More Sustainable Agriculture by Global Redistribution of Nitrogen Fertilizer October 16, 2023
Introduction:
(Eurekalert) Models Reveal that a Homogeneous Global Distribution of Nitrogen Fertilizer Would Significantly Reduce Worldwide Fertilization and the Resulting Pollution of the Environment
About 60 percent of worldwide nitrogen fertilizer consumption are presently used for growing crops, such as corn, wheat, or rice. These plants need nitrogen fertilizers to grow and produce bigger harvests. However, large quantities of the fertilizer enter the ground and groundwater or are emitted into the atmosphere in the form of nitrous oxide. This pollutes the environment and contributes to the loss of biological diversity, to climate change, and to the degradation of the ozone layer. This problem is particularly serious in the big cultivation areas of North America, Europe, and East Asia, where comparably large amounts of nitrogen fertilizer are used. KIT (Karlsruher Institut Fur Technologie) researchers recently modeled the effect of a worldwide redistribution of nitrogen fertilizer use. They simulated various fertilizer quantities at different locations and calculated the total production of corn, wheat, and rice between 2015 and 2030 using the biogeochemical model LandscapeDNDC. “Our work was based on the question of how we can produce sufficient food without exceeding environmental boundaries,” says Dr. Andrew Smerald from the Atmospheric Environmental Research Department of KIT’s Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-IFU), KIT’s Campus Alpine in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Grain Production Level Could Be Maintained with a Far Smaller Global Use of Fertilizer
“Our models show that worldwide consumption of nitrogen fertilizer could be reduced by 32 percent by a more homogeneous distribution. The current level of grain production would remain unaffected,” Smerald says. “For this, nitrogen fertilizer would have to be redistributed from traditional cultivation areas in China, North America, and Europe to less used areas, such as Sub-Saharan Africa.“ Then, the increased production in these regions would compensate decreased production in other regions. As a result, nitrogen fertilizer use for wheat and corn production would be reduced by 45 and 33 percent, respectively, without influencing worldwide production quantities. Moreover, nitrate leaching would be reduced by 71 percent for wheat and 63 percent for corn.
Models reveal that worldwide redistribution of nitrogen fertilizer consumption would positively affect nitrous oxide emissions.
New Institute Aims to Address Gap in Nation’s Health Care System Through Highly Effective Yet Overlooked Nutrition Interventions October 18, 2023
Introduction:
(Eurekalert) A newly launched, first-of-its-kind institute aims to address a glaring gap in the medical system by working to integrate food-based nutrition interventions into health care to treat disease and advance health equity.
The Food is Medicine Institute at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, launched today, establishes a university-wide initiative aimed at transforming health care through scalable food-based interventions such as: medically tailored meals and prescriptions for produce; nutrition education for doctors; and clinical care, electronic health record, and reimbursement pathways for nutrition-based tools to help treat or prevent diet-related illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers and complications during pregnancy. The Institute will advance Food is Medicine research, patient care, and community and policy engagement nationwide and beyond, and be a leader in educating the next generation of professionals in the Food is Medicine space.
“The Institute builds on Tufts’ rich array of schools, our role as a leading research university, and our position as a pioneer in nutrition education and scholarship,” said Tufts University President Sunil Kumar. “It also reflects our university-wide commitment to advancing societal equity while tackling difficult global challenges.”
Inadequate diet is responsible for more deaths worldwide than any other risk factor, including smoking tobacco. In the U.S., it’s the number one driver of poor health, leading to more than half a million deaths a year and costing more than $1.1 trillion in health costs and lost productivity. And poor nutrition disproportionately affects people with lower-incomes, rural communities, and historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups.
Research has shown that food and nutrition interventions incorporated into a patient’s treatment plan could lead to improved health outcomes and lower health care costs.
