• Food

USPS Could Help Deliver Food to Those in Need

• food insecurity
• food waste
• hunger
• USPS

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer A new analysis from the World Wildlife Fund lays out a plan to use the existing logistical infrastructure of the United States Postal Service to distribute millions of tons of food from farmers directly to consumers. Each year, an estimated 17 million tons of crops never leave the farm, despite millions of Americans living in […]

• Food

Climate Change Impacts Childhood Malnutrition As Much as Poverty

• climate change
• food
• food insecurity
• malnutrition
• WHO

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer A new study published last week found that rising global temperatures impact childhood malnutrition at similar rates to poverty, insufficient sanitation, and poor education. The 19-country study, which observed 107,000 children aged 5 and under, reviewed the impact of rainfall and temperature on children’s diet diversity. The findings shocked […]

• Food

For Thanksgiving This Year, Make Less, Waste Less and Give More

• food bank
• food insecurity
• food waste
• holiday
• Indigenous
• Thanksgiving
• tradition

This year’s smaller gatherings due to the pandemic provide another opportunity to re-set holiday traditions for the better, writes Priya Krishna for the New York Times.  She explains that sustainability is a part of Native American culture and as well as the heritage of many ethnic Americans.  Yet, the way we usually prepare Thanksgiving’s big […]

• Food

Cover Crops and Compost May Be Key To Improved Soils for Urban Agriculture

• compost
• cover crops
• Detroit
• food desert
• food insecurity
• produce

By Julia Fine, ODP Contributing Writer An ongoing study in Detroit on the potential to recondition soils in urban areas to enable locally-grown agriculture is producing promising results, Brian Allnutt reported in Civil Eats. The study out of  Michigan State University-Detroit’s Partnership for Food Learning and Innovation, is working to find the “quickest, cheapest, and […]

• Food

Will COVID-19 Lead to A Global “Hunger Games”?

• conservation
• crabmeat
• food
• food insecurity
• Indonesia
• science
• supply chain
• Walton Family Foundation

Global leaders are warning that breaks in the global supply chain for food imports to the U.S. could have devastating impacts in developing countries.

Why This Matters:  Thanks to the President ordering meat plants to re-open, we are focused on food supply chains here at home, but there many people around the world supplying us necessary food items (like fresh fruits and vegetables and seafood that can’t be grown here now) as well.

• Health

Coronavirus: The Impact on Our Food System

• #COVID19
• agribusiness
• coronavirus
• farmers
• food insecurity
• food waste

Of all the stressful considerations we have to make during coronavirus, thinking through how we ensure our food system stays functioning is daunting. Shutdowns and demand changes have farmers fearful, lack of safety precautions is endangering agricultural workers who have been deemed “essential,” and a lack of workers may ensure that food is left rotting […]