Hey friends, did you know there's a $365 billion gap in climate adaptation funding for Africa's smallholder farmers? Time to step up and support sustainable agriculture! Check it out: https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/africa-mulls-gap-in-climate-adaptation-finance-for-agriculture/

I took a closer look at vertical farming: what it actually does well, where it struggles, and why the hype doesn’t always match reality. Read it here 👉 substack.com/home/post/p-... If you’re into sustainable food systems, you might like the newsletter — feel free to subscribe!

A promising update: www.cnbc.com/2025/12/22/i...

Op-ed: What Affordability Really Means for Families and Farmers This Holiday Season

Got to say this self-congratulating piece from an Instacart executive feels a bit tone-deaf considering the recent investigations into platform’s pricing. foodtank.com/news/2025/12...

“Climate change isn’t a faraway problem,” said Ter Haar. “The effects are already on our dinner plate.” Climate change affects our food, which ultimately affects our health and wellbeing #climate #food #nutrition www.theguardian.com/environment/...

How has salmon farming reshaped our food system, the tradeoffs that came with it, and what a better salmon future could look like. Plus, other headlines about farmer protests in the E.U. and California’s plans for alternative proteins. open.substack.com/pub/platingp...

How has salmon farming reshaped our food system, the tradeoffs that came with it, and what a better salmon future could look like. Plus, other headlines about farmer protests in the E.U. and California’s plans for alternative proteins. open.substack.com/pub/platingp...

This is heartbreaking news. NCAR has been a vital source of research for over 85 years!

BREAKING: Four Republicans defy Speaker Johnson and sign Democratic petition that will force House vote on extending ACA subsidies.

This week’s food investigations hit hard: AI grocery pricing, PFAS cookware scandals, and why falling ag research is driving up your food bill. Here’s what every urban eater should know. open.substack.com/pub/platingp...

This week’s food investigations hit hard: AI grocery pricing, PFAS cookware scandals, and why falling ag research is driving up your food bill. Here’s what every urban eater should know. open.substack.com/pub/platingp...

Celebrity chefs told Californians that PFAS-coated pans were “safe,” and successfully lobbied Gavin Newsom to veto a bill phasing them out They didn’t mention they all sell PFAS-coated pans. New joint investigation with @mirandagreen.bsky.social and @atmosmag.bsky.social is out:

The Trump administration announced a $12 billion farmer bailout package today, to compensate for diminished export markets caused by the administration’s chaotic trade policies. But this aid package is an inadequate response to a deeply broken agriculture economy. www.iatp.org/farmer-bailo...

EXCLUSIVE: We found that Instacart is using AI algorithms to charge customers different prices for the same items. It's not just online. It's in physical grocery stores too. Our months-long investigation with @consumerreports.org and @groundwork.bsky.social found it could cost families $1200/year.

Make sure you tune in for Food Tank's bipartisan summit on public health and food policy! foodtank.com/news/2025/12...

Food production is becoming increasingly monopolized. Can urban agriculture reverse that trend? open.substack.com/pub/platingp...

Once again, Iowans are paying the price for lack of accountability for Big Ag.

A new survey from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) gathered insights from 156 agricultural finance institutions across 17 countries and found that the majority of banks and lenders are considering shifting weather patterns as a financial risk. www.edf.org/media/94-agr...

Indonesia’s Sumatra residents loot for food, water after deadly floods www.thehindu.com/news/interna...

Lol, Zillow tried to rate the climate risks facing individual properties. The real estate industry *hated* it, precisely because it worked -- it made selling risky properties more difficult. So they rebelled & Zillow caved. Don't look up!

Urban Agriculture faces real roadblocks to scale. One of those roadblocks: a lack of data showing the benefits and progress of producing food in cities. Why are our urban food systems so hard to track and measure? open.substack.com/pub/platingp...

"Based on interviews and a workshop with 56 urban growers, community organizations and city staff in London, we found how a promising strategy can stall without clear leadership, resources and follow-through." #UrbanAgriculture #LocalFood #FoodSovereignty @richardbloomfield.bsky.social

The agency also announced plans to relax a rule requiring companies to report all products containing PFAS and has proposed weakening drinking water standards for the chemicals. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Not that you asked, but here's a thread of intriguing (real!) food facts to amuse/bore your friends and family. Great for gatherings when you need to change the subject!

