the time is now to face the future of humanity’s greatest challenge: climate change. listen to the innovation and reconstruction that college students are expecting to make through public policy to combat climate change here on the game plan podcast with host anika pillai.  

game plan podcast episode description: america’s food vegetation

this episode contains strong language about hunger. 

as inevitable globalization pushes for urbanization, it is important that we avoid industrialization forms of development or hyper urbanization. instead, development which centers local communities and tailors to each street, each store, each person is the most productive and sustainable form of development.  now, how do you do that? sustainable development is a wicked problem and in today’s episode we will discuss one aspect of it: food distribution. unequal distribution of nutrition, vitamins, and calories across the united states is the source of many public health issues. behind the health crisis is unsustainable farming and produce. america’s food vegetation is made up of many food deserts and swamps. to turn those swamps and deserts into lush rainforests with a diverse variety in nutritional foods, we will discuss a public policy game plan that can make it happen. 

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music: “not listening” by ketsa (cc by-nc-nd 4.0)

one of our neighbors here at gw, the north america office of the food and agriculture organization of the united nations, has long been a supporter of this mission.

together, we’ve taken exceptional students to report from the world food prize in iowa, and to fao headquarters in rome for world food day at the committee on world food security. since the pandemic limited our ability to offer these travel-based experiential learning opportunities, we had to get creative.

now, i am thrilled to announce our first ever planet forward-fao storytelling summer fellowship, through which four students will produce stories in any medium at the nexus of food security, agriculture, and nutrition, and work under the guidance of gw’s national geographic professor of science communication, lisa palmer.

allow me to introduce our 2021 storytelling summer fellows:

• sejal govindarao is a rising sophomore studying political communication at george washington university. sejal is based in the san francisco bay area and will be reporting on minority communities there.

• terrius harris, who is currently pursuing his master’s of legal studies for indigenous peoples law at university of oklahoma, is a previous storyfest winner, a past senior planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 , and previously traveled with planet forward to the committee on world food security in 2018. terrius will be reporting from oahu, hawaii, on indigenous population’s access to food.

• jules struck, from emerson college and who is pursuing a master’s degree in journalism, will be reporting from the boston, massachusetts, area.

• benjamin thomas, a junior studying environmental studies at franklin & marshall college, will be reporting from a sustainable farm in havre de grace, maryland.

our fellows begin june 7, and while stories will be completed this summer, the fellowship will culminate with events surrounding world food day in october. keep an eye on planetforward.org and our social media accounts for more from and about these amazing students!

i sat down with powers to discuss how groups are addressing the ​effects​ of the covid-19 pandemic on food insecurity, as well as how sustainability can be prioritized in the country’s response. 

she explained that after the 2007-08 recession, it took the united states 10 years to reach​ pre-recession numbers. as we are now seeing a “tremendous ​uptick​” due to the pandemic it will, at minimum, take government programs, good agricultural practices, and the work of charitable organizations to respond to the nation’s current level of need, she said.  

projections estimate that more than 54.3 million americans may experience food insecurity in 2020, according to a report by feeding america. before the covid-19 crisis began, that number was 37 million. as of the first week of july, more than one in ten americans had trouble putting food on the table, while a 2012 pew research report says nearly one in five adults in the u.s. have received food stamps at one point in their lives.

food insecurity is the inability to purchase enough nutritional food for a whole household. in developed nations such as the united states, food insecurity is a result of numerous factors, including poverty and lack of financial resources, as well as inadequate access to nutritious food. 

why do people continue to go hungry in one of the wealthiest nations in the world?  

to understand the problem, and the repercussions of these disruptions to our food system, it is important to know a bit about how our food supply chain works.

a food supply chain refers to various actors that produce, process, transport, distribute and sell to the public. lancaster central market in lancaster county, pennsylvania, serves as a local intermediary for a regional food economy that supports small-to-medium scale farms, fisheries, and other producers.

