“Lima is in fact green. It’s just not green for everybody,” Parsa says in the Food 2050 film, which premieres January 2026 in partnership with Media RED, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Food Tank. “There are two Limas,” and many remote, isolated, and low-income communities in the city pay as much as ten times the price that wealthier residents pay for water.

Parsa founded Lima 2035 with a vision to transform Lima by first enabling equitable access to water. Simple sheets of mesh, called mist catchers or fog nets, have been used for years in hillside communities that lack access to running water. The nets intercept fog as wind blows it through, causing tiny water droplets to stick to its fibers and drip into storage tanks, capturing 200 to 400 liters (53 to 79 gallons) of fresh water per day. 

“Although we do not have rain, the water that evaporates from the Pacific Ocean gets captured in dense fog that becomes somewhat of an airborne aquifer. When fog meets the Andes, the landscape is turned green,” says Parsa. “How do we unlock that water? How do we make it freely available to people?”

With a new “harvesting tower” design by Alberto Fernandez, Lima 2035 is working to expand the surface area that captures fog, reclaiming up to 10,000 liters (more than 2,600 gallons) of fresh water per day for remote and isolated communities. “Once we are able to bridge the water access gap, then many more opportunities become available,” says Parsa.

Lima 2035’s second innovation promotes local food sovereignty. Alison Anaya, farmer and founder of Huertos En Azoteas, creates compact, efficient farming units that transform underutilized city rooftops into flourishing garden spaces. This not only provides fresh, locally grown vegetables and herbs to city residents but also a source of income and employment.

“The majority of the people, they do not have the resources to pay for one vegetable,” says Anaya. These rooftop gardens are “diversifying their diet, teaching them to sow, to have their own garden from which they can feed. And they can also generate extra income for their family.”

Huertos En Azoteas has installed rooftop gardens across Lima’s most underserved neighborhoods, prioritizing schools, community centers, and households led by women. The system uses recycled materials and focuses on water-saving techniques to minimize waste. Since winning the Food System Visionary prize in 2020, Anaya says her team has also developed an app that allows customers to scan a QR code and see detailed information about growing practices, inputs, and harvest timelines.

Today, the model is helping to restore a sense of dignity and self-reliance within the urban food system.

“When you step inside [the rooftop garden], despite being in the middle of the city, there is a surprising color,” says Anaya. “It feels like a small green room suspended above the urban chaos. A place where you can work, observe, and also just pray for a while.”

Lima 2035’s third innovation builds on this by recognizing the city’s rich food culture spanning thousands of years. Lima’s network of 350 archaeological sites, which were sacred in ancient times, is in danger of disappearing amid dense urban development. Architect and Urban Designer Jean Pierre envisions turning these spaces into community hubs, where people can visit a farmers’ market, exchange seeds, or take a gastronomy tour. 

“The only way to preserve these places is by activating them,” says Pierre. “And the answer is food.”

This model has archeological sites participating in urban life, rather than slowly and quietly eroding into neglect, says Pierre. Together with Lima 2035’s other innovations—capturing water from fog, growing food on rooftops—it offers a blueprint for how cities facing deep inequality can build resilience using simple tools, community leadership, and food as a unifying force.

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In a small tilapia farm in Honduras, fish mortality once reached nearly 100 percent during the warm season due to a bacterial outbreak. That changed when Jeffry Palma, an aquaculture specialist from Cargill, worked with CARE and local farmers to introduce a targeted vaccine, along with instruction in disease prevention and pond management. Jeffry helped secure the vaccine from a trusted supplier and led hands-on training with farmers on how to administer it safely and effectively.

The result? Mortality rates dropped to just 2 percent, and communities began to see a path toward greater food security and resilience.

This kind of quiet transformation—powered by cross-sector collaboration and technical innovation—is taking place in food and agriculture systems around the world. And in a year like 2025, that progress matters more than ever.

We’re just five years from the target date of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. The world is behind where it needs to be—but progress is happening in places where collaboration unlocks new potential.

At Cargill, we believe that innovation at scale drives lasting impact. It’s not about disruption for disruption’s sake. It’s about advancing practical solutions that work for farmers, improve social and environmental outcomes, and move the entire system forward.

