Sustainability

Our world faces critical issues including climate change, rising prices of fossil fuels, new diseases, hunger, and loss of biological diversity. As population grows, society feels a pressure to increase food production, and our current systems are heavily reliant on fossil fuels and industrial practices. These issues are not independent. These pressing problems call for more careful attention to our food systems, with an eye toward raising food within the context of a sustainable food system.

More specifically, food is increasingly commoditized, from seeds to branding, as industry influence behind the agricultural sector is largely driven by the same mechanisms of other industry incentives: profit. Distribution of food requires considerable amounts of fuel and energy in transportation along the food chain. Our supermarkets carry foods that seem like distant relatives of whole foods and unprocessed fruits, vegetables, and grains. As a result environmental health and labor rights are threatened, and the long-term viability of soil to produce crops is in jeopardy.