“pre-covid-19 numbers were around 5,000-6,000 customers a day,” said lancaster central market manager of operations mary goss. “but between march and may it would barely break 1,000.”

food waste was another problem during the early days of covid-19, as much of our impressive agricultural output was going to waste — even before the pandemic. recycle track systems, a sustainable waste advising organization, has explained the bottom line: 80 billion tons of food – or roughly 30-40% of the american food supply – is wasted in landfills, contributing to an astounding loss of $161 billion in revenue each year. 

for producers, particularly small-scale, sustainable agricultural operations, their success is both reliant on and a product of local community support. community-supported agriculture is so successful because local members collectively pay for the production capacity ahead of the growing season, ensuring financial security, higher returns on goods and reliable consumers moving forward, according to a 2003 cornell university report.

lancaster central market and several of its local, sustainable partners, such as barr’s farms and horse shoe ranch, have depended on the local community to get through the uncertainty. could this be a necessary step in the right direction to eradicate american food insecurity?

the food system amidst covid-19

there are numerous concerns for safety assurance in the current food supply chain amidst the covid-19 pandemic, largely due to the scale at which factory farms operate in the united states, as vox reports. 

self-sufficient family farms like horse shoe ranch in lancaster county have managed to overcome public health concerns and weathered the economic struggles that came with the pandemic. 

the ranch is run by bryan and brittany donovan, a married couple who represent a new generation of young farmers, and who produce 100% pasture-raised chickens and hens (outside 24 hours a day) for eggs, as well as varieties of non-gmo produce. 

even though community members ensured their existence in the short term, many restaurants had to cut business arrangements due to the pandemic. as of september, the ranch noted, “business…is not the same as it was pre-covid and our sales to lancaster restaurants have all but disappeared.”

meanwhile, the trump administration ordered that meat processing plants could not shut down that are not structured to accommodate safety concerns as covid-19 cases surged and fears of the food supply chain rose.

the third phase of the federal government’s relief program, the cares (coronavirus aid, relief and economic security) act, included $450 million to emergency food assistance programs (such as food banks), $300 million to the supplemental relief assistance program (snap), and $100 million to indigenous communities. 

the century foundation, which identifies as a “progressive, independent think tank,” said in a commentary published earlier this year that “it is clear that these efforts, while an excellent start, are not sufficient” to having 100% food security in this country. if the cares act allocated specific funds for farms that reached certain sustainability standards, then there could have been more assistance for small-scale farmers like the donovans. 

“we have applied for various grants and loans through(out the pandemic) and we have not been chosen for any,” brittany donovan said. “there are still a few that we are waiting on but there are very little grants out there that give to small, diversified farms like ours.”

some larger brands, such as annie’s, are supporting small-scale, conventional farms to transition to non-chemical, organic methods. last year, general mills pledged to transition 1 million acres of farmland to a model based on regenerative agriculture by 2030, but this is not the norm in agribusiness. instead, agricultural funding continues to be allocated to conventional farming methods rather than investing in organic methods for pest-removal, production efficiency, and expertise training programs. 

 

 

 

 

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it’s that time of year again, the extraordinary give! a day of giving back to our community. the lancaster central market trust is one of the organizations available to donate to this friday. our very own, ben barr, serves as one of the two standholders on the board. we are honored to be a part of this organization! #extragive

a post shared by barr’s farms (@barrsfarms) on nov 19, 2019 at 6:09am pst

barr’s farms, a family farm that has been in operation since 1926 and grows fruits and vegetables in lancaster county, is facing a similar situation in terms of their reliance on the communities they operate in.

“we did not apply for any help,” owner and farmer benjamin barr said, when asked about applying for federal assistance. but he said he plans on learning more about potential opportunities as a second round of funding approaches this fall. 

barr said his family’s farm has invested in the local community for decades, and the community showed up in force when they most needed it.