Cargill’s crop innovation scientists are working every day to improve plant genetics, defend crops from disease, and pioneer new functional traits—helping farmers grow more resilient plants to feed a growing global population. They are among the many research and development experts at Cargill helping create a stronger food system. This includes, for example, producing stevia through fermentation in a way that reduces land-use-related impacts by 96 percent, water use by 97 percent, and the carbon footprint by 81 percent compared to conventional sugar.

We’re also eliminating industrially produced trans-fatty acids (iTFAs) from all our edible oils—including in markets without regulation—and earned the #1 global ranking from the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNi) for doing so.

Finally, we see a lot of potential by working with TREES Consulting to create and publish the first Gold Standard-approved methodology for using feed supplements to reduce methane emissions in beef production.

In all of these ventures, it’s collaboration—especially with farmers and partners—that turns scientific advances into real-world progress. Importantly, we recognize that farmers are some of the most innovative and knowledgeable stakeholders in food and agriculture systems. Whether adopting new technologies, integrating regenerative practices from cover crops to agroforestry, or navigating supply chain pressures, their ingenuity is critical to building a more resilient agricultural future.

In Honduras and Guatemala, our partnership with CARE has helped smallholder producers adopt biodigesters that generate biogas and organic fertilizer—reducing emissions and helping participating households transition away from firewood and synthetic fertilizers. As Maria Pereira, a farmer from the community of El Bejuco, shared: “I no longer think about going for firewood, I just turn on the gas and the fire is already working.” This shift has freed up time that Maria now uses to run a food business in her community, improving her family’s income and independence.

In the United States, our Success from the Ground Up program supports state and local organizations that bring regenerative agriculture education directly to farmers. The program provides small and mid-sized grants to farmer networks, soil health coalitions, universities, and conservation groups—enabling on-the-ground innovation through regional roadshows, mobile apps, peer learning cohorts, and multimedia tools. These efforts are designed to meet farmers where they are, helping them build confidence and capacity to implement regenerative practices that work for their operations.

This farmer-first approach extends across our global partnerships. In early 2025, Bathiar Dollah, a farmer and community leader in Malaysia, was invited to join Solidaridad’s Smallholder Support Programme, an initiative supported by Cargill. Reflecting on the experience, he shared: “We learned about farm management, techniques for fertilization, prevention of Ganoderma [a harmful fungus], and much more. I think the programme is really good for us.”

Through this initiative, more than 800 smallholders have been trained in sustainable practices like better pruning, harvesting, and nutrient management—resulting in a 13.7 percent average yield increase among closely monitored participants. Bathiar is now applying these learnings on his own farm and sharing them with others in his community, demonstrating how farmer-focused partnerships can scale impact across regions.

We know the private sector alone can’t transform the food system. But we also know that this transformation cannot happen without business at the table. The future of our food system depends on more of us coming together to test, scale, and invest in solutions that nourish people and the planet.

It’s time to reinvent, redefine, and reimagine what’s possible—together.

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Trump-Vance Administration Announces US$12 Billion Bailout for Farmers

The Trump-Vance Administration recently announced a US$12 billion farmer bailout during a White House roundtable, citing financial strain faced by producers following recent tariffs.

According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) press release, the package includes up to US$11 billion in one-time payments for row crop farmers growing commodities such as corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, and cotton through a new USDA Farmer Bridge Assistance program. The remaining funds will be allocated to commodities not covered by the program, including specialty crops and sugar, though payment timelines and formulas for those sectors are still being developed.

President Donald Trump repeatedly stated that the payments were funded by tariff revenue during the roundtable. However, the funding will come from the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation, a government financing mechanism that uses taxpayer dollars.

The announcement follows months of concern among farmers over rising input costs and uncertainty tied to trade policy, particularly for row crop producers. National Farmers Union President Rob Larew says that while the organization appreciates the assistance, “short-term payments, while important, are only a first step,” emphasizing the need for long-term structural reforms to stabilize family farms.

Applications for assistance will open in the coming weeks, according to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. Eligible farmers can expect payments to be distributed by February 28, 2026.

UAE Announces AI Initiative to Support Farmers in Climate Crisis

The United Arab Emirates recently announced a new initiative designed to translate advanced research and artificial intelligence tools into practical support for farmers affected by extreme and unpredictable weather.

