Project Drawdown is the world’s leading resource for climate solutions. They recently published a perspective that put a spotlight on Food and Farming. At Jiminy’s, we’re addressing the food system by thinking differently about how we feed our pets. This article supports the need for low impact alternatives like insect farming. We’ve included a summary of the article by Jonathan Foley Ph.D. below, however if you want to read the entire article, you can find it here.
Summary: How food and farming will determine the fate of planet Earth
Agriculture has disrupted the planet more than any other human activity, including burning fossil fuels. A sustainable future depends on recognizing this fact and radically changing how we farm and eat.
More than any other invention in human history, agriculture has radically transformed civilization and our relationship with the natural world. Early humans were hunter-gatherers, living off whatever they could find around them, leading to a harsh existence with rampant starvation, malnutrition, and short life expectancies. However, from meager beginnings roughly 12,000 years ago, early forms of agriculture appeared around the world. Over millennia, farming slowly spread, transforming landscapes, ecosystems, economies, and cultures.
The Evolution of Agriculture
For most of history, food production increased by using more land. By the twentieth century, massive areas of farmland had been cleared worldwide to meet the rising food demands of fast-growing communities. Starting in the 1960s, the Green Revolution introduced new industrial methods to grow more crops on each parcel of land using higher-yielding varieties, irrigation, fertilizer, and pesticides. This shift marked a move from geographic expansion to industrial intensification, dramatically increasing food production but with significant environmental consequences.
Agriculture's Vast Footprint
Today, over 16 million square kilometers of Earth’s land surface is used to grow crops, providing human food, animal feed, biofuels, fiber, seed, and industrial products. Additionally, 34 million square kilometers are used for grazing animals, replacing vast tracts of forest, savanna, and natural grassland. Together, croplands and grazing lands cover 37% of Earth’s land surface, more than Asia and Europe combined. A staggering 75% of all agricultural land is used for grazing animals or growing animal feed, making our consumption of meat and dairy products the most significant driver of agriculture's vast footprint.
The Environmental Impact of Agriculture
Loss of Nature
Agriculture has consumed more land and driven more species and ecosystems to extinction than any other human activity. Vast areas of grassland, savanna, woodland, forest, and wetlands have been wiped out, causing the decline or extinction of countless species worldwide.
Water Usage
Agriculture is responsible for 70% of the world’s freshwater use, draining groundwater, rivers, and lakes. This has led to the near or total collapse of many rivers, lakes, and inland seas, such as the Colorado River and the Aral Sea.
Pollution
Industrialized farming has significantly polluted the planet, primarily through the overuse of chemical fertilizers. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers have polluted waterways, causing dead zones in coastal areas worldwide, such as the Gulf of Mexico.
Climate Change
Agricultural practices contribute significantly to climate change, primarily through deforestation and the release of methane and nitrous oxide. Deforestation for animal pasture and crop production accounts for roughly 10-11% of global greenhouse gas emissions. When including the entire food system, including transportation, packaging, refrigeration, cooking, and food waste, food systems emit roughly one-third of global emissions.
The Path Forward
Our agricultural practices and food systems are degrading the global environment and compromising our long-term future. Agriculture is the biggest driver of species extinctions and ecosystem degradation, the single biggest user and polluter of water, and among the most significant contributors to climate change. However, we cannot simply stop agriculture, as producing food at scale is essential for human survival.
To ensure a sustainable future, we must find ways to feed a growing world without destroying the planet. This year, Project Drawdown will critically examine our planet’s food systems to guide us toward a more sustainable future. Follow along as we explore how to balance food production with environmental conservation.
For more details, read the original article on Project Drawdown: How Food and Farming Will Determine the Fate of the Planet.