Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Cities cannot feed themselves, thus people who live in cities will be forever detached from the problems that come with extracting the resources they depend on and producing the food they eat.
My intention was to write about simple self-sufficiency, especially when it comes to growing food. But then this summer was challenging in a way I thought I was prepared for… but wasn’t.
Moving toward plant-based diets will not, by itself, solve the climate problem, but it is necessary for solving it.
We are long overdue for a return to growing our own food, and the farming club offers a promising way to reconnect with that tradition.
Amid plantation monocultures and industrialized farms built to maximize production at the expense of social and ecological costs to the public, there are also many communities where the economy and ecology are not in conflict.
Across discussions on policy, technology, supply chains, and community partnerships at a food waste summit earlier this year, a different pattern emerged: food waste rarely appeared as an isolated issue. Instead, it surfaced as a signal of deeper system failures.
Industrial agriculture relies on more than tractors and diesel. From synthetic fertilizers to depleted soils, the modern food system is deeply tied to fossil fuels, leaving farmers, ecosystems and food security increasingly vulnerable. Amid the polycrisis, we must rebuild food systems by valuing the natural world and supporting human communities.
Industrial agriculture transformed how the world eats after the Second World War. The gains were enormous, but so were the costs: depleted soils, monocultures, plastic pollution and growing dependence on fragile global supply chains.
A deal to bring Colorado River water to Native American communities in northern Arizona, where a third of homes lack running water, is being blocked by neighboring states, caught up in a broader battle over how to divide the dwindling river.
From collapsing rivers to groundwater depletion, Iran’s water crisis is often framed as a failure of governance or infrastructure. But it reflects a broader reality: water stress is emerging wherever human demand pushes beyond ecological limits.
Asking if the world grows enough food is the wrong kind of question. It leads to the wrong kind of answer. We don’t need to produce more food. We need to produce more farms: places where communities of living beings can thrive.
Resilient, self-reliant food systems. A new IPES-Food report says they’re key to addressing food price volatility amid rising geopolitical tensions.
