The Problem With Food and Climate — and How To Fix It | Jonathan Foley | TED

Summary

This script highlights the significant impact of our food system on climate change, contributing to about 22% of global emissions. It emphasizes the need for a science-based plan to address this issue, focusing on reducing emissions through efficiency, sustainable diets, protecting ecosystems, and improving farming methods. The script also discusses the potential for carbon removal through rewilding and regenerative agriculture, advocating for a combined effort to create a better food system that nourishes the world, reduces environmental pressure, and combats climate change.

Takeaways

• 🌱 The food system's land use is massive, accounting for about 38% of Earth's land, which is significantly more than the land covered by cities and suburbs (<1%).
• 🐄 Almost three-quarters of this land is used for animal agriculture, either for grazing or growing feed, indicating a substantial environmental footprint.
• 🌡️ Agriculture contributes to climate change, being responsible for about 22% of global greenhouse gas emissions, similar to the emissions from electricity or industry.
• 🌳 Deforestation for agricultural purposes is a major concern, contributing to 11% of global emissions, which is more than the entire US economy's emissions.
• 🐮 Livestock, particularly cattle, are significant methane emitters, with one pound of beef producing 100 pounds of greenhouse gases on average.
• 🚜 Industrial farming practices, including excessive use of chemical fertilizers, contribute to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
• 🍽️ Food waste is a significant issue, with 30-40% of all food grown never being consumed, highlighting the inefficiency and unnecessary emissions in the food system.
• 🌿 Shifting towards more plant-rich diets can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as animal products generally have a higher emissions footprint per pound of food.
• 🌳 Protecting and restoring ecosystems, such as forests and prairies, can help store carbon and reduce emissions from deforestation.
• 🌱 Improving farming methods, such as reducing chemical fertilizer use and adopting regenerative agriculture practices, can lower emissions and improve soil health.
• 🔄 The food system has the potential for carbon removal through rewilding old agricultural lands and practicing regenerative agriculture, although it should not replace emission reduction efforts.

Q & A

How does our food system contribute to climate change?

Our food system contributes to climate change through various means including deforestation for farming, methane emissions from livestock, industrial farming methods, and rice production, which together account for about 22% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

What percentage of Earth's land is used for growing crops and grazing animals?

Approximately 38% of Earth's land is used for growing crops (in green) and grazing animals (in red), with 29% of that specifically for animals, either for grazing or growing animal feed.

How does the land use for agriculture compare to urban areas?

All the cities and suburbs on Earth cover less than 1% of Earth's land, which is significantly less than the 38% used for agriculture.

What are the four major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions within the food system?

The four major contributors are deforestation, methane from livestock, industrial farming methods, and rice production.

How much of global emissions are attributed to deforestation?

Deforestation contributes to about 11% of global emissions, which is more than the entire US economy's emissions.

What is the impact of discarded food on greenhouse gas emissions?

Discarded food that ends up in landfills and rots can produce methane, which is counted as an industrial emission.

What is the percentage of food grown on Earth that is never eaten?

About 30 to 40% of all the food grown on Earth is never consumed, making food waste a significant contributor to unnecessary land, water, and greenhouse gas usage.

Why is shifting towards more plant-rich diets considered beneficial for the climate?

Shifting towards plant-rich diets is beneficial because animal products, particularly beef, have a much higher greenhouse gas emission per pound compared to plant-based foods.

What is the role of commodity agriculture in deforestation?

Commodity agriculture, especially the clearing of forests for beef, soybeans for animal feed, and palm oil, contributes significantly to deforestation and is a major concern for climate change.

How can we improve farming methods to reduce emissions?

We can improve farming methods by adopting more efficient practices such as reducing food waste, using less fertilizer, and possibly incorporating techniques from organic or precision agriculture.

What are the two additional pillars for addressing the food and climate crisis mentioned in the script?

The two additional pillars are rewilding old agricultural lands and practicing regenerative agriculture to build up soil carbon and vegetation cover.

