Food, Agriculture & the Environment: Can We Feed the World & Save the Earth?

Daedalus ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 144 (4) ◽  
pp. 8-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Tilman ◽  
Michael Clark
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Developing Nations ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Nutritious Food

Secure and nutritious food supplies are the foundation of human health and development, and of stable societies. Yet food production also poses significant threats to the environment through greenhouse gas emissions, pollution from fertilizers and pesticides, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services from the conversion of vast amounts of natural ecosystems into croplands and pastures. Global agricultural production is on a trajectory to double by 2050 because of both increases in the global population and the dietary changes associated with growing incomes. Here we examine the environmental problems that would result from these dietary shifts toward greater meat and calorie consumption and from the increase in agricultural production needed to provide this food. Several solutions, all of which are possible with current knowledge and technology, could substantially reduce agriculture's environmental impacts on greenhouse gas emissions, land clearing, and threats to biodiversity. In particular, the adoption of healthier diets and investment in increasing crop yields in developing nations would greatly reduce the environmental impacts of agriculture, lead to greater global health, and provide a path toward a secure and nutritious food supply for developing nations.

scholarly journals Consumer Readiness to Reduce Meat Consumption for the Purpose of Environmental Sustainability: Insights from Norway

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3058 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marthe Austgulen ◽  
Silje Skuland ◽  
Alexander Schjøll ◽  
Frode Alfnes
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Consumption Practices ◽  
Group Interviews

Food production is associated with various environmental impacts and the production of meat is highlighted as a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. A transition toward plant-based and low-meat diets has thus been emphasised as an important contribution to reducing climate change. By combining results from a consumer survey, focus group interviews and an in-store field experiment, this article investigates whether Norwegian consumers are ready to make food choices based on what is environmentally sustainable. We ask how consumers perceive the environmental impacts of food consumption, whether they are willing and able to change their food consumption in a more climate-friendly direction, and what influences their perceptions and positions. The results show that there is uncertainty among consumers regarding what constitutes climate- or environmentally friendly food choices and that few consumers are motivated to change their food consumption patterns for climate- or environmental reasons. Consumers’ support to initiatives, such as eating less meat and increasing the prices of meat, are partly determined by the consumers’ existing value orientation and their existing consumption practices. Finally, we find that although providing information about the climate benefits of eating less meat has an effect on vegetable purchases, this does not seem to mobilise consumer action any more than the provision of information about the health benefits of eating less meat does. The article concludes that environmental policies aiming to transfer part of the responsibility for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to food consumers is being challenged by the fact that most consumers are still not ready to make food choices based on what is best for the climate or environment.

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