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Saving Our Food Supply in the Face of Climate Change

Rowan Jacobsen

May 01, 2018 |

Eating Well |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Arizona

"Sometimes going backwards is making progress," says Dennis Moroney, a rancher in Arizona working alongside other ranchers, scientists and farmers to find a viable solution for growing crops in an increasingly warm and dry climate. This mindset has turned to methodology for this group. Rather than try to adapt current land to the hot temperature, they're finding that the best bet may be to utilize crops and livestock already known to thrive in hot, arid climates.

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Can Dirt Save the Earth?

Moises Velasquez-Manoff

April 18, 2018 |

The New York Times Magazine |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Marin, California

One tactic for combatting climate change has to do with soil health. Soil can withdraw and store carbon from the atmosphere—at a higher rate when covered by manure—and also supports long-term soil sustainability and saves farmers money. Because agriculture already consumes much of the world's surface, proponents of carbon farming envision a world where large swathes of land act as a carbon sink. Potential drawbacks and things left to explore include how to produce compost without creating more energy than it saves and how to use cows effectively when they also contribute much of the carbon in the atmosphere.

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Cooperative agroforestry empowers indigenous women in Honduras

Monica Pelliccia

April 16, 2018 |

Mongabay |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Honduras, Gualcince

Restoring biodiversity to agricultural land improves food security and helps to sequester carbon. In Honduras, the revival of indigenous agroforestry techniques includes the use shade-grown organic coffee, grown alongside fruit-producing trees and other useful crops. Cosagual Lenca, an all-female cooperative of coffee growers, works to introduce and popularize the techniques.

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Innovative Greenhouses Help Farmers Adapt to Climate Change

Janice Cantieri

April 11, 2018 |

National Geographic |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Telangana

In India, 15 farmers are piloting a program that utilizes greenhouses to grow crops that would otherwise perish in the unpredictable climate. The income generated from this capability is allowing families to pay for their children's education. In addition, women are being given opportunities to play a part in the agricultural success through training and networking.

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Years of eavesdropping on insect sex talk is starting to pay off for grape growers

Christopher Bobryk

April 04, 2018 |

Ensia |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Italy

Leafhoppers may sound like a harmless term to the untrained ear, but vineyard owners will quickly disagree. These insects have a history of invading and devastating vineyards across the U.S. and Europe. Entomologists may have uncovered a solution however, via studying how the leafhoppers mate. By replicating their vibrational mating calls, so to speak, they are able to hinder the species ability to mate, thus slowing down their reproduction rates.

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Farmers in Some of the Toughest Places to Do Agriculture Are the Ones Innovating for Climate Change

Frani Halperin

April 01, 2018 |

H20 Radio |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Vona, Colorado

It's not easy sustaining historical agricultural practices amidst a backdrop of climate change. Nate McCaffrey of eastern Colorado knows this all too well. So, instead of continuing the conventional ways of farming he had grown up to know, he decided to try out a no-till farming approach, and then went a step further and planted cover crops. Although not without its limitations, this switch in both mindset and practice has allowed him to cultivate healthier soil and save on fuel costs previously allocated towards his old tilling machinery.

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Wheat in heat: the 'crazy idea' that could combat food insecurity

Mark Hillsdon

March 23, 2018 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Senegal, Ndiayene Pendao

After many years of attempts, scientists have discovered how to create a heat tolerant wheat that has the potential of impacting the growing concerns around food insecurity. Tested in sub-Saharan temperatures in Senegal, the International Centre for Research in the Dry Areas (Icarda) have seen success with their strain of wheat that turns this formerly cold-weather only crop into a fast-growing crop that can withstand 40C temperatures and be grown in the between seasons of planting rice crops.

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Chocolate and agroforestry accelerate in El Salvador

Anna-Catherine Brigida

March 14, 2018 |

Mongabay |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: El Salvador, Zacatecoluca

Agroforestry has become a powerful tool in El Salvador communities and is helping farmers grow crops they otherwise wouldn't be able to. The practices which has played a major role in bringing cacao back to the region, is also beneficial for the climante and ecosystem.

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How close are we to a hamburger grown in a lab?

Charlotte Hawks

March 08, 2018 |

CNN |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Could clean meat be the solution for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, feeding an ever-growing human population and saving water? A growing number of food innovators think so, as do investors such as Bill Gates and Richard Branson. Although too expensive to hit the market immediately, production is in the works to create clean meat from animal cells that may be better for human health and the health of the environment.

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'I used to see them as a bunch of rioters': Brazil's radical farmers

Ignacio Amigo

January 25, 2018 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Brazil, Ribeirão Preto

In Brazil, 45% of agriculturally viable land is owned by 1% of tenants. To combat this inequitable ratio, the Landless Workers’ Movement formed and took a stand for seizing lands that are "not fulfilling a productive or social use." The group successfully reclaimed an area known as Mario Lago and has since begun a reforestation process alongside agroforestry which has allowed for an increase in diversity of food produced. The farmers haven't stopped there, however. To sell their produce, they have implemented a system of turning the consumer into a co-producer thus ensuring economic stability.

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