What is the potential of the food system in addressing the climate crisis?

The food system has the potential to not only reduce its own emissions but also to remove carbon through rewilding and regenerative agriculture, thereby contributing positively to climate change mitigation.

Outlines

00:00

🌱 The Environmental Impact of Food Production

This paragraph highlights the significant contribution of the food system to climate change. It emphasizes that the land used for growing crops and grazing animals accounts for 38% of Earth's land surface, which is a staggering figure compared to the less than 1% covered by urban areas. The paragraph details the various environmental impacts, such as biodiversity loss, water pollution, and ecosystem degradation, all stemming from the sheer scale of agriculture. It also points out that agriculture is responsible for about 22% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is a substantial figure when compared to other sectors like electricity and industry. The paragraph introduces the four major contributors to these emissions: deforestation, methane from livestock, industrial farming methods, and rice production. It concludes by noting the indirect emissions from food waste and the energy and materials used in the food system, which increase the total contribution to greenhouse gases to approximately 34%.

05:01

🛠️ A Science-Based Plan to Address Food and Climate Change

The second paragraph outlines a science-based approach to mitigating the impact of food on climate change. It begins by emphasizing the importance of reducing emissions as the first step in addressing the issue, using the analogy of a bathtub to illustrate the need to 'turn off the faucet' of pollution. The paragraph introduces four key strategies to achieve this: increasing efficiency in the food system, particularly by reducing food waste; examining diets and the environmental impact of different foods, with a focus on the high emissions associated with animal products; protecting forests and ecosystems from being cleared for agriculture; and improving farming methods to reduce emissions from the field. The paragraph also touches on the potential for carbon removal through rewilding agricultural lands and practicing regenerative agriculture, but cautions that these methods should not replace the primary goal of emission reduction.

10:01

🌟 Transforming the Food System for a Sustainable Future

The final paragraph presents the food and climate crisis as both a monumental challenge and a significant opportunity. It suggests that by adopting a comprehensive approach, we can build a better food system that nourishes the world, reduces pressure on nature, and contributes to halting climate change. The paragraph emphasizes that this transformation is already possible with existing technologies and requires a change in choices rather than waiting for new innovations. It calls for following scientific guidance and collaborating across various solutions to create a more sustainable and climate-friendly future for food production and consumption.

Keywords

💡Climate Change

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, primarily caused by the increase in greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. In the video, it is the overarching theme, emphasizing how food systems significantly contribute to this global issue, with agriculture and land use accounting for about 22% of global emissions.

💡Food System

The food system encompasses all the processes and infrastructure involved in feeding a population, from production and processing to distribution and consumption. The script highlights that the food system is a major contributor to climate change, using up about 38% of Earth's land and being responsible for a significant portion of global greenhouse gas emissions.

💡Deforestation

Deforestation is the large-scale removal of trees, often to make way for agricultural land or urban development. The script points out that deforestation accounts for 11% of global emissions, which is a major contributor to climate change and is directly linked to the food system through land clearing for farming and grazing.

💡Methane

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with a much higher heat-trapping capacity than carbon dioxide. The video script discusses methane emissions from livestock, particularly cattle, which are a significant source of these emissions due to their digestive processes, contributing to climate change.

💡Industrial Farming

Industrial farming refers to large-scale, intensive agriculture practices that often rely on heavy machinery, chemical fertilizers, and monoculture. In the script, it is mentioned as a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, particularly due to the overuse of chemicals and poor soil management.

💡Food Waste

Food waste is the discarding of edible food, which has significant environmental impacts, including the release of methane when it decomposes in landfills. The script emphasizes that reducing food waste is a key strategy in combating climate change, as it represents a significant portion of the resources used in the food system that are ultimately wasted.

💡Plant-Rich Diets

Plant-rich diets are dietary patterns that emphasize fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes over animal products. The video script suggests that shifting towards more plant-rich diets can help reduce the environmental impact of food production, as animal agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.

