-By Lauren Balotin, a ’19C major in Environmental Sciences and Media Studies
A common concern about climate change is people’s inability to make an individual impact. Climate change is an issue that doesn’t have borders; it affects everyone around the world, and negotiations concerning it take place at local, regional, national, and international levels. So what could anyone possibly do individually that could be potent enough to actually have an effect on the climate?
My response is always this: everyone eats food. We are all consumers, and most of us are guilty of wasting food on occasion. When I was at COP23, I learned so much about the impact of the agricultural industry on climate, and in contrast, the impacts of climate on the agricultural industry. For me, a key takeaway of the conference was that food and climate are more interconnected than I first thought.
Sources
Lectures and Personal Interviews at COP23
Alon S. (2017, November 13). Reducing Livestock’s Long Shadow – Opportunities to Keep Warming Well Below 2 Degrees Celsius. COP23.
Betts, R. (2017, November 14). Addressing Climate Change for a World Free of Hunger, Malnutrition, and Poverty. COP23.
Cantore, N. (2017, November 17). What You Eat Matters: Climate Change, Food Security, and Public Health. COP23.
De Pinto, A. (2017, November 16). COP23. Personal Interview.
De Pinto, A. (2017, November 16). How Can Agroecology Help Countries Achieve Their Climate Commitments? COP23.
Graziano de Silva, J. (2017, November 14). High Level Roundtables on Climate Action for Zero Hunger. COP23.
Kiwatra, A. (2017, November 14). Closing Plenary of the High Level Roundtables on Climate Action for Zero Hunger. COP23.
Koroilavesau, S. (2017, November 14). High Level Roundtables on Climate Action for Zero Hunger. COP23.
Krug, T. (2017, November 15). COP23. Personal Interview.
Krug, T. (2017, November 15). How Science Can Help Accelerate Near-Term Climate Ambition. COP23.
Mata’afa, Fiame Naomi. (2017, November 14). COP23. Addressing Climate Change for a World Free of Hunger, Malnutrition, and Poverty.
Mezouar, S. (2017, November 14). Closing Plenary of the High Level Roundtables on Climate Action for Zero Hunger. COP23.
Sándor F. (2017, November 16). How Can Agroecology Help Countries Achieve Their Climate Commitments? COP23.
Seruiratu, I. (2017, November 14). COP23. Personal Interview.
Sopaga, Enele. (2017, November 14). High Level Roundtables on Climate Action for Zero Hunger. COP23.
Springmann, M. (2017, November 13). COP23. Personal Interview.
Springmann, M. (2017, November 13). Reducing Livestock’s Long Shadow – Opportunities to Keep Warming Well Below 2 Degrees Celsius. COP23.
Tirado, Cristina. (2017, November 11). COP23. Reducing Livestock’s Long Shadow – Opportunities to Keep Warming Well Below 2 Degrees Celsius.
Journals and Articles
Ávila Faraco, R., Gomes da Silva, C., Silva de Amorim, W., Medeiros da Silveira, A. C., da Silva Neiva, S., & Osório de Andrade Guerra, J. S. (2016). Food Security, Agriculture and Climate Change Mitigation Strategies: A Scientific Production Panorama. Scholedge International Journal Of Multidisciplinary & Allied Studies, 3(2), 34-62. doi:10.19085/journal.sijmas030203.
Farming First. (2017). The Story of Agriculture and Climate Change: The Road We’ve Traveled.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2014). Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrition Proceedings of the FAO international Symposium.
France Ministry of Agriculture and Food. (2012). Agroecology in France: Changing Production Models to Combine Economic and Environmental Performance.
Friel, S. (2010). Climate change, food insecurity and chronic diseases: sustainable and healthy policy opportunities for Australia. New South Wales Public Health Bulletin, 21(6). doi:10.1071/nb10019.
Ghosh, P. R., Sharma, S. B., Haigh, Y. T., Evers, A. B., & Ho, G. (2015). An Overview of Food Loss and Waste: Why Does it Matter?. Cosmos, 11(1), 89-103. doi:10.1142/S0219607715500068.
Giannini, T. C., Costa, W. F., Cordeiro, G. D., Imperatriz-Fonseca, V. L., Saraiva, A. M., Biesmeijer, J., & Garibaldi, L. A. (2017). Projected climate change threatens pollinators and crop production in Brazil. Plos ONE, 12(8), 1-13. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0182274.
Hanna, R., & Oliva, P. (2016). Implications of Climate Change for Children in Developing Countries. Future Of Children, 26(1), 115-132.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2007). Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). (2017). The Nutrition Advantage: Harnessing Nutrition Co-Benefits of Climate-Resilient Agriculture.
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). (2017, October). 2017 Global Hunger Index: The Inequalities of Hunger.
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). (2016, October). 2016 Global Hunger Index: Getting to Zero Hunger.
Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (1998). United Nations.
Lee, D., Sönmez, E., Gómez, M. I., & Fan, X. (2017). Combining two wrongs to make two rights: Mitigating food insecurity and food waste through gleaning operations. Food Policy, 6840-52. doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2016.12.004.
Moore, R. (2017). Nasty Weather and Ugly Produce: Climate Change, Agricultural Adaptation, and Food Waste. Natural Resources Journal, 57(2), 493-517.
Myers, S. S., Smith, M. R., Guth, S., Golden, C. D., Vaitla, B., Mueller, N. D., & … Huybers, P. (2017). Climate Change and Global Food Systems: Potential Impacts on Food Security and Undernutrition. Annual Review Of Public Health, 38259-277. doi:10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031816-044356.
Seligman, H.K., Laraia, B.A., and Kuschel, M.B. (2010). Food Insecurity Is Associated with Chronic Disease among Low-Income NHANES Participants. The Journal of Nutrition, 140(2), 304-310. doi: 10.3945/jn.109.112573.
Scandurra, G., Romano, A., Ronghi, M., & Carfora, A. (2018). On the vulnerability of Small Island Developing States: A dynamic analysis. Ecological Indicators, 84382-392. doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.09.016.
Scherr, S. J. (1999). Soil degradation: a threat to developing-country food security by 2020? Washington, D.C.: IFPRI.
United Nations (UN). (2015, October 21). 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
United Nations (UN). (2016). Paris Agreement.
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). (2017). Food Security in U.S. Households.
