climate change
Democratic platform redirects farm subsidies, boosts SNAP
Farm subsidies would be reformed "to better support small- and mid-sized farms" if Joe Biden is elected president, says the draft platform written ahead of next month's Democratic National Convention. "Democrats will increase funding for food assistance programs, including SNAP, WIC, and school meals."
House report calls for major action on climate, lays out ag plan
Senate bill would help farmers get into carbon markets, say backers
Farmers could combine environmental and economic sustainability through practices that lock carbon into the soil, but it's dauntingly difficult to enter the carbon sequestration market and get paid for it, said the leaders of the two largest U.S. farm groups on Wednesday.
World Food Prize goes to scientist who ‘transformed the way the world saw soils’
Rattan Lal, one of the world's leading soil scientists, is this year's winner of the $250,000 World Food Prize, "the Nobel of agriculture," for his breakthrough research on the importance of carbon to soil health and the potential of carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change. Lal's research "transformed the way the world saw soils," said the foundation that awards the annual prize.
Unsafe heat for farmworkers to nearly double by 2050, study predicts
Officially, about five farmworkers die every year from heat-related illness, though that number is likely an undercount. But whatever the true death toll, it’s expected to rise sharply in coming years. According to a study led by climate scientist Michelle Tigchelaar, the number of unsafe days in crop-growing U.S. counties will jump from today’s 21 per season to 39 days per season by 2050. The near doubling of unsafe days implies a near doubling in deaths. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Ancient Southwest farming cultures faced extreme drought. Now it’s back.
Centuries ago, the Zuni people in the arid Southwest region of the United States developed a sophisticated farming culture, channeling water towards crops and breeding climate resilient seeds, reports Tim Folger, in FERN's latest story, produced with The Weather Channel. But that culture was also likely wiped out by a rare 50-year megadrought that may now be underway again in the West. <strong> (No paywall) </strong>
Big money is pouring into ‘carbon farming.’ But can it help mitigate climate change?
As efforts to wean society off fossil fuels have stalled, “natural climate solutions” such as soil carbon sequestration have rapidly gained steam. But, as Gabriel Popkin reports in FERN's latest story, published with Yale Environment 360, "a growing number of scientists worry that mounting societal pressure to do something to counter climate change is pushing money into so-called carbon farming before the science needed to underpin it is mature."<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Legislation calls for measuring conservation results
For the first time, the USDA would assess the results of its land stewardship programs, such as tons of carbon sequestered in the soil or reductions in nutrient runoff, under companion bills filed in the House and Senate on Wednesday.
With new bill, Pingree positions farming as a climate solution
The debate about how to address climate change hasn't always portrayed agriculture as a tool for mitigating the effects of excess carbon in the atmosphere. But a new bill introduced Wednesday by Rep. Chellie Pingree brings farming into the climate spotlight with an ambitious goal of reaching net zero emissions in the agriculture sector by 2040.
Although it’s still small, interest in plant-based diets is growing, says survey
More than half of all Americans would eat more plant-based foods if they had more information about the effect of their food choices on the environment, said a survey released on Thursday. </strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Consolidation and climate change threaten U.S. fisheries, say FERN panelists
While overfishing no longer threatens U.S. fisheries, other pressing sustainability issues, such as finfish aquaculture and consolidation, top the list of concerns among fishers and fisheries experts, according to panelists who spoke at FERN Talks and Eats in New York City on Monday.</strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Al Gore promotes carbon markets, regenerative agriculture at D.C. conference
Agriculture can be “one of the most promising and biggest solutions to the climate crisis” if carbon sequestration and regenerative practices are implemented, former vice president Al Gore said on Wednesday at the annual Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research conference in Washington, D.C.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Young farmers face heightened risks from climate change
Oceans could provide far more food in the future, reports say
Oceans could provide far more protein for the world’s food supply than they do now, especially from aquaculture, but aggressive action is needed to better manage fisheries and mitigate the impact of climate change, according to two reports released Thursday.
As the Salton Sea shrinks, a toxic mess looms
The Salton Sea, the largest lake in California, is drying up, revealing a bed packed with toxic chemicals, the residue of a century of runoff from Imperial Valley farms. Public-health experts worry that those chemicals pose a grave risk to the health of people who live nearby, mostly farmworkers, the elderly and families too poor to relocate, as Lindsay Fendt reports in FERN's latest story, published with The Weather Channel. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Key changes needed to ensure sustainable fisheries amid climate change, report says
Several key strategies must be implemented if there is any hope for sustainable fisheries in our rapidly warming oceans, says a new report from the Environmental Defense Fund. The report’s release coincides with COP25, a global climate conference being held this week in Madrid.
Shift to ‘climate neutral’ agriculture, urges small-farm group
Wildfires strike California’s wine country
The rapidly moving Kincade fire destroyed the historic Soda Rock winery near Healdsburg in Northern California and "had Sonoma County wine country under siege," the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday. "Structures in the famed wine country were burning, including some owned by wineries in the Alexander Valley." Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency as fires burned thousands of acres throughout the state.