85%
of all health care spending is related to the management of diet-related chronic diseases
$13.6B
would be saved each year if all eligible Americans received medically tailored meal interventions
49%
Adults with serious medical conditions who received 10 medically tailored meals per week for an average of 9 months per year were 49% less likely to be admitted to the hospital
16%
A program that provided 10 medically tailored meals for an average of 9 months per year to adults with serious medical conditions resulted in a 16% reduction in total health care costs, even with the cost of the program
Can Planting Multiple Crops in the Same Plot Improve Agricultural Production and Sustainability? October 18, 2023
Introduction:
(Eurekalert) Agricultural management has typically focused on increasing yields, but there is an increasing need for sustainable food production that limits negative impacts on the environment. A new study published in Grassland Research provides insights into the potential benefits of diversifying agricultural practices, revealing how different mixtures of plant species can improve production, quality, and conservation.
For the study, investigators planted multiple species in different grassland plots, manipulating plant species richness from one to six species spanning three functional groups (legumes, herbs, and grasses). Certain mixtures led to increases in plant productivity and invasion resistance. Also, different plant species drove different functions, with legumes and herbs benefiting plant productivity and water availability, and grasses improving invasion resistance. Legumes were also highly beneficial for maintaining soil nitrogen.
“While the specific plant species and functional groups used in the study may vary across regions, the concept of using multispecies mixtures to enhance multifunctionality and promote both production and biodiversity can be applicable in various agricultural contexts around the world,” said corresponding author Laura Argens, a PhD student at the Technical University of Munich, in Germany.
All the Fruit You Can Eat, but Many Japanese Not Interested by mike Omura
October 23, 2023
Introduction:
(Asahi Shimbun) —Strawberries, cherries, melons and watermelons from spring through summer. Asian pears, grapes, persimmons and chestnuts in autumn. Apples and mandarin oranges in winter.
Japan is blessed with mouthwatering seasonal fruit throughout the year.
And yet, fruit consumption remains relatively low.
The health ministry’s latest annual National Health and Nutrition Survey showed that 38 percent of those aged 20 and older did not consume a single bit of fruit on the day of the poll.
Zero consumption ratios were higher among younger age brackets: 61 percent for those in their 20s, 55 percent for thirtysomethings and 53 percent for those in their 40s.
(Eurekalert) A model examines farmers’ profits and the health and environmental costs of growing corn in the US Midwest, where about 20% of the world’s corn is grown. Corn farming involves applying fertilizer or manure to provide the crop with nitrogen, a vital nutrient. But around half of the nitrogen added to fields never makes it into the crop, and instead enters the environment, either through the air or the water. Andrew L. Goodkind and colleagues set out to model the costs and benefits of corn farming, both under current nitrogen management and alternative approaches. In particular, the authors were interested in capturing the costs associated with air pollution, which have not been as well studied as the costs associated with water pollution. The authors find that the health and environmental costs of current management practices are $25.6 billion per year, far exceeding farmer profits, which averaged $4.3 billion per year from 2013–2022. Emissions in the form of ammonia are responsible for 65% of the costs of nitrogen use. Ammonia forms fine particulate matter that, when inhaled, is associated with a myriad of health conditions. The team then considered several management alternatives, including injecting fertilizer into the ground to reduce air emissions, or reducing fertilizer application rates. Implementing both changes makes corn profits higher than health and environmental costs for the Midwest as a whole, turning net losses into net gains. For some counties, however, costs still outweigh benefits, even after management changes. For these areas, located largely in Indiana, southern Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan, retiring land from corn production may be the best option, according to the authors.
Researchers Create Heat-resistant Varieties of Apples by April Rubin
October 28, 2023
Introduction:
(Axios) For an apple a day to keep the doctor away, the fruits have to be resilient to climate change.
Why it matters: Newly patented variations of apples that thrive in warm weather, developed by a University of Maryland researcher, could be a solution to stunted production in recent years.
• "We [Maryland] have the heat, we have the humidity and we have more diseases," said Christopher Walsh, a plant science and landscape architecture professor, who developed the variants.
• "Because it's hot and a long growing season, the trees grow a lot more."
Threat level: Worldwide and U.S. apple output have both decreased, the Washington Post reports.
