Katherine

We know how to decarbonize energy. The food sector should take notes. Climate-friendly agriculture is two decades behind clean energy. Here are lessons food and farming can learn from the rise of renewables and cleantech.

There are dozens of promising food and climate solutions.

The bad news is that none of them have made a serious dent in emissions. But 20 years ago, the same was true of energy and climate solutions.

Here’s how @mikegrunwald.bsky.social thinks food can learn from clean energy:

Small vertical farms pick up where Big Tech faltered Empty downtowns and rural food deserts welcome small indoor farms to revive urban areas and solve food insecurity.

Small vertical farms pick up where Big Tech faltered wapo.st/4kZCTly #farming #industrialization

A heartbreaking but important read. When technology is used to just cover up issues instead of actually change the toxic systems.

At an Iowa Pork Plant, Piles of Dead Pigs and Wafting Sulphur Dioxide When climate technology breaks down, the results can be deadly.

At an #Iowa Pork Plant, Piles of Dead Pigs and Wafting Sulphur Dioxide

@ninaelkadi.com reports for @sentientmedia.org

#news #environment #climatechange

EJ Today Headlines: sej.org/headlines/list

sentientmedia.org/iowa-pork-pl...

Very important especially for anyone living in a natural disaster prone region!

A key gathering on food systems, #UNFSS2025, is taking place this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Transformation is needed to feed the growing population and meet environmental and sustainability goals.

Find out more by taking a journey through the world's #FoodSystems: www.unep.org/interactives...

Great work!

Food systems for human, economic & planetary health A CCI Blue Note policy brief for the 2nd Food Systems Summit Stocktake (FSS+4) taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Four years after the historic United Nations Food Systems Summit, there are many…

Today, experts, advocates & diplomats are gathered in Addis Ababa for the stocktake on #FoodSystems four years after the #FoodSystemsSummit. Our policy brief maps out ways to navigate 7 dimensions of polycrisis, restore nature & secure a livable future. #FSS+4 climatevalue.exchange/2025/07/28/f...

As food prices rise, Mamdani wants public grocery stores in New York. Can it work? Experts say there’s plenty of precedent both in the US and abroad for state-supported food infrastructure

Could Zohran's proposal for public grocery stores actually work — and reduce food prices?

The experts I spoke to told me there's more precedent than you might guess. My latest for @us.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Looks delicious!

Revo Foods Relaunches Vegan Octopus Permanently Due To 'Overwhelming Demand' Revo Foods says it is permanently relaunching “THE KRAKEN,” its world-first vegan octopus tentacle, in response to "overwhelming" demand

Revo Foods is bringing back its vegan octopus in response to huge customer demand 👏

Gosh I was 7 and I still remember watching the news coverage with my parents.

Crazy that it has been 20 years, and so sad that cities on the Gulf Coast are still unprepared for dealing with hurricanes. (The two multi-day power outages in Houston last year are proof of that)

Now, AeroFarms was acquired out of bankruptcy and is refocusing on microgreens with products back in stores.

Vertical farming still has a role to play in sustainable food systems, but AeroFarms shows that the tech needs better economic incentive and a clearer market fit.

#SustainableFoodSystem

Challenges AeroFarms faced:

- High operating costs and energy usage
- Limited consumer traction leading to revenue shortfalls
- Leadership and staff turnover and loss

The vision for AeroFarms:

- Controlled environment ag for urban food security
- Precision nutrition through data and sensors
- Climate-resilient farming with no pesticides

Vertical farming isn’t dead, but AeroFarms is a cautionary tale.

Founded in 2004, AeroFarms was a pioneer in growing leafy greens indoors using aeroponics and LED lights with less water and land.

They raised over $200M. Then declared bankruptcy.

#VerticalFarming

MAHA Leaders Demand Removal of Chemical Liability Shield in Crucial Vote Tomorrow in the House Appropriations Bill MAHA Urges Investment in Regenerative and Organic Agriculture to Help Solve America’s Chronic Disease Epidemic

So how should the climate-conscious work with MAHA’s latest effort?