The platform, AI Ecosystem for Global Agricultural Development, builds on a US$200 million partnership between the UAE and the Gates Foundation announced at the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, which aims to accelerate agricultural innovation.

The ecosystem is structured around four initiatives intended to guide implementation and deployment. One pillar, the CGIAR AI Hub, is intended to position Abu Dhabi as a center for AI-driven agricultural research using decades of global agricultural data. A second initiative, the Institute for Agriculture and Artificial Intelligence, will provide digital advisory services, training, and technical assistance to governments and non-governmental organizations.

A third component, AgriLLM, is an open-source agricultural large language model designed to improve global agricultural intelligence. The final initiative, AIM for Scale, focuses on AI-powered weather forecasting and advisory services, including recent deployments that delivered AI-supported monsoon forecasts to 38 million farmers in India in 2025.

“By connecting our national research and AI capabilities with leading global partners, we are turning science into real tools that reach people on the ground,” says Mariam Almheiri, Head of the International Affairs Office at the UAE Presidential Court.

EU Negotiators Agree to Relax Regulations on Gene-Edited Crops

European Union negotiators have agreed to ease regulations on crops developed using new gene-splicing practices, concluding that these plants should face fewer restrictions than traditional genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The agreement distinguishes between conventional GMOs, which insert genetic material from one species into another, and new genomic techniques (NGTs) that precisely add, remove, or alter small sections of a plant’s DNA.

Critics warn that the changes could strengthen corporate control over seeds, particularly as NGT crops become patentable. Franziska Achterberg of Save Our Seeds calls the agreement a “complete sell-out,” arguing it undermines the rights of farmers and consumers.

But lawmakers and other supporters argue that existing GMO rules have slowed innovation and that revised regulations could enable the development of crops that are more resilient to climate stress and require less land and fewer fertilizers and pesticides.

Under the deal, gene-edited crops will be divided into two categories. “NGT1” crops, which are modified to a limited degree and considered comparable to naturally occurring varieties, will be regulated like conventional crops and face looser requirements. “NGT2” crops, which involve more extensive genetic changes, will remain subject to the EU’s stricter GMO approval and labeling rules.

Before taking effect, the agreement must still be formally approved by both the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.

Congressional Delegation Pushes for Action on PFAS

Maine’s congressional delegation is urging federal action to support farmers affected by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), chemicals that have contaminated farmland in the state and elsewhere.

U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree and U.S. Senator Susan Collins reintroduced the Relief for Farmers Hit with PFAS Act, which would authorize grants to states to address PFAS contamination on agricultural land. The legislation would allow states to use federal funds for soil and water testing, remediation efforts, and financial assistance for farmers who may need to relocate from contaminated land.

Additional eligible uses include monitoring PFAS levels in individuals’ blood, upgrading farm equipment to maintain operations, and supporting research into remediation strategies.

Pingree says the bill responds to an ongoing crisis, stating, “The PFAS crisis isn’t some theoretical or distant problem. It’s here, it’s growing, and it’s putting real pressure on farmers in Maine and across the country,” and described the measure as a “critical step” toward safeguarding farm operations.

The proposal builds on steps Maine has already taken, including becoming the first state to require manufacturers to report PFAS intentionally added to products.

Supporters including U.S. Senator Angus King, an original cosponsor of the bill, argue that federal involvement is needed to complement state programs and provide consistent assistance to farmers facing PFAS contamination nationwide.

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The post Food Tank’s Weekly News Roundup: U.S. Farm Bailout, Climate Tech for UAE Farmers, and Gene-Edited Crops in the EU appeared first on Food Tank.

This blind spot costs lives and weakens our economies. Poor diets are responsible for an estimated 17 million deaths each year, while the hidden costs of food systems, from chronic disease to soil degradation, exceed US$20 trillion annually, more than twice what the world spends on food itself.

Why Measurement Matters

We cannot fix what we do not measure. Food quality data, grounded in comprehensive and standardized molecular analysis, must become a central metric for how we measure, manage, and build value across food and health systems. Without knowing what’s actually in our food, the tens of thousands of molecules, we cannot design food systems that sustain health.

