We all know climate change has impacted our lives over the decades—from delaying when the leaves change each season to the erosion of magnificent places like the Arctic and the Rockies. But you may not have considered how climate change will impact our food options.
However the long term effects of climate change will likely leave us with less food options—or worse—without a source of food.
Climate change communications specialist Danielle Eiseman says that currently climate change has already played a role in our diet. Harvests are having to be pushed due to late planting and late planting is happening due to floods or droughts or a host of other environmental issues plaguing farms across the globe. She added “...a lot of research has shown that the increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is really changing the protein levels of a lot of staple crops, such as rice…[which] for billions of people that rely on rice as part of their daily diets, that can have a huge impact on their overall health.” Another major staple in society’s diet is wheat which, according to a research article published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), is responsible for 20% of the Earth’s protein and calories. In order to meet the increasing demand of a population expected to grow to 9.6 million by 2050, production would have to ramp up to at least 60% to meet demand.
With a continued increase in population and a society used to a certain way of life, it seems like it would be hard to combat the effects of climate change enough to reverse food insecurity, but a paper released by Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future believes there are some policy changes that could be made in order to help alleviate the problem. In a scenario where society moves away from coal and natural gas and transitions to cleaner energy like hydroelectric, solar, and wind, public policy and infrastructure investments can be made to make walking, cycling, and public transit both more accessible and popular forms of transportation, with air travel as a last resort. In addition, a reduction in dairy and meat consumption would be necessary. The paper notes that “changing diets on an international scale will require more than just educating consumers—national policies will need to shift in ways that support more plant-centric diets.”
With the decrease in food growth and production exacerbated by climate change, supply chain issues have escalated as well, which has led to sourcing and procurement executives, consumers, and the like to question some of their sustainability practices. The good news here is that the disruption has sparked a conversation among giant corporations about their sustainability practices as it relates to sourcing their products, environmental preservation, and reconnecting corporate goals with these sourcing practices. Perhaps this growing crisis is making way for a better solution.