“the local community is the best support hands down,” he said. “customers and other businesses were more than willing to help and partner up and get creative to come up with new ways of doing business. proud to live and be able to do business in lancaster.”

while finding hunger solutions, we must also consider the urgent threat of global climate change. the problem is complex, as the food system is both a leading cause of climate change and an industry deeply impacted by its effects.

relieving both of these problems simultaneously is a difficult task. luckily, there are many ways to build a healthy and sustainable diet, and many innovations at our fingertips to help get us there. the following “win-win” plant-powered solutions serve both human health and the environment and have use across a variety of contexts. if applied on a global scale, these innovations could help lead a path toward healthful, sustainable food systems in the future.

1. swapping protein

it is well-known that meat, particularly livestock meats, have some of the largest carbon and water footprints of all foods, representing 14.5% of all global greenhouse gas emissions (ghg). red and processed meats also have been linked to increased risks of cancer and cardiovascular disease. but there are other ways to consume protein. plant-based proteins including legumes, nuts, and whole grains are far less carbon- and water-intensive than animal proteins and offer plenty of health benefits, including lower rates of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. a shift from meat to less processed plant proteins will remain important moving forward.

2. focusing on whole plant foods

fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains are all micronutrient-dense foods, filled with powerful plant compounds, including cancer-fighting flavonoids and heart-friendly plant sterols. their high levels of dietary fiber provide fullness while lowering the risk of various chronic diseases, such as stroke, hypertension, and diabetes. fruits and vegetables vary in their water and carbon use, but are generally far less harmful to the environment than animal-based foods, especially when planned according to ideal growing seasons and delivered to consumers locally whenever possible.

3. algae as food

although algae have been consumed by humans for thousands of years, large scale adoption of algae as food has not taken off fully. however, it should. algae could offer sustainably sourced protein and vitamin b-12, an essential micronutrient primarily found in animal-based foods, offering a valuable source of nutrition for those shifting toward a sustainable plant-based diet. algae also could be considered as an alternative to seafood as a source of dha and epa while helping decrease the current harm caused to the oceans by overfishing. the humble plant also contains a large amount of iodine, a mineral that ranks among the leading micronutrient deficiencies in the world. scaling up nori (dried green and purple laver) and red algae production is worth considering for planetary and human health.

4. biotechnology

biotechnology (such as the use of genetically modified organisms, commonly known as gmos) is a powerful tool that may offer solutions to various malnutrition-related problems. for example, biotechnology can be used to address many micronutrient deficiencies of public health concern, including vitamin a, iodine, iron, and zinc, all of which already have been implemented into staple crops such as rice and proved effective in reducing rates of deficiencies. also, biotechnology has helped create more sustainable and resilient crops better equipped to deal with an increasingly unpredictable climate, dwindling water supplies, and extreme weather events, and offers potential to decrease reliance on harmful pesticides.

5. hydroponics and fortification

hydroponic farming (also known as vertical farming) allows for the cultivation of large amounts of plant-foods, and is uniquely adaptable in urban settings, thereby slashing fresh food mileage and emissions in areas of high demand but little agricultural landscape. in addition to its high productivity and efficient water usage, hydrophobic farming offers opportunities for plant-food fortification, offering an additional way to combat micronutrient deficiencies and encourage fresh, plant-based food consumption at a larger, less resource-intensive scale.

6. replacing sugar crops with more diverse plant crops

consumption of added sugar is associated with increased rates of obesity, diabetes, and dental caries, and offer little nutritive value besides calorie density. high-fructose corn syrup (hfcs), often found in soft drinks and packaged foods, is also associated with elevated risks of cardiovascular disease. sugar and hfcs-full products are cheap, highly accessible, and supported by subsidies and tariffs. as a result, much land is devoted to corn production, limiting land available for other crops and threatening agricultural diversity. ending sugar subsidies and replacing them with other fruit and vegetable subsidies could benefit human health and encourage crop diversity, expanding the variety of plants we grow and consume, which is important for long-term agriculture and dietary well-being.