It’s time to build a Food Intelligence Economy, a system that integrates food quality data, artificial intelligence (AI), and human capacity to innovate solutions that regenerate farms, improve health, and drive economic value for healthy diets from sustainable food systems for all.

A Turning Point for Global Nutrition

For a century, nutrition science has focused on a few dozen molecules including essential vitamins and crude measures of total fat, carbohydrate, and protein. This focus has saved millions from deficiency diseases and shaped public health as society industrialized. With the leading cause of death today no longer being deficiency, but diet-related chronic disease, we must urgently evolve our approach. 

Humanity stands at a critical inflection point. We have the science and technology to precisely measure food at the molecular level and link it directly to environmental and health outcomes. What’s needed now is the motivation, coordination, and capital to mobilize this intelligence at scale.

What Is the Food Intelligence Economy?

Just as genomics revolutionized medicine, unlocking breakthroughs that reshaped prevention and health care, a Food Intelligence Economy can redefine food systems, transforming how we measure, design, and create value from food.

A Food Intelligence Economy integrates three interconnected pillars: 

First, food-quality data. Standardized multi-omics and environmental datasets that capture the molecular signatures of foods. 

Second, the use of artificial intelligence. AI is used to analyze, synthesize, and generate insights, predictive models, and design solutions.

And third, human capacity. Through education, entrepreneurship, social networks, and governance to translate data insights into innovation for food system solutions.

Together, these pillars create a continuous feedback loop translating food quality data into intelligence, intelligence into action, and action into measurable value for people and planet. This intelligence fuels solutions across the entire food system. From breeding crops for nutrient density and climate resilience to adopting regenerative agricultural practices that restore soil health. From developing alternative proteins and functional foods that complement medical nutrition therapies such as GLP-1, to reformulating and reducing ultra-processed foods for better health outcomes.

It extends from labeling for food quality and authenticity to product design and recipe formulation for school and hospital meals. It even extends to reusing food by-products and waste in the circular economy as new functional food innovations. By embedding intelligence in every link of the value chain, the Food Intelligence Economy transforms food into a generator of economic, environmental, and human capital, creating new markets, improving public health, and aligning profit with planetary wellbeing.

From Food Quality Data to Design of Food System Solutions

Imagine a world where algorithms taste food through their molecules, where crop breeders use predictive models to enhance nutrient density and resilience, and where school and hospital meals are designed with the same precision as medicine.

Unlocking this potential requires collective action supported by the integrated pillars of the Food Intelligence Economy: food-quality data, artificial intelligence, and human capacity. Together, these pillars enable us to grow and design diverse, nutrient-dense foods, rewarding biodiversity, soil health, and innovation in reformulation and product design. They also help make nutritious foods the most accessible and affordable choice, aligning incentives and markets with true value. And they empower societies to amplify the connection between food and health, creating food environments, policies, and cultural norms that make healthy, sustainable eating the default. 

When data, AI, and human capacity intersect across these levers, they convert the complexity of food into actionable intelligence, connecting scientific insight to market transformation and wellbeing.

Investing in Human Capacity

Technology alone will not transform food systems. Building a Food Intelligence Economy calls for equal investment in people. We must strengthen the capacity of scientists, farmers, chefs, entrepreneurs, educators, and communicators to turn data into action.

Empowering national laboratories globally to analyze local foods with standardized multi-omics tools will ensure data equity across regions. Training innovators and enterprises to use molecular insights will enable the design of culturally relevant and affordable products. Strengthening governance, education, and storytelling will help translate these insights into smarter procurement, informed policies, and healthier behaviors. 

This approach also unlocks economic growth, particularly in rural economies that are most impacted by food and nutrition inequalities. Redirecting even a fraction of the resources that global health systems spend treating preventable diet-related diseases toward measuring food with the precision of medicine, and translating that knowledge into real-world solutions, would yield compounding returns: healthier populations, stronger ecosystems, and inclusive markets built on food intelligence.

The Opportunity Ahead

Humanity has mapped the genome and sequenced viruses in real time. We can now map the molecules of our meals. In doing so, we will unlock the next frontier wellbeing.

A Food Intelligence Economy can create an innovation engine that empowers every nation to design foods and food systems that nourish people, restore ecosystems, and generate shared economic value. Food is information. The more precisely we measure it, and the more intelligently we use it, the better we are nourished. 