Low-income Countries Could Lose 30% of Nutrients Like Protein and Omega-3 from Seafood Due to Climate Change October 30, 2023
Introduction:
(Eurekalert) The nutrients available from seafood could drop by 30 per cent for low-income countries by the end of the century due to climate change, suggests new UBC research.
That’s in a high carbon emissions and low mitigation scenario, according to the study published today in Nature Climate Change. This could be reduced to a roughly 10 per cent decline if the world were to meet the Paris Agreement targets of limiting global warming to 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius - which recent reports have shown we’re not on track to achieve.
“Low-income countries and the global south, where seafood is central to diets and has the potential to help address malnutrition, are the hardest hit by the effects of climate change,” said first author Dr. William Cheung, professor and director of the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF). “For many, seafood is an irreplaceable and affordable source of nutrients.”
The researchers examined historical fisheries and seafood farming, or mariculture, databases including data from UBC’s Sea Around Us to find out quantities of key nutrients that were available through fisheries and seafood farming in the past, and used predictive climate models to project these into the future. They focused on four nutrients that are plentiful in seafood and important to human health: calcium, iron, protein and omega-3 fatty acids, the latter of which is not readily available in other food sources.
They found that the availability of these nutrients peaked in the 1990s and stagnated to the 2010s, despite increases provided by farming seafood, and from fishing for invertebrates such as shrimp and oysters.
Cigarette Style Warning Labels Could Reduce People’s Meat Consumption October 31, 2023
Introduction:
(Eurekalert) Cigarette style graphic warning labels could reduce people’s meat consumption, according to new research published today (1 November).
The study suggests the use of warning labels on meat options could improve public health and reduce the UK’s carbon footprint.
The team from Durham University tested a range of warning labels including those which warn people of the damage to climate, health, and risk of pandemics. They found that all labels were effective at discouraging people from choosing meals with meat.
All warning labels, which showed a graphic image alongside text, reduced meat meal selections by seven to 10 percent. However, participants were most in favour of the climate warning labels which they also found the most credible.
Conclusion:
Senior author on the paper, Dr Milica Vasiljevic from Durham University’s Department of Psychology said: “We already know that eating a lot of meat, especially red and processed meat, is bad for your health and that it contributes to deaths from pollution and climate change. Adding warning labels to meat products could be one way to reduce these risks to health and the environment.”
Exposing Plants to Ethylene Early on May Bolster Their Growth and Help Feed the World by Brad Binder
November 9, 2023
Introduction:
(The Conversation) Just like any other organism, plants can get stressed. Usually it’s conditions like heat and drought that lead to this stress, and when they’re stressed, plants might not grow as large or produce as much. This can be a problem for farmers, so many scientists have tried genetically modifying plants to be more resilient.
But plants modified for higher crop yields tend to have a lower stress tolerance because they put more energy into growth than into protection against stresses. Similarly, improving the ability of plants to survive stress often results in plants that produce less because they put more energy into protection than into growth. This conundrum makes it difficult to improve crop production.
I have been studying how the plant hormone ethylene regulates growth and stress responses in plants. In a study published in July 2023, my lab made an unexpected and exciting observation. We found that when seeds are germinating in darkness, as they usually are underground, adding ethylene can increase both their growth and stress tolerance.
Genetic Discovery Promises High-iron Vegetables and Cereals November 15, 2023
Introduction:
(Eurekalert) A genetic breakthrough has opened new opportunities for iron-fortified vegetables and cereal crops to help address the global health issue of anaemia.
John Innes Centre researchers used a newly available map of the pea-genome to identify the underlying genetic sequence responsible for two high-iron mutations in peas.
Professor Janneke Balk, a group leader at the John Innes Centre and an author of the research said: “There are a number of intriguing opportunities arising from this research but probably the most exciting outcome is that knowledge of these mutations could inform gene editing strategies to increase iron in a wide range of crops.”