7. widespread use of low-water, highly nutritious fruit crops

there are many low-resource, weather-resistant, food-bearing plants that are not widely used now. for example, the moringa oleifera, shown above, is a fast-growing, drought-resistant tree native to tropical south asia. it produces high volumes of nutritious fruits and edible leaves, and its kernels can be used to produce oil. artocarpus altilis (‘breadfruit’), is another hearty, fast-growing species of flowering tree that produces edible fruits rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals, and requires little fertilizer or pesticides. while these plants and others like them already are used in some areas to alleviate malnutrition, more widespread use is worth exploring.

solving global hunger in a sustainable way will be a real challenge. however, starting with little “win-win” solutions can help guide a path forward to create a more sustainable, nutritious future for all. from algae to breadfruit to biotechnology, focusing on expanding innovations and taking full advantage of the power of plants can lead to improved planetary and human health moving forward.

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m.j. altman uncovers the hidden human stories about people and food on the frontlines of hunger in her podcast called “hacking hunger.” as editorial director at world food program usa, she also oversees the organization’s multimedia projects, op-eds and communications outreach. her previous work experience includes writer-reporter for time magazine and public affairs producer at the smithsonian institution.

altman’s podcast features interviews with aid workers and families in the field who are involved with the world food program in some way. “hacking hunger” is currently in its second season and was downloaded more than 10,000 times since starting last year.

for altman, “hacking hunger” is more than just one aspect of her role at wfp usa. she elaborated on that in a conversation with planet forward:

q: has your work with global hunger issues changed the way you perceive food?

a: one thousand times yes. it has changed the way i look at food in so many ways. a third of the food grown globally is wasted and if we didn’t waste that food we could feed most of the hungry people on the planet, which is mind boggling and it’s developed countries like the u.s. that are responsible for a lot of it.

i’m very conscientious about throwing out food. i’m that person where if it’s a half eaten sandwich, i’m asking for a to go box.

q: “hacking hunger” has been going on for some time. have you noticed an impact?

a: this upcoming episode on south sudan will be the 18th one. we’ve changed a lot. i won’t lie we dove into this not really knowing what we were doing. the podcast actually raised $25,000, which was huge for us because knowing that with that money you can feed 100,000 people really makes the project even more worthwhile.

q: in january’s episode of “hacking hunger,” you said, “i dove in headfirst without knowing exactly what i wanted hacking hunger to be.” what was your mindset in early episodes of the podcast?

a: you’re in d.c., it’s such a bubble and we didn’t want to be lending our microphones to people who already have a platform. so i found personally that the episodes i did with people that you wouldn’t have otherwise heard from like an ethiopian donor who crowdsourced facebook support for the drought relief in his homeland, those are the stories that really moved me and those are the stories that really moved our listeners.

we realized we had to go deeper. we weren’t aiming to get people like nicholas kristof on the podcast. we wanted the everyday rwandan student who was a refugee, received food from the world food program and later became an agricultural student in the u.s. that’s the story we wanted to tell. those really hidden human stories and i think that was a huge revelation for us.

q: in january’s episode you also said, “i didn’t sound like myself and it took 12 episodes before i could start to find my real voice.”

a: (laughs)

q: what did you mean by real voice?

a: if you go back and listen to the early episodes i sound different because i had an idea of how a podcast should sound. i was channeling diane rehm. so i’m talking in a very soft, just the intonation of my voice, whereas if you know me i’m a pretty loud and outspoken person.

when you’re writing a podcast script it can start to sound really stilted and dry so what i’m really hoping with this second season is that it’s a little more conversational, it sounds just a little more natural.

q: are there any other interviewers besides diane rehm that you have learned from?

a: doing a lot of the interviews over skype because we’re talking to people in juba, south sudan, and iraq is really difficult because you don’t have the face-to-face interaction. you’re not able to read someone’s expressions and get a sense of, “ok are they comfortable with this question?” i think listening to “fresh air” with terry gross has been really illuminating and just other podcasts where people act like themselves.