Perhaps this is a good time to push innovations in ag-tech that don’t require pesticides at all.

open.substack.com/pub/unitedwe...

500+ MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) organizations urge the U.S. Congress to take tougher action on toxic pesticides, fungicides, and other chemical inputs. This right-leaning movement in support of organic and regenerative agriculture could be a meeting point for environmentalists.

At an Iowa Pork Plant, Piles of Dead Pigs and Wafting Sulphur Dioxide When climate technology breaks down, the results can be deadly.

After Steven Barrows left his job at a hog slaughtering facility in Sioux City, Iowa, he sent a tip to the Environmental Protection Agency. In the tip, Barrows described the parking lot of Seaboard Triumph Foods LLC as a “dump site for rotten meats.” @ninaelkadi.com reports:
buff.ly/Ta66gSR

Beef prices have soared in the US — and not just during grilling season Anyone firing up the grill this summer already knows hamburgers and steaks are expensive, but the latest numbers show prices have climbed to record highs.

Drought, Disease, and Donald Trump

U.S. cattle herds are at a 70-year low, meaning prices for beef are sky high. Caused by a multitude of factors with no signs of easy over the next two years, could this rise in prices be a prime opportunity for alternative proteins?

apnews.com/article/beef...

We Are Eating the Earth From the author of New York Times bestseller The New New Deal, a groundbreaking piece of reportage from the trenches of the next climate war: the f...

In one universe everyone is talking about how Michael Grunwald’s “We Are Eating the Earth” is opening their eyes to how important land use emissions are, while in another universe Congress just made it illegal to include land use emissions when determining what qualifies as a low-emission fuel.

US Importers Sued for ‘Greenwashing’ Mexican Avocados Most avocados sold in the U.S. are imports from Mexico, where farming has environmental and human-rights impacts little known to consumers.

Most avocados sold in the U.S. come from Mexico, where farming methods have serious environmental and human-rights impacts. But importers continue to market the fruit as sustainably grown.

Right, but the big SOC loss happens during LUC when natural ecosystems are converted to agriculture. If people want to restore soil C in meaningful amounts, then it’s usually a difference between “farming” and “not farming,” rather than a difference between “bad farming” and “good farming.”

Happy World Emoji Day 2025 🎉

The difference between animal protein and other proteins like nuts is interesting

Wonder if alternative proteins could replace meat, leaving more land available for the (slightly less efficient) organic produce?

US aid workers lobbied for weeks to save food stocks from destruction after Trump cuts With 1,100 tonnes of emergency food rations nearing expiry in a U.S. government warehouse in Dubai after President Donald Trump's aid freeze, it took a warning of "wasted tax dollars" for a top U.S. official to eventually agree to a deal for the supplies to be used, sources told Reuters.

US aid workers lobbied for weeks to save food stocks from destruction after Trump cuts reut.rs/3IygSga

Climate is Changing, Food is Not When adaptation is the only solution left

Last week in #climate and #food news:

- Fossil fuels dominate our food system, shows a new report

- Nearly 80% of consumers believe plant proteins will help them age better and build muscle strength

And

- It is time to look at adaptation (like now!)

open.substack.com/pub/progress...

Biofuel demand to soak up more than half of US soyoil production next year, USDA says U.S. biofuel makers will consume more than half of all soybean oil produced in the United States next year as a recent flurry of federal policy moves has transformed the sector, including higher blending mandates and curbs on foreign biofuel imports and feedstocks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Friday.

People disagree about nearly everything in the climate space.

EXCEPT BIOFUELS.

Absolutely everybody thinks using corn & soy for fuel is a terrible idea - except the people who stand to gain from it, and the people who want those folks' votes.

www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

Tomato tariffs of 20.9% are scheduled to go into effect tomorrow. The country's largest seller says if so, prices are going up roughly 10% for consumers. www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/yo...