{"id":24622,"date":"2021-03-09T01:50:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-09T01:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=24622"},"modified":"2021-03-10T05:26:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T05:26:38","slug":"growing-food-and-protecting-nature-dont-have-to-conflict-heres-how-they-can-work-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/growing-food-and-protecting-nature-dont-have-to-conflict-heres-how-they-can-work-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing food and protecting nature don’t have to conflict \u2013 here’s how they can work together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thomas Hertel<\/a>, Purdue University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing food in a sustainable, environmentally friendly way \u2013 while also producing enough of it \u2013 is among the most important challenges facing the U.S. and the world today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us that food security can\u2019t be taken for granted. Putting affordable food on the table requires both innovative producers and well-functioning markets and global supply chains. With disruptions to the system<\/a>, prices rise, food is scarce \u2013 and people go hungry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But feeding the world\u2019s 7.8 billion<\/a> people sustainably \u2013 including 332 million Americans<\/a> \u2013 presents significant environmental challenges. Farming uses 70% of the world\u2019s fresh water<\/a>. Fertilizers pollute water with nitrates and phosphates, sparking algal blooms and creating dead zones like the one that forms every summer in the Gulf of Mexico<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clear-cutting land for farms and ranches is the main driver of deforestation<\/a>. Overall, the planet loses about 48,000 square miles (125,000 square kilometers) of forest each year. Without habitat, wildlife disappears. Farming also produces roughly one-quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of these challenges make balancing food production with environmental security a crucial issue for the Biden administration, which is working to address both a hunger crisis<\/a> and an environmental crisis<\/a> in the U.S. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/O_DZBTiFjeo?wmode=transparent&start=0 Climate change is wreaking havoc on weather patterns, making conditions more challenging for farmers. But scholars and the Biden administration believe agriculture can be part of the solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two different pathways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As an economist studying food systems<\/a>, I\u2019m keenly aware that trying to provide affordable food and a thriving agricultural sector while also preserving the environment can result in many trade-offs<\/a>. Consider the different strategies that the U.S. and Northern Europe have pursued: The U.S. prioritizes increased agricultural output, while the EU emphasizes environmental services from farming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past 70 years, the U.S. has increased crop production<\/a> with ever more sophisticated seed technologies<\/a> and highly mechanized farming methods that employ far fewer workers. These new technologies have contributed to farm productivity growth which has, in turn, allowed U.S. farm output to rise without significant growth in the aggregate economic index of agricultural input use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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