This marks a paradigm shift in our relationship with food: one that recognizes the molecules within it a blueprint for a thriving, equitable, and sustainable future for all.

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The post Op-Ed | From Molecules to Markets: Building a Food Intelligence Economy appeared first on Food Tank.

The Summit, presented alongside Better Food Future and Journey Foods, celebrated the intersection of food, climate, and the arts with changemaker panels, immersive tastings, and DJ performance by celebrity duo Nigerian-American rapper Jidenna and Grammy-winning producer Nana Kwabena.

In the modern age, “you have to really do the job right. There’s no place to hide,” says Erik Giercksky, the Head of Ocean Stewardship Coalition at UN Global Compact.

For business leaders, this means both establishing high standards and becoming familiar with the full extent of your supply chains, so you can verify everything meets those standards and build new connections.

That’s been our approach, to start from the origin,” says Mark Kaplan, the Co‑Founder & Chief Sustainability Officer at Wholechain and Lead at Better Food Future. “When you get to the origin, you discover these incredible things that you otherwise wouldn’t know if you’re just taking your distributor’s word for it.”

Technological innovations like artificial intelligence (AI) can provide powerful tools for developing transparency and traceability, which is a priority for Riana Lynn, Founder and CEO of Journey Foods and its research initiative, JourneyLabs. The company uses AI and other tools to help companies build more sustainable, nourishing, collaborative, data-driven supply chains.

But in order for any of these efforts to pay off, communication is key, panelists said. When bringing tech to farms, for example, businesses have a responsibility to make sure farmers understand what the innovations can do for them and how to ensure they reap the financial benefits, says Dr. Augusto Castro-Nunez, Head of Low-Emissions Food Systems Research at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT.

Alex Golub, Sustainability Director at Acme Smoked Fish, agrees.

“We have a transparency issue in sustainability,” she says. “The potential for traceability can unlock so much more value for seafood businesses. … If consumers know where their food is coming from, harvesters can really have those assurances, and that transparency can ripple through.”

By helping companies streamline their core operations, digital technology innovations can also help the private sector devote more resources toward creative solutions, said panelists including Eric Mittenthal, Chief Strategy Officer at the Meat Institute, and James O’Connell, Director of Agribusiness and Sustainability at Kerry Dairy Ireland.

“We all like to talk about forest protection, but those are habitats, and when you want to protect a habitat, you have to protect the top species,” Elena Piana, Group Sustainability Manager at Regal Springs, explains. “Food that’s produced with the best practices, with care and with patience, tastes good.”

And flavor is what helps build the case for traceability and sustainability among eaters, too. As Daniel Russek, CEO of Atarraya, says: “By making delicious food, that’s how you get their attention.”

Social media influencers also speak to massive captivated audiences and can be effective messengers for change. But in a world run by algorithms, transparency and authenticity in one’s own personality is necessary to cut through the noise. 

“The way to get people to be more sustainable, everything has to be trendy now. I’m sorry, but the internet runs everything,” says Georgia chef, painter, and comedian Eniá “Flava P” Patterson, who has nearly a combined half-million followers across social media platforms. “A lot of things that go viral, they’re not really good for us, so that’s when (people who care about sustainability) use our superpower: How can you make it funny?”

Flava P continued: “The future belongs to the people who put in the groundwork now, who set a great example, and who really put in who they are, relentlessly.”

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The post Digital Tools Can Strengthen Transparency, Traceability, and Trust In The Future of Food appeared first on Food Tank.

“The private sector, with the help of advocates and other changemakers, can help us envision the kind of food future we want to see,” says Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg. “We need to make the business case for sustainability.”

However, big food companies like PepsiCo and Coca-Cola have retreated from climate commitments within the last year. According to a 2024 Accenture analysis, only 16% of the world’s largest companies are on track to meet their 2050 net-zero goals, with close to half continuing to increase carbon emissions. 

“CSOs are facing so many challenges, and often are alone in doing this work. Now is not the time to lower our ambitions. Now is the time to up our game,” says Nierenberg. 

Helena Bottemiller Evich, Founder and Editor‑in‑Chief of Food Fix, sat down with Nierenberg to discuss the rapidly increasing consumer interest in food and agricultural issues.

