What You Can Do To Increase Food Security In The Face Of Climate Change

“Every segment of getting us bolstered has a connect to environmental change,” Dr. Robin Currey let me know as we recognized the U.N. Atmosphere Summit a week ago. She knows since she’s the Faculty Director of the Sustainable Food Systems program at Prescott College in Arizona.

Currey additionally revealed to me that even though the U.S. has a stoutness scourge, numerous individuals are malnourished, because they are eating nourishments that are drained of or low in supplements, and that the answers for both additionally help decrease the effect of our eating routine on environmental change. Our entire nourishment framework is the guilty party – and can be overseen better to address every one of these difficulties.

The report as of late discharged by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, called “Environmental Change and the Land,” underpins her point. “World nourishment security progressively in danger because of uncommon environmental change,” is the feature of the public statement about the report, catching our eye as though shaking our shoulders. It proceeded to state, “the ascent in worldwide temperatures, connected to expanding weights on ripe soil, gambled risking nourishment security for the planet.”

Currey revealed to me that it’s about each part of our nourishment frameworks. “Nourishment frameworks incorporate every one of the phases of keeping us sustained,” she clarified. “It’s the developing of nourishment, the collecting, our nourishment handling, the bundling, the dispersion to get it from where it’s developed and handled to us… .and afterward additionally how we’re setting up our food sources and devouring.”

“Taking a gander at all of those various parts, obviously we can see that there are various methods of effect on environmental change and the manners in which that environmental change is affecting” every segment of our nourishment framework.

She said it’s everything regarding the dirt. Developing and nourishment generation “rehearses that attention on keeping up soil wellbeing are bound to moderate the impacts of environmental change. Those that drain the dirt are adding to environmental change.”

What we can do

Here are tips Currey gave me for what we can do in our daily eating habits to mitigate climate change:

A group of watermelons sit on a truck during the summer harvest on a farm in Indiana, U.S. … [+]© 2019 BLOOMBERG FINANCE LP

1. Eat organic: Currey suggested that eating “certified organic” is best for both our health and the planet if we have access to it and can afford to. Organic is better for the soil has more nutrients and does not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides, chemicals which deplete the soil. “The healthier the soil, the more resistant plants are to infection…and there’s less of a need for all the chemical inputs,” she said.
   The USDA is the agency that certifies organic products, putting them through what Currey said is a rigorous and complex approval process, including extensive recordkeeping that is audited annually by independent inspectors. Organics are more and more available, according to the USDA website, including “in 3 out of 4 conventional grocery stores.” The more of us that demand organic products, the more places they will be available.
2. Eat more fruits and veggies: Currey says that plant-based diets are better for the planet because they preserve and nurture the soil best. (She’s not of the “don’t eat meat” school though. To hear her explain how livestock may be good for soil management, and her explanation of genetically-modified foods (GMO’s), listen to our full interview on my podcast, Green Connections Radio here, or wherever you listen to podcasts.)
3. Choose nutrient-rich varieties: All potatoes are not created equal, for example, Currey said, adding that some are much richer in iron than others, for example. Some varieties of other vegetables and fruit have more vitamin C than others too.
4. Teach kids to like fruits and veggies: “The research shows that kids that are exposed to healthier diets, that is, more fruit and vegetable options and lean meat options, are more likely to eat them as an adult.” Yes, climate change affects what you eat; you need to look no further than how extreme weather and droughts have destroyed harvests and increased product prices.
   But, “what you eat directly affects climate change,” too. As Currey put it, “Better land management decisions start with our mouths. Eating foods with lower environmental impact is something everyone can do to positively influence climate change.” And you’ll be healthier too.

Featured Image Source: hungryforever.com

from Sustainability Topics