The discovery may help address the persistent problem of iron deficiency, a nutritional health issue that particularly affects girls and women in the UK and other parts of the world. This problem is likely to get worse as people eat less meat because of climate change concerns.
Iron deficiency anaemia is a condition where a lack of iron in the body leads to a reduction in the number of red blood cells which help store and carry oxygen.
How Could Global Food Production Break Down? November 15, 2023
Introduction:
(Eurekalert) Industrialized farming relies heavily on outside inputs, like synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, machinery, seeds, and animal feed. A new study published in Nature Food predicts how much yield would be lost from ‘input shocks’ that disrupt these supplies. ‘Very little is known about how shocks in agricultural inputs would impact crop yields and food availability on a large scale. We used machine learning and spatially gridded datasets to model, for the first time, the impacts globally in high resolution,’ says the study’s lead author, Aino Ahvo.
• Researchers at Aalto University examined the effect of different input shocks on the yield of various crops throughout the world at a resolution of ~10km.
• The predicted yield loss differs between regions and crops. Areas with the highest current yield would see the greatest reduction. The analysis predicts large decreases in many important agricultural regions, such as the United States, Argentina, Western Europe and Southern Africa, as well as parts of China and Thailand.
• A 50% shock in all inputs would reduce global maize production by 26% and wheat production by 21%. The most disruptive individual shock would be a reduction in fertilizer supply, which would drastically reduce yield. In fact, a shock in fertilizer supply would reduce the yield of most crops about as much as a shock in all inputs.
• This analysis can help us prepare not only for unexpected disruptions (eg, COVID, sanctions from the Ukraine war, or the blocking of the Suez Canal) but also for the transition to a green future, which will require reductions in inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides.
• Two of the authors, Vilma Sandstrom and Mika Jalava, will be presenting their work on sustainable food solutions on December 10 at the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai (COP28). They will discuss how food production can be sustainably scaled to meet the needs of a growing population and what risks need to be avoided.
COP28 and the Path to Innovations in Agriculture by Paul Winters
December 2, 2023
Introduction:
(The Conversation) At present, agriculture provides enough food for the world’s 8 billion people, although many do not have adequate access. But to feed a global population of 10 billion in 2050, croplands would need to expand by 660,000 to 1.2 million square miles (171 million to 301 million hectare) relative to 2010. That would lead to more deforestation, which contributes to climate change. Further, some practices widely relied on to produce sufficient food, such as using synthetic fertilizers, also contribute to climate change.
Simply eliminating deforestation and these practices without alternative solutions would decrease the world’s food supply and farmers’ incomes. Fortunately, innovations are emerging that can help.
In a new report, the Innovation Commission for Climate Change, Food Security and Agriculture, founded by Nobel-winning economist Michael Kremer, identifies seven priority areas for innovation that can help ensure sufficient food production, minimize greenhouse gas emissions and be scaled up to reach hundreds of millions of people.
I’m an agriculture economist and executive director for the commission. Three innovations in particular stand out for their ability to scale up quickly and pay off economically.
What Should Kids Know About Factory Farming? by Kenny Torrella
December 8, 2023
Introduction:
(Vox) The 2000 children’s movie Chicken Run is one of the darker and more subversive films made for kids: The story follows a flock of lovable, though quite miserable, chickens who conspire to escape a farm before their impending slaughter.
Despite the grim subject matter, it’s charming and entertaining, fully earning its 97 percent critic’s rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The script reads like it was written by PETA, yet it was a box office hit and remains the highest-grossing stop-motion animated movie ever made.
Next week, Netflix is releasing a sequel — Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget — with the same theme but updated to reflect our increasingly dystopian animal farming system.
This time around, instead of escaping a farm, the same chickens are breaking into one to rescue one of their flock members (which also happens to be the strategy of some animal rights activists).
The farm in question is Fun-Land Farms (tagline: “Where chickens find their happy endings”), an enormous, futuristic poultry operation in which a mad scientist has created a device that, when worn around the chickens’ necks, makes them happy to be slaughtered.
