, as well as at some of the largest potential commercial opportunities, we need not look any further than the dining table.

Massive Science

We need genetic engineering to stave off climate change-induced global hunger

By Devang Mehta 08/13/19

Despite what many say, organic farming will not save us from the worst impacts of climate change.

NPR

To Slow Global Warming, U.N. Warns Agriculture Must Change

By Rebecca Hersher, Allison Aubrey 08/08/19

Humans must drastically alter food production to prevent the most catastrophic effects of global warming, according to a new report from the United Nations panel on climate change.

Foodtank

2020 Democratic Candidates on Key Food and Agriculture Issues

08/01/19

Friends of the Earth Action is focusing on two key agriculture issues in the Presidential campaigns: where candidates stand on corporate consolidation and what their plans are to transition to a just, ecologically regenerative agriculture…

Civil Eats

Impossible Foods and Regenerative Grazers Face Off in a Carbon Farming Dust-Up

By Nicole Rasul 06/19/19

The plant-based burger company called regenerative grazing the “clean coal of meat” in a recent report. That hasn’t gone over well amongst carbon ranchers.

Nature.com

Decreases in global beer supply due to extreme drought and heat

By Wei Xie 10/15/18

Beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage in the world by volume consumed, and yields of its main ingredient, barley, decline sharply in periods of extreme drought and heat. Although the frequency and severity of…

InsideClimate

Texas Peach Orchards Suffer From Changing Climate

06/03/18

Here at the Eckhardt family orchard in Fredericksburg, Texas—like all orchards—cold is the switch that triggers the growing sequence that by summer has limbs sagging with ripe, juicy peaches. But the reliable chill season in…

Civil Eats

Climate Town Hall Brings Food and Agriculture to Center Stage

By Charlie Mitchell 09/05/19

Over the course of seven hours last night, 10 of the leading Democratic presidential candidates spoke at length about climate change—and almost all of them included food and agriculture as a climate-change culprit, and solution.

Civil Eats

Where the 2020 Presidential Candidates Stand on Food and Farming

By Julia Poska and The Civil Eats Editors 05/29/19

With fewer than 18 months until the 2020 elections, the field is crowded with contenders. There are currently 25 declared presidential candidates, ranging from the well-known (Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren) to the lesser-known…

Civil Eats

What the New Green Deal Means for the Food on Your Plate

By Christopher D. Cook 02/07/19

The long-awaited policy proposal from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ed Markey has finally surfaced—and it aims to turn U.S. agriculture into a positive force for climate change and social justice.

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FOOD & AGRICULTURE