Sustainable Agriculture & Food Policy

As a doctoral student at UC Santa Cruz studying the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Ann Lopez was touched by the struggles of migrant workers and the relatives they left behind in Mexico. In response, she founded the Center for Farmworker Families in 2008 to provide education and economic assistance and advocacy. But the Felton resident and San Jose City College environmental science professor knew little about the business of operating a nonprofit so she turned to the International Humanities Center for help in handling donations and accounting services.

Last week, yet another high-level report on a topic of global concern was published by yet another group of eminent experts – this one on food security and climate change. The eminent experts – the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change – were assembled by a group of donor countries and the World Bank for the one-year task of producing the report and its recommendations. Read her full analysis

A new audio slideshow explores the work of UNH Professor Drew Conroy during the year he spent in Namibia, Africa. Conroy, a professor of applied animal science at the Thompson School of Applied Science, has traveled the world teaching about and researching techniques that are helping people to sustainably feed themselves. Watch the slideshow

Nutrient pollution isn't only a Gulf problem, said Glynnis Collins, the executive director of the Illinois-based Prairie Rivers Network, another group involved in the suits. She said nutrient-rich waters have led to toxic algae blooms in many places. "They can sicken people, pets and livestock," Collins said. "It's a worldwide story. We have to get a handle on it. It's crazy not to." Read the full story

They could hardly have been more different, the nomadic Masai tribesmen from East Africa and the college professor from New Hampshire. Yet, as they sat around a campfire on a remote African savanna, it soon became clear that they all spoke the same timeless language: cattle.

For 2011 Switzer Fellow Jeannette Laramee, it all started with designing a school in Zambia, Africa. That led to building systems that make biogas, which can save up to 10,000 pounds of firewood a year for a family in Africa.

Those rules were developed with public health in mind and aimed to limit the risks of transmitting animal-borne diseases to people, said Ruth Steiner, a professor of planning at the University of Florida. Cities need to keep that in mind as they hear from advocates of local agriculture, many of whom are worried about the quality and safety of their food, she said.

In his research on food deserts in Oakland, Portland State University professor Nathan McClintock provides a historical explanation of how the rise of large-scale grocery retailers also resulted in a lack of food options in the country’s inner-city neighborhoods. At one point in our nation’s history, the corner market was ubiquitous, offering the ability to purchase fresh food for dinner on the way home from work.

On this Switzer Network News report, we learn about the intersection between global climate change and agriculture, why current "solutions" are inadequate and where we need to go next globally.