Transforming Food Systems: Role of Novel Protein Alternatives by Inger Andersen, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme
December 8, 2023
Introduction:
(United Nations Environmental Program) My thanks to the Government of Belgium for funding the What’s Cooking report. This new UNEP assessment explores how novel alternatives to conventionally produced animal products such as meat and dairy could slow the triple planetary crisis – the crisis of climate change, the crisis of nature and biodiversity loss and the crisis of pollution and waste.
What and how we eat impacts planetary, human, and animal health. Food systems contribute over 30 per cent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, with animal agriculture being a major player. We see the conversion of nature, through damaging processes such as deforestation to rear livestock and grow feed, pollution of soil and water, and risks of zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance. There are also human health concerns about over-consumption of red and processed meat. These problems and more are all captured in the One Health approach, which treats the improvement of human, animal, plant and ecosystem health as one linked challenge.
Nobody is saying that animal products are bad, but it is well understood that switching to a more diverse diet would benefit people, nature, the climate and animals themselves. To see this understanding in action, look no further than this COP, where two-thirds of the food being served is plant-based.
So, we must look at our options, which is what this report does by exploring novel plant-based meats, cultivated meat from animal cells and alternatives produced through rapid fermentation. The assessment shows that these products could address a number of issues I already outlined, particularly in high- and middle-income countries. There are caveats. There are gaps in understanding of the full nutritional benefits and drawbacks. Evidence on cultured meat and fermentation is limited. Cost, taste and social acceptability will have a big say on whether these products are accepted or not.
(Eurekalert) As presented at the Society for Risk Analysis 2023 Annual conference, Patrycja Sleboda from Baruch College – CUNY and her colleagues from the University of Southern California conducted a national food choice experiment to determine how people respond to labels such as “vegan” and “plant-based” compared to “healthy,” “sustainable,” or “healthy and sustainable.”
Research has shown that limiting meat and dairy intake and eating more fruit and vegetables reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases, Type 2 diabetes, and cancer. Diets with less meat and dairy are also more environmentally sustainable because they have a smaller carbon footprint.
In this study, all participants (n=7341) chose between a food gift basket without meat and dairy and another with meat and dairy. Participants were randomly assigned to one of five conditions, in which the gourmet food gift basket without meat and dairy was labeled as “vegan,” “plant-based,” “healthy,” “sustainable,” or “healthy and sustainable.”
The food gift basket without meat and dairy was less likely to be chosen when its label focused on its content (stating “vegan” or “plant-based”) rather than its benefits (stating “healthy”, “sustainable” or both):
• Only 20% of participants chose the food basket without meat and dairy when it was labeled “vegan,” while 27% chose it when it was labeled “plant-based.”
• In contrast, 42% of participants chose the food basket without meat and dairy when it was labeled “healthy,” 43% chose it when it was labeled “sustainable,” and 44% chose it when it was labeled “healthy and sustainable.”
AI Could Improve Your Life by Removing Bottlenecks Between What You Want and What You Get by Bruce Schneier
December 21, 2023
Introduction:
(The Conversation) Artificial intelligence is poised to upend much of society, removing human limitations inherent in many systems. One such limitation is information and logistical bottlenecks in decision-making.
Traditionally, people have been forced to reduce complex choices to a small handful of options that don’t do justice to their true desires. Artificial intelligence has the potential to remove that limitation. And it has the potential to drastically change how democracy functions.
AI researcher Tantum Collins and I, a public-interest technology scholar, call this AI overcoming “lossy bottlenecks.” Lossy is a term from information theory that refers to imperfect communications channels – that is, channels that lose information.
Multiple-choice practicality
Imagine your next sit-down dinner and being able to have a long conversation with a chef about your meal. You could end up with a bespoke dinner based on your desires, the chef’s abilities and the available ingredients. This is possible if you are cooking at home or hosted by accommodating friends.
Additional extract:
The possibilities
…By storing rich representations of people’s preferences and histories on the demand side, along with equally rich representations of capabilities, costs and creative possibilities on the supply side, AI systems enable complex customization at scale and low cost. Imagine walking into a restaurant and knowing that the kitchen has already started work on a meal optimized for your tastes, or being presented with a personalized list of choices.