💡Ecosystems

Ecosystems are communities of living organisms interacting with their physical environment. The script discusses the importance of protecting ecosystems from being cleared for agriculture, as this not only contributes to biodiversity loss but also to climate change through the destruction of natural carbon sinks.

💡Fertilizers

Fertilizers are substances added to soil to provide nutrients essential for plant growth. The video script points out that the overuse of chemical fertilizers in industrial farming contributes to pollution of both the atmosphere and water bodies, making the efficient use of fertilizers a key aspect of reducing the environmental impact of agriculture.

💡Regenerative Agriculture

Regenerative agriculture is a method of farming that seeks to improve soil health, sequester carbon, and increase biodiversity. The script mentions it as a solution to climate change, as it involves practices that can store carbon in the soil and vegetation, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

💡Carbon Removal

Carbon removal involves the processes and technologies that capture and store atmospheric carbon dioxide, such as afforestation and soil carbon sequestration. The video script notes that while carbon removal is important, it should not replace the primary need to cut emissions, and it can be part of a broader strategy to address climate change within the food system.

Highlights

Food production and farming landscapes contribute significantly to climate change.

The food system is a vast contributor, with agriculture and land use accounting for about 38% of Earth's land surface.

Almost 30% of the land is dedicated to animal farming or growing animal feed, indicating a substantial environmental impact.

Agriculture is linked to biodiversity loss, water pollution, and ecosystem degradation globally.

The food system is responsible for approximately 22% of global greenhouse gas emissions, comparable to electricity and industry sectors.

Deforestation for food production accounts for 11% of global emissions, a figure larger than the entire US economy's emissions.

Livestock are significant methane emitters, contributing substantially to climate change.

Industrial farming practices, particularly the overuse of chemical fertilizers, are a major concern for environmental pollution.

Rice production is another significant methane source, contributing around 2% to global emissions.

Food waste is a massive issue, with 30 to 40% of all food grown not being consumed, making it a key area for efficiency improvements.

Dietary shifts towards plant-based options can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with food.

Protecting forests and ecosystems from being cleared for agriculture is crucial in combating climate change.

Improving farming methods, particularly in fertilizer use, can lead to substantial emission reductions.

The food system's indirect emissions, such as from discarded food in landfills, are also significant and must be addressed.

Efficiency improvements in the food system, including transportation and refrigeration, are essential for reducing emissions.

Carbon removal in the food system, such as through rewilding and regenerative agriculture, offers additional opportunities for climate action.

The food and climate crisis presents an opportunity to build a better, more sustainable food system that nourishes the world and helps restore nature.

A science-based, collaborative approach across a range of solutions is necessary to address the interconnected challenges of food and climate change.

