Agriculture adviser Rod Snyder leaves EPA on Wednesday
Rod Snyder, the first director of EPA's agriculture and rural affairs office, said on Monday that he was leaving the agency after nearly three years as its agriculture adviser. EPA administrator Michael Regan said farmers, ranchers, and rural communities "will always have a seat at EPA's table" thanks to Snyder's influence.
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.
Report maps ways to cut food waste by 50 percent globally
The World Resources Institute released a report Thursday that shows how the world could cut food waste by 50 percent by 2030, offering findings that are in line with the sustainable development goals of the United Nations. Achieving that goal would save money, feed people more sustainably, and fight climate change.
Diet for a healthy planet: Half the red meat and sugar, more grains, nuts, produce
A three-year collaboration by three dozen experts in nutrition, agriculture, economics, and the environment says it has solved one of the world’s great challenges: how to feed an expected 10 billion people at mid-century without imperiling future food production. The answer is the “planetary health diet.”
Report finds companies faring well, governments less so, in meeting food waste targets
Private companies are stepping up to tackle food waste, a new report finds, but governments lag behind in the race to meet a United Nations goal of cutting wasted food in half by 2030. The report was compiled by a coalition of executives and leaders of private companies, non-profits, and government agencies, called Champions 12.3, that work to reduce food waste internationally.
‘High-road’ employers also value sustainability, study finds
A new study from the Food Chain Workers Alliance and Restaurant Opportunities Centers United found that restaurants that have higher employment standards are also invested in sourcing food that meets a higher level of environmental and economic sustainability.
More than half of meat and fish producers deemed ‘high risk’ for investors
An analysis of 60 global meat and fish producers found that 36 companies worth $136 billion were a "high risk" for investors, because they failed to address a range of sustainability issues including greenhouse gas emissions, animal welfare, antibiotics use, worker conditions, and food safety, said the Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return (FAIRR) Initiative.
Trump administration takes control of topics for Dietary Guidelines debate
The Agriculture and Health departments said they will decide the issues that will be discussed by experts in updating the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, precluding divisive topics such as meat consumption and long-term availability of food that delayed the 2015-2020 edition for months. Released every five years, the guidelines have a major impact on what the country eats, although three-fourth of Americans don't eat as much fruit or vegetables as recommended.
Can the Arctic’s icy waters solve aquaculture’s sustainability problems?
In April, at a smelting factory in Arctic Norway, the world’s largest photobioreactor will begin churning out fish feed grown on pollution. The feed, or microalgae, will provide a critical source of omega oils for prized Norwegian farmed salmon, while digesting carbon dioxide from industrial smoke piped through the bioreactor, says Hans-Christian Eilertsen, a marine biologist with the Arctic University of Norway.
NOAA reports lower commercial fishing profits
U.S. commercial fishing profits and jobs were down in 2015, due mostly to environmental issues, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association in its Fisheries Economics of the United States report. Earnings for 2016 have not yet been released.
A man eats fish every meal for a year. Here’s what he learned.
Writer Paul Greenberg set out to eat three meals a day of fish for a year. Now he’s revealing what happened to his health and his views on sustainable fisheries on a special edition of PBS’ Frontline. “Almost half the fish and shellfish consumed in the world is now farmed — is that helpful or harmful?” asks Greenberg, who is currently a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation and has written for FERN, including a piece called the “Fisherman’s Dilemma,” about a radical effort to protect California's fisheries.
Whole Foods and others say their tuna will be ethically-caught
Retailers across the country, including Whole Foods, are upping their tuna game with new sustainability standards focused on how the fish was caught. “Last Wednesday Whole Foods Market announced that by January 2018, all canned tuna sold in its stores or used in its prepared foods departments will be sourced from fisheries that use only pole-and-line, troll or handline catch methods that eliminate bycatch (accidental harvest of other fish, birds or mammals) because fishermen are catching tuna one at a time,” says NPR.
Top food companies say there are billions to be made by cutting food waste
The average business saves at least $14 for every dollar spent on reducing food waste, according to a new study by Champions 12.3, a coalition of governments, retailers, research organizations and advocates determined to reach the UN’s global goal of cutting food waste at the producer and consumer levels in half by 2030. Some of the group's heavy hitters include Kellogg Company, Sodexo, WRI, and Tesco, a popular UK chain of supermarkets.
A growing list of clothing companies vows to stop destroying rainforests
Ralph Lauren Corp. joins a growing number of fashion companies that have pledged to not use products derived from cleared forests or that required grabbing land from indigenous people, says Reuters. The company says it has new plans to track its sourcing and avoid parts of the world that practice extreme deforestation and human rights abuses.
Dietary Guidelines, a tug-of-war between science and self-interest
The original edition of the Dietary Guidelines, issued in 1980, was a three-fold pamphlet "with seven easy-to-comprehend rules, such as avoid sugar and saturated fat," says Eating Well magazine. The 2015-2020 edition is 53,000 words covering 211 pages.
Work now, says advocate, to get sustainability in Dietary Guidelines
With cattle ranchers pushing hard, Congress barred the government from considering sustainability in the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines. An advocate for including the subject, Miriam Nelson, sees the chance for success in the 2020 guidelines.
Destroyer is first U.S. Navy ship using alternative blend fuel
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack took part in a ceremony in Coronado, California, for the Great Green Fleet, an initiative that uses energy-efficient devices and alternative fuels to extend the operational range of U.S. warships.
Global fish catch is falling more rapidly than thought
A new study that incorporates the impact of subsistence, small-scale and illegal fishing into estimates of commercial fishing draws a dire conclusion, says the Guardian.