Life-saving Antibiotics in Jeopardy from Growing Use in Factory-farmed Animals by Scott Faber and Anne Schechinger
December 21, 2023
Introduction:
(EWG) The sale of medically important antibiotics in farm animals grew by 12 percent between 2017 and 2022, further jeopardizing the effectiveness of these life-saving drugs.
The overuse of antibiotics in farm animals makes bacteria more resistant and antibiotics less effective, leading to almost 3 million illnesses and 35,000 deaths a year in the U.S.
But sales of these crucial drugs for use in factory-farmed animals soared from 5.6 million kilograms, or kg, in 2017 to 6.2 million kg in 2022, an Environmental Working Group analysis found. And sales of medically important antibiotics for use on farms grew by 4 percent in 2022 alone, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
The fastest growing rate of this antibiotic sold for use across animal types was for swine, rising from 2 million kg in 2017 to 2.7 million kg in 2022, up 31 percent.
The amount of these antibiotics – vital for protecting human health – sold for use for cattle also increased, from 2.3 million kg to 2.6 million kg, or by 10 percent.
Harnessing Sensors, Smart Devices, and AI Could Transform Agriculture January 4, 2024
Introduction:
(Eurekalert) Biosensing engineer Azahar Ali, assistant professor of animal sciences and biological systems engineering at Virginia Tech, is bracing for the arrival of a fourth agricultural revolution.
It’s an era predicted to tap into the transformative potential of the connective technologies that have arisen in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. To Ali, three technologies stand out for their potential to advance climate-smart, precision agriculture: wearable agriculture sensors, Internet of Things-enabled — or “smart” — devices, and artificial intelligence (AI).
In a review article published by Advanced Intelligent Systems, Ali and colleagues Matin Ataei Kachouei of the School of Animal Sciences and Ajeet Kaushik of Florida Polytechnic University wrote that merging these cutting-edge technologies could create a paradigm shift in how the agricultural sector monitors food safety and quality and plant health and productivity worldwide.
For Ali, prioritizing rapid, accurate, early monitoring will be critical to sustainably and safely feeding the fast-growing global population, which is expected to be nearly 10 billion by 2050 and will require 50 percent more food to maintain the world’s food supply chain, according to the article.
According to the 2023 Global Agricultural Productivity, or GAP, Report, released through the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the growth of global agricultural productivity has significantly contracted and current efforts to sustainably expand production are inadequate
How We Found Out What's Done to the Oceans When Nobody Is Watching by Jennifer Raynor
January 7, 2024
Introduction:
(Common Dreams) Humans are racing to harness the ocean’s vast potential to power global economic growth. Worldwide, ocean-based industries such as fishing, shipping and energy production generate at least US$1.5 trillion in economic activity each year and support 31 million jobs. This value has been increasing exponentially over the past 50 years and is expected to double by 2030.
Transparency in monitoring this “blue acceleration” is crucial to prevent environmental degradation, overexploitation of fisheries and marine resources, and lawless behavior such as illegal fishing and human trafficking. Open information also will make countries better able to manage vital ocean resources effectively. But the sheer size of the ocean has made tracking industrial activities at a broad scale impractical – until now.
A newly published study in the journal Nature combines satellite images, vessel GPS data and artificial intelligence to reveal human industrial activities across the ocean over a five-year period. Researchers at Global Fishing Watch, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing ocean governance through increased transparency of human activity at sea, led this study, in collaboration with me and our colleagues at Duke University, University of California, Santa Barbara and SkyTruth.
We found that a remarkable amount of activity occurs outside of public monitoring systems. Our new map and data provide the most comprehensive public picture available of industrial uses of the ocean.
Conclusion:
Healthy oceans underpin human well-being in a myriad of ways. We expect that this research will support evidence-based decision-making and help to make ocean management more fair, effective and sustainable.