Transcripts

it might surprise you to learn that the

food we eat and the Farms that grow it

and the Landscapes we've cleared all

contribute to climate change and

contribute in a really really big way

our job today is to figure out what we

can actually do about it well this is

also kind of a tricky Topic in part

because there are just so many variables

that work and so many processes but also

it's a place of a lot of confusion and

misinformation so how are we going to

move forward together and try to figure

out something with Clarity well to do

that I like to listen to the data and

see what it tells us and see what we can

learn from it and the first thing the

data tells us about our food system is

that it's really really big so let's

take a look at this this is the land

that we use on Earth just to grow our

crops here in green here's the land we

use to graze our animals here in red

together that's a huge amount of land

it's about 38% of all the Land There is

on Earth to put that in perspective all

the cities and suburbs on Earth cover

less than 1% of Earth land this is

38 now of this 38 29 of it is used for

Animals either to graze or to grow

animal feed so we have a huge footprint

of Agriculture and a lot of it is

devoted to the animal part of our

agricultural

systems so so food dominates our planet

and animals dominate the food system

today that's just data that's just the

truth so what does this mean it means

that there's some massive environmental

impacts just from the sheer real estate

of our food system and we have to

acknowledge that whether it's the role

of Agriculture and driving biodiversity

loss or water pollution or degrading

ecosystems all over the world it has a

huge footprint and that footprint

doesn't end just on land or in water it

extends all the way to the atmosphere in

our climate system in fact if you look

at the emissions data from the ipcc we

find that agriculture land use and the

food system as a whole contribute about

22% of global emissions that's

comparable to the emissions from

electricity or from industry so this is

a pretty big player let's look under the

hood and see what's involved in this of

this 22% of greenhouse gas emissions

coming from the food system there are

four big players

the first is

deforestation that's about half of all

those food emissions at 11% of global

emissions 11% that's a pretty big deal

to put that in perspective the entire US

economy emits 10 to 11% deforestation's

even bigger and we don't talk about this

nearly enough second is methane from

livestock now we hear a lot of jokes

about what cows do and all that kind of

thing but the science is actually really

clear livestock are a huge emiter of

methane and methane's a very big driver

of climate change and we have to make

that connection third is basically

industrial farming methods especially

overusing chemicals like fertilizers and

treating soil really badly we have to

think about that too and then finally we

have rice production another methane

producer at around 2% that's also going

to be really important so the first

order all of those emissions those 22%

come from just those four things

deforestation live stock industrial

farming methods and rice so we're going

to have to look at all those in some

detail but that's not all Beyond these

direct emissions of food that 22% there

are some indirect ways the food system

emits greenhouse gas as well for example

discarded food might end up in a

landfill somewhere rotting and producing

methane and that's counted over here in

the industry column and then we have to

think about all the energy and materials

it takes to grow food and then later to

process transport package and prepare it

that's counted elsewhere in the food

system as well so when we look at these

data it tells us that yes food releases

22% of greenhouse gases directly but

when we add all the other sources it

grows to something like

34% roughly a third of all the

greenhouse gases on Earth so that means

it's a third of the climate problem in

other words we cannot solve climate

change unless we also address the

problems of food alongside fossil fuels

and energy so that's why we're here

today to talk about why food and climate

are so connected so we have a problem

and that problem is getting bigger

because the emissions of food are rising

even in countries like the United States

where emissions of other greenhouse

gases are going down in the US emissions

of electricity are going down in

Industry they're going down they're

beginning to go down in buildings and

transportation but not in food they're

still going up and that's true

throughout the world this is the most

stubborn and difficult part of the whole

climate puzzle so we need to really take

this seriously so basically we have a

crisis in food and climate because it's

a huge emitter of greenhouse gases it's

getting worse and it's a problem where

there's a lot of confusion and kind of

misinformation flowing around and we

don't often know what to do so this is

where we need a plan we need a

science-based plan that helps us move

forward through the challenge of food

and climate change well what's the first

step of the plan the first step of the

plan always in climate change is to cut

the emissions always whether it's

electricity or industry or

Transportation you always start by

cutting the primary pollution why well

one analogy we often use is a bathtub if

a bathtub is overflowing and pouring out

into the floor damaging your house

what's the first thing you do you turn

off the faucet then you go look for the

sponge to clean up the rest of the water

so let's turn off the faucet of

pollution and turn down these huge

sources to do that there are four key

pillars we can follow to do it the first

is to be more efficient just like

insulating buildings or driving hybrid

cars efficiency is a good place to start

so within the food system we have a lot

