Food revolution

Agriculture is damaging the planet in so many ways because it has evolved into a practice where producing a higher yield is more important than ensuring the sustainability of food production. For instance, introducing fin-fish aquaculture into waters, that were once abundant in native salmon species, for the sake of economic gains has reduced the resilience of these coastal ecosystems. Growing monocultures and applying pesticides to control food production is degrading the soil that makes plants healthy and is introducing a concoction of chemicals into waterways.

It is hard to imagine another way forward when the world relies on producing large quantities of food to nourish our global population of nearly 8 billion people. Industrial agriculture makes it easy to scale farming practices across the globe, but at the same time, these practices are harming the health of people and ecosystems.

I envision a world where farms are re-wilded so that a diversity of crops are grown together, and animals are embraced as the form of pest control as opposed to spraying our food with chemicals. I also envision a world where farmers are more respected in society and given more resources and incentives (e.g., subsidies) to practice regenerative farming. Above all, I value food systems that protect natural ecosystems while maximizing the amount of food that's available to people. This may mean that industrial agriculture needs to be scaled back and that food is more evenly distributed across the globe.