q: how have your previous experiences like working as a public affairs producer at the smithsonian institute influenced your work on the podcast?

a: my experience, both reporting at time and working at the smithsonian’s american museum, taught me the importance of perspectives. when i was at time i had the opportunity to put together a special anniversary package on the iraq war and for that i interviewed an aid worker, a wisconsin senator, a documentary filmmaker and a soldier. i got very different run downs of what the war had been like. it was just a reminder of how everyone has a different view of what’s happening in the world and the same was true at the smithsonian.

it was a reminder that you can’t make assumptions. we’re always learning and there are just a lot of unreported stories and unreported voices and perspectives that even though we don’t hear them doesn’t mean they don’t exist and aren’t important.

q: do you still consider yourself a journalist?

a: i don’t think i do because i have a bias right? i love the world food program. i love the mission. i feel i’ve had the opportunity to travel to tanzania and bangladesh. i’ve seen wfp’s impact and interviewed families first hand.

i have an agenda and my agenda is to hopefully share that passion with my listeners and get them to understand why this is so important, why they can join this mission, whether it’s listening to the podcast or sharing it with family or a friend, or donating $10 after an episode. i come into it with a deliberate purpose of i want to get you on my team.

q: jane pauley, the anchor of cbs news sunday morning said, “the shows i really admire like ‘oprah’ and ‘ellen’ are distinctly like their hosts. so i think my show will be successful only if we try to stay consistent to my own sense of myself.” do you see “hacking hunger” as a reflection of yourself?

a: i’m starting to. i think because of my journalism background, you’re not supposed to put yourself in the story, or at least traditionally the idea isn’t to be overly narcissistic and just see the world through the lens of your own past experiences. but i am starting to realize that there are experiences i can share with listeners that make them know me more and the importance of building that relationship.

i started the south sudan episode by telling a story about being in tanzania and meeting a 10-month-old baby who was basically starving to death. it’s an experience that changed my outlook on life so much. it haunts me to this day. it always will and it always should. so i shared that in the beginning just because i think fortunately most people are never going to have that experience of meeting a child like that who has been without food for so long that they can’t be saved. i hope that in sharing that people understand my personal investment to this particular story in south sudan.

q: you’ve elaborated on your personal investment and a lot of the significant issues behind global hunger, but has anyone ever told you to focus on what they believed were more important or pressing issues?

a: luckily, i have a really supportive group of family and friends. my husband over christmas announced to my whole family, “did you guys hear that ‘hacking hunger’ raised $25,000? oh my gosh!” it was kind of embarrassing, but here at world food program usa we get comments like, what about hunger in the u.s.? that’s one of the big pushbacks.

i understand that perspective because we do have hunger in this country, but i think it’s important to realize it’s not always a zero sum game. the extent and the scale and the severity of hunger in a place like south sudan is so much worse than we see in this country. it has implications for people in the u.s. even if they don’t realize it.

hunger feeds on violence and instability and spreads. it’s like a virus. if we have the ability to feed a hungry person, we should. if we have the capacity to save a life, we should. even beyond that there are really very serious economic development and national security consequences for ignoring a famine on the other side of the world.

q: are there any episodes of hacking hunger you wish you could change?

a: we always want to have more voices of people who are impacted by hunger and that’s really hard to do not just because of the logistics of getting a recorder to a remote village in syria, but because of the language issues and access generally.

there was an episode we did on this really incredible miracle crop called moringa. it’s coming to the u.s. and it’s helping smallholder farmers in ghana. we didn’t get a chance to talk to a farmer in ghana who has seen her family’s income triple because she started growing this really nutritious, hearty and drought-resistant crop. so there are a lot of examples from last season where i wish we could have heard first hand from the people who are growing these crops or are experiencing hunger, not just the aid workers.

q: how has the podcast influenced your perception of hunger?

