Irvine, Calif., Nov. 6, 2023 — Agriculture is one of the hardest human activities to decarbonize; people must eat, but the land-use practices associated with growing crops account for roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions evaluate a new solution to this problem, one that eliminates farms altogether.
In a study published today in Nature Sustainability, the UCI-led team of scientists assess the potential for widescale synthetic production of dietary fats through chemical and biological processes. The raw materials for this method are the same as those used by…
Recently, my wife’s distant aunt, Leila, invited me, my wife, and our three children to her home in the Faisal neighborhood of Cairo. She promised to cook us maftoul, a Palestinian dish that we haven’t eaten since we fled Gaza in December. Back home, making maftoul was often a family affair. One person cooks a rich stew from pumpkin, onions, tomatoes, and chickpeas. Someone else mixes wheat flour into a dough. A third person rubs the dough through the holes of a sieve, creating tiny balls that are similar to pearl couscous. Finally, the balls are steamed and served with…
CHICAGO (AP) — More than one-third of the food produced in the US is never eaten. Much of it ends up in landfills, where it produces tons of methane that causes climate change. That’s why more than 50 local officials signed onto a letter Tuesday calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to help municipal governments cut food waste in their communities.
The letter came on the heels of two recent reports from the EPA on the scope of America’s food waste problem and the damage that results from it. The local officials pressed the agency to expand grant funding and…
Preparing seedlings for planting at a collective garden in London, England. Urban food production spaces like this can provide numerous social and community benefits but require careful crop selection and management to cut the carbon footprints of cities. Image credit: Victoria SchoenStudy (PDF): Comparing the carbon footprints of urban and conventional agriculture (DOI 10.1038/s44284-023-00023-3)A new University of Michigan-led international study finds that fruits and vegetables grown in urban farms and gardens have a carbon footprint that is, on average, six times greater than conventionally grown produce.
However, a few city-grown crops equaled or outperformed conventional agriculture under certain…