Cool, but it kind of pales in comparison to the $40 billion we just gave Argentina... www.usda.gov/about-usda/n...

#COP30 has ended without recognising industrial #FoodSystems as a major driver of the climate crisis. Food is left out of the final deal. “This is not failure. This is capture,” says our @rajpatel.org Full statement: ipes-food.org/cop30-ends-w... #COP30 #ClimateJustice #FoodSystems

Highly recommend this overview of the U.S. farm system and the challenges that rural, conventional farmers face @moreperfectunion.bsky.social @benlilliston.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl02...

Urban Agriculture faces real roadblocks to scale. One of those roadblocks: a lack of data showing the benefits and progress of producing food in cities. Why are our urban food systems so hard to track and measure? open.substack.com/pub/platingp...

Seven states along the coasts face the worst potential impact. abcnews.go.com/US/thousands...

This new slaughterhouse is the first farmer-owned cooperative to be established in Tennessee in more than 50 years. It has already doubled the region’s USDA-approved processing capacity. "We are trying to help support an increase in farm incomes.”

"The industrialised food sector has celebrated the lack of action at recent climate summits, which failed to recommend binding targets for reductions in emissions, fossil fuel use or meat consumption." www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Only 14% of the Indigenous leaders who sought accreditation to the Blue Zone were accepted, according to the Coalition of Indigenous People of Brazil, even as hundreds of fossil-fuel company executives roam the halls. Thousands took to the streets of Belém on Saturday to demand climate action.

This week two articles were published about the value of urban agriculture. Google Trends shows that 2025 has seen a record volume of traction for urban growing. And local governments are taking notice. Is urban agriculture finally gaining traction? open.substack.com/pub/platingp...

One in every 25 participants at 2025 UN climate summit is a fossil fuel lobbyist, according to Kick Big Polluters Out. Seems like it might be time to rethink this conference www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Me quoted here on JBS and other agbiz players on the inside at #COP30: "this is the exact opposite way to really deal with food systems and climate change. These companies have too much at stake, too much of a direct conflict.”

Collaboration is redefining resilience in our food systems progressispurpose.substack.com/p/collaborat...

Don't know your #Abag from your #Abiec? @desmog.com can help you navigate the #AgroLobby at #COP30... We profiled #Brazil's 3 most influential meat industry trade groups: CNA, ABIEC & ABAG Learn more in @rachelsherrington.bsky.social's map of food & farm lobby 👉 www.desmog.com/2025/11/10/m...

This #USDA committee is a pipeline for the public to affect policy. I attended the meetings and part of my public comment was included in the final committee recommendations. The next question is whether any of the rcommendations will be enacted. #UrbanAgriculture cityfarmer.info/urban-agricu...

Inflation and tariffs are raising the price of shelf-stable food just when the most vulnerable Americans need to stock up, @yeahyeahyasmin.bsky.social reports.

Over the years, #SNAP has been refined and scaled, just like any other technology that aims to change our food system. Suddenly eliminating the program will set us back as a country that is increasingly underinvesting in its people. open.substack.com/pub/progress...

One of the most innovative food policies in the U.S. - the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program progressispurpose.substack.com/p/how-snap-t...

The Farmers' Almanac is shutting down, Teen Vogue terminated its political coverage, and CBS News laid off its climate team. This has been a rough week for journalism. #FarmersAlmanac #ClimateJournalism www.farmersalmanac.com/fond-farewel...

Where are the sustainable food system leaders who have an appetite for something new?

During the first half of 2025, agrifood startups raised just $5.1 billion, a 37 percent decline from the same period the year prior. For context, U.S. AI startups raised over $104 billion in the first half of 2025. That is almost 21 times as much funding! open.substack.com/pub/progress...

In the heart of Rio de Janeiro’s Rocinha favela, the largest in Brazil, a chance discovery led a resident creating a project to turn improperly discarded cooking oil into sustainable soaps and cleaning products. news.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-r...

This is a great background read for anyone who doesn't understand the key challenges with bringing innovations to market www.betterbioeconomy.com/p/food-found...

Agricultural waste comes in many forms, from crops left on farms due to surplus, disease, or visual defects, to crop byproducts after processing. Usually, this type of waste is tilled back into the soil or burned, but those processes send CO2 back into the atmosphere.

As the need for urgent solutions to climate change intensifies, a new concept is gaining momentum: sinking agricultural waste into deep-ocean basins. open.substack.com/pub/progress...