Life
A new United Nations report warns that the world could soon face a global food crisis if key changes aren't made. As the report described, certain agricultural practices contribute to global warming, while global warming simultaneously makes farming more difficult and threatens the global food supply. If you want to help fight climate change, you can donate to various sustainable food organizations that are working hard to address some of the issues raised in the UN's report.
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change created the report, entitled Climate Change and Land, with the help of over 100 experts from 52 different countries, a report summary noted. As NPR described, the report examined how land-based activities, like agricultural production and deforestation, affect climate change — and reached some jarring conclusions. The report found that land use activities create approximately one-third of all human-produced greenhouse gas emissions, which then significantly contribute to global warming.
Notably, global warming makes severe weather events, like drought, flooding, significant rainfall, and extreme temperatures far more likely — and all of these conditions make it harder to produce food, the New Food Institute noted. The report emphasized that, if changes aren't made to agricultural production, this vicious global warming cycle could lead to a food security crisis. In fact, the New York Times indicated that 10% of the world's population is already undernourished — and that number will likely substantially rise if more steps aren't taken to secure sustainable food production.
According to NPR's coverage, the UN report recommended reducing food waste, increasing plant-based consumption, improving sustainable agricultural practices, and engaging in reforestation (restocking of forests through planting trees) as some ways to create a food secure future — and fight climate change. The organizations below are all working hard to achieve many of these objectives.
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)
NSAC is a coalition of advocacy organizations around the United States that work together to push for reforms that will help create a more sustainable American food system.
"NSAC’s vision of agriculture is one where a safe, nutritious, ample, and affordable food supply is produced by a legion of family farmers who make a decent living pursuing their trade, while protecting the environment, and contributing to the strength and stability of their communities," the organization notes on its webpage.
Groundswell International
According to its website, Groundswell International works in various countries around the world to promote sustainable agricultural practices and to strengthen "rural communities to build healthy farming and food systems from the ground up." You can donate to the nonprofit via its website.
The Land Institute
The Kansas-based Land Institute is developing a new farming model designed to mimic natural land use and promote sustainable agriculture, according to the organization's website.
"The Land Institute and our partners are not working to tweak the now predominant industrial, disruptive system of agriculture. We are working to displace it," the organization emphasized in its vision. "We believe it is possible to provide staple foods without destroying or compromising the cultural and ecological systems upon which we depend, but only if we understand and work with the constraints and capacities of those natural systems."
The Sustainable Food Trust
The Sustainable Food Trust works internationally to help various organizations accelerate and expand their work to create "just and sustainable food systems." The organization emphasizes that it uses its "influence to advocate [for] food production systems that are diverse and integrated, those that work with natural systems, and obey the law of return so they can be truly regenerative to the earth, and its plants, animals and people."
WeForest
WeForest, an international NGO, is committed to engaging in reforestation projects around the world in order to help stop climate change.
"WeForest works with communities, local organisations and NGOs to develop scalable reforestation projects, demonstrating how it is possible to mobilise communities and restore our degraded soils," the organization notes on its website. "WeForest, backed by a scientific network, is growing a movement of small and large responsible companies committed to having a positive impact for people and for our planet."
WeForest's website offers several ways to make a donation to support its projects.
The Food Recovery Network
The Food Recovery Network supports initiatives on college campuses across the United States to significantly reduce food waste. As the AP noted, food waste was responsible alone for between 8% and 10% of emissions from 2010 to 2016, according to the UN report.
The Food Recovery Network has "recovered and donated more than 3.9 million pounds of food that otherwise would have gone to waste," its website says. The organization adds that "that's more than 3.2 million meals that's gone to those in need. It is also more than 6.8 million pounds of carbon dioxide prevented from reaching the atmosphere."
You can donate to the Food Recovery Network via the organization's donation page.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
IFPRI is committed to conducting research to help create policies that promote sustainable food production around the world. According to its website, one of the organization's five strategic research areas is focused on "fostering [a] climate-resilient and sustainable food supply."
You can donate to IFPRI here.
These organizations represent some of the many groups around the world working hard to tackle the complex issue of food security. Any donation you make to support their endeavors will help them in their push to create a more sustainable future.