of opportunities for efficiency

especially by cutting food waste and

food loss and there's astonishing

numbers here it turns out about 30 to

40% of all the food grown on Earth is

never eaten so that means that 30 to 40%

of all the land and water and greenhouse

gases it took to grow food weren't even

necessary so cutting food waste turns

out to be a big lever in stopping

climate

change we also need to look at diets now

this one gets a little bit tricky and

people don't like to talk about it but

we're going to need to because it turns

out some foods end up emitting a lot

more greenhouse gases than others just

look at the top things on this list of

greenhouse gas emissions per pound of

food what do they all have in common

they're all animal products and then

look at beef at the top of the list it's

literally off the chart and it emits 100

pound of greenhouse gases for one pound

of beef on average some of it is even

more than that now just stop and think

about that for just one second it turns

out a pound of coal the dirtiest fossil

fuel there is releases about four pounds

of CO2 but producing one pound of beef

produces 100 pounds of greenhouse gas

this makes beef the most climate

polluting substance you and I will

normally encounter in our lives so this

is kind of a big deal and that's one of

the reasons among many that shifting

diets towards more plant-rich options is

a good idea for climate now it doesn't

mean everybody goes vegan tomorrow even

small targeted changes can make a big

big difference we also have to think

about ways of protecting forest and

other ecosystems from being cleared one

of the things we have to be concerned

about is commodity agriculture

especially clearing forest for more beef

more soybeans which are used for animal

feed and palm oil the those are some of

the biggest clearers of tropical

rainforest and we have to look for those

all over the world and there are many

ways we can stop deforestation and stop

this clearing of forest we can work with

indigenous communities to protect their

land into the future we can clean up

Global Supply chains we can fix Global

carbon markets many many things we can

do here we also have to improve farming

methods so we don't Emmit As Much from

the farmer field we can blend a lot of

different techniques here whether it

borrows from organic agriculture or

conventional or a Precision egg or

whatever we can borrow lots of good

ideas and find ways to reduce emissions

one of the things we'll have to do is

pay particular attention to fertilizers

because they're a big big polluter not

only to the atmosphere but also to water

and some places in the world use way too

much fertilizer more than the crops

could ever actually use and it turns out

those areas shown in yellow could

dramatically lower their fertilizer use

without affecting yields at all and

improve emissions greatly so there's

some great opportunities here and

finally we can fix the rest of the food

system whether it's in transportation

Refrigeration packaging cooking food all

of that and together we have a whole

system of solutions that improves

efficiency protect ecosystems from being

cleared improve the way we farm and

improve the rest of the food system

these are all put together as kind of an

ensemble of solutions and it works

really really well beyond cutting

emissions we also remove some carbon in

the food system as well but just like

other sectors we have to be a little bit

careful about carbon removal it never

takes the place of cutting emissions why

well in this case because it starts off

really really small all the carbon

removal on land today is less than a

tenth of a percent in the egg system and

we are emitting 22% so it's small also

there's a limit to how much we can store

in soils and vegetation and how long we

can store it so we have to be careful

there and we also want to make sure we

never distract from the real job of

cutting emissions in the first place but

nevertheless we have some great

opportunities to cut emissions and

remove carbon and add these two new

pillars for example we can Rew old

agricultural lands bringing them back to

Nature whether it's forest or prairies

or Coastal ecosystems or we can practice

regenerative agriculture on our working

lands and build up soil carbon and

vegetation cover in ways that store

carbon improves soil health and improve

water quality in really great ways so

putting this all together we have an

enormous toolbox of solutions first

cutting emissions and removing carbon

through rewilding and regenerative

agriculture we have all these tools in

this tool box and we should use them as

a kind of combined effort as a toolbox

as a portfolio because there's no Silver

Bullet solution to solving the food and

climate dilemma at all there just isn't

one I wish there was but what we have to

do is use this whole portfolio of

solutions have them work together and

find a way forward so how are we going

to move forward here well I think we

actually have an incredible opportunity

facing us today while the food and

climate crisis is an enormous challenge

of course I also see it as an incredible

opportunity and that opportunity is to

build an entirely better food system we

could have a food system that truly

nourishes the world today and into the

future we could have a food system that

reduces pressure on nature

and even help restore some of it and we

could have a food system that actually

stops climate change that's entirely

possible and at our fingertips today and

we could do all of this at the same time

and what's so beautiful today is this is

already possible none of this requires

some new technology it requires us to

change that's it and we just need to

choose it but if we do we can follow the

science and we can collaborate across

this whole range of solutions and

actually unlock a much better future

thank you very much thank you