a: before i started working here i didn’t have an appreciation of hunger and how much of a problem it is, but also how solvable it is. it’s a paradox. we’re growing enough food in the world to feed everybody and make sure everybody is healthy. the problem is access. people live in remote villages that don’t have roads or they’re not able to get the farming equipment and the financial capital they need to make their farms successful.

this is maybe not a “sexy” topic, but i met a wall street journal reporter named roger thurow — and maybe you’re familiar with him — but he covered agriculture for 20 years. it was market stuff and the developed world’s business side of agriculture and then he covered the famine in 2010 and ’11. he said it was a story he couldn’t walk away from. thurow quit his job at the wall street journal and now just reports on hunger full time. i think that is extraordinary.

q: what does success look like for “hacking hunger”?

a: success is literally anytime someone is moved by our podcast. if you listen to an episode and it opens your eyes to something you never thought about or it changes your perspective or just broadens your perspective, i feel like that’s a win. if you share it with family or friends, even better. if you donate after and you become a supporter of our organization or you become a supporter of any hunger nonprofit, that’s a win. but i think even just starting with if you listen, and you have something that you take away from it, then i feel it’s a success.

friday marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the food and agriculture organization of the united nations (un-fao). founded oct. 16, 1945, as an agency of the un specializing in food and agriculture, “fiat panis,” or “let there be bread,” is a fitting motto. the un-fao continues to lead agricultural innovation with the goal of eliminating world hunger and food shortages.

the organization didn’t designate an official anniversary event until 1979, and oct. 16 has been celebrated as world food day ever since. according to the fao.org page, world food day is meant to draw awareness to hunger in the world, encourage cooperation between developing countries, promote new technology in the developing world and spur international cooperation in the fight against hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

this year, world food day will focus strongly on the theme of social protection as applied to rural poverty. in honor of the anniversary, the official ceremony will commemorate the un-fao’s 70 years of activism and address the 2015 world food day theme as well as the specific un expo theme, “the zero hunger challenge: united for a sustainable world.”

friday’s world food day celebration is expected to be the largest expo event to date. the 2015 world exposition in milan opened in may and closes at the end of october.

that number is the amount of corn the united states is on track to produce this year in tons.  so that means for every man, woman and child in the united states, they can have 2600 pounds of corn to themselves this year.  it’s used for an incredible amount of things in this country: food for people, livestock, fuel for cars, hundreds of plant-based products, etc.

the only thing more incredible than the sheer number is the percentage of that seed which is genetically modified.  while the europe union has effectively banned gmo seed and crops, the united states has wholly embraced it.  88 percent of our crops are now genetically modified, with corn taking the lead as our principle crop.  this is up from less than 10 percent only 20 years ago.  is it a coincidence that we’ve seen an increase in food production by 120 percent in that same time frame?

now yes, there are a lot of controversies around gmo crops and seed these days.  everything from regulation to pricing concerns and health issues has kept people hesitant to embrace these engineered foods.  but with the global population skyrocketing, the increased yields of these seeds might be hard to ignore. 

is it fair to debate our concerns about gmos while people in the developing world need food desperately? is this a health discussion worth having regardless of the immediate crisis? weigh in on the debate in the comments.

gabe salkin and mel mcintire are seniors at the george washington university majoring in journalism.

the organization distributes meals to various shelters and organizations around the city through their program of recovering uneaten, perfectly edible cooked food from large events and donors. they needed to incorporate cheaper and healthier options with fruits and vegetables. it turns out that a lot of food waste in the country starts out not in our refrigerators but farms. in 2012, dcck recovered over 700,000 pounds of food, much of it from farms.

the process of recovering food from farms is called gleaning, and we caught up with the procurement manager at dcck, amy bachman, to capture the process. check out the journey of apples that will become desert for thousands of dc residents.

dcck has taken their model on the road and colleges and organizations around the country are trying to emulate the kitchen. how are you going to reduce food waste? join the conversation below!

asthaa chaturvedi is a senior majoring in international affairs at the george washington university. jenny rabago is a senior majoring in journalism and biological anthropology at the george washington university.