Food & Agriculture Stories

How do we feed a growing and more affluent population without the environmental collateral damage? The Anthropocene’s coverage of food and agriculture digs deep into innovations in farming, aquaculture, filling the global protein gap, reducing the carbon footprint of supply chains, and more.

Food-related emissions beyond the farm gate are now almost as large as those from farming itself

Researchers find that emissions resulting from transport, energy use, and food waste have increased swiftly over the last 40 years - and are almost equivalent to the emissions from farming, itself

‘Ugly produce’ is having a marketing moment

In a surprising discovery, researchers found that shoppers were more likely to buy wonky produce labeled as 'ugly' than wonky produce left unlabeled or called ‘imperfect’

What Food Should Go Nude?

As consumers, we should worry less about the Styrofoam and plastic wrap encasing the ground beef—and take a pass on the shrink-wrapped broccoli.

Leaving crop residues to rot could be an unexpected boon for climate mitigation

Crop residue left on the ground locked up carbon in the soil four times longer than if they were cleared away

The most comprehensive study ever reveals which are the greenest ‘blue foods’

The lowest-impact label went to farmed bivalves and seaweeds; but there were also some surprises—e.g., wild and farmed salmon have the same footprint

First-of-its-kind study shows that diverse landscapes could boost US crop yields by 20%

The team found that landscapes with increased diversity produced ~17 to 18 bushels more per acre, of corn and wheat

Can nature-based farming methods work alongside synthetic fertilizers to increase yields?

One of the most comprehensive studies on ecological intensification reveals nature-based farming methods can supplement a large share of synthetic fertilizer to achieve high yields.