“All of a sudden, everyone’s talking about food, agriculture, health, and wellness,” says Bottemiller Evich. “In some ways, the folks who are in food maybe shouldn’t be surprised; we’ve seen more and more people asking about food…it’s entered the zeitgeist in a way that’s been slowly growing over time.”

While food is increasingly a part of mainstream headlines, Bottemiller Evich notes that agricultural lobbying has not slowed down: “What I’ve seen in the last six months is just an astonishing recognition of how powerful the agriculture industry is in Washington, and how less powerful the food industry is.”

Bottemiller Evich underscored the need to look at not just what the U.S. administration is saying but also what it is doing. For example, a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission report raised concerns about pesticides in May 2025, yet its September 2025 strategy report notably omitted new regulations on pesticides.

“There is a big gap right now between the rhetoric of MAHA and the actual priorities of this administration,” says Bottemiller Evich.

Marion Nestle, Professor Emerita at New York University, sees four challenges facing the food industry right now: U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr., “because you have no idea what he’s going to do”; ultra-processed foods, “because they’re the big profit center of food companies”; GLP-1 drugs, “because we’ve already seen people buying less as a result of people taking these drugs”; and food prices, “which are staggering right now.”

In recent months, major food companies have agreed to remove artificial dyes from their products by 2027. The HHS is also taking steps to close the “generally recognized as safe” loophole, which currently allows food and chemical companies to declare their own ingredients safe for consumption without approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Nestle says these are big wins for food and health, but she wants to see much larger changes made. 

“If you take the color additives out of Froot Loops, they’re still Froot Loops. If you replace the high fructose corn syrup in Coca-Cola with cane sugar, it’s still Coca-Cola. I don’t see the MAHA movement focusing on what I think are issues that will make a real difference,” says Nestle. “In terms of the 20 to 30 percent of American kids who are overweight or obese, it’s trivial. It doesn’t do anything. I’m happy about it, but I want something bigger,” such as restrictions on marketing junk foods to kids.

The Sustainability Leadership Summit also included an open conversation with food brands about their challenges and how to navigate rapidly evolving current events. Attendees discussed issues ranging from the responsible use of artificial intelligence to reducing food waste in supply chains, uncertainty around global trade and tariffs, and rebuilding trust between brands and consumers.

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“Our job is huge. We need to change the way we grow food, eat food, talk about food, and love food. We really need new food habits—and that requires a lot of change,” says Dorothy Shaver, Global Food Sustainability Lead at Unilever.

Watch the full livestreamed event on Food Tank’s YouTube channel.

Panel discussions highlighted bold ideas and tangible actions from across the food industry, media, policy, and culinary worlds to build a more resilient, joyful, and regenerative food future. To kick off the afternoon, Rasmus Munk, Founder and Head Chef at Alchemist and Spora, spoke about the power that chefs hold to drive change. 

“Chefs have a big voice out there, a lot of spotlight on us as well. We’re getting a lot of time to speak,” says Munk. “Restaurants are a big communicator and platform to try new things. With our craft, we can actually do things.”

Munk’s food research center, Spora, is part of an international consortium that converts carbon dioxide into protein-rich foods, a project backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Novo Nordisk Foundation. This technology has moved from a conceptual stage to developing consumer-ready food prototypes—including chocolate truffles made without using cocoa products, which were passed out to Summit attendees.

Among Munk’s other food innovations are ingredients that push boundaries, he says, and inspire conversations at the dinner table, such as butterflies. 

“When you serve a butterfly that is farmed, people freak out,” says Munk. But “it contains about 3.5-times more protein than farmed chicken.”

Munk’s work shows that conversations about food innovations don’t necessarily have to be about technology. And when thinking about innovation in the food space, Chitra Agrawal, Co-Founder and CEO of Brooklyn Delhi and Author of Vibrant India, reminds attendees to look ahead by looking to the past.

“There’s so much ancient wisdom that is baked into the products that we are selling” at Brooklyn Delhi, says Agrawal.

Meanwhile, several organizations and brands attested to consumer preference for plant-forward menus—and often, these dishes are the most healthy, simple, and sustainable options.

“People want global flavors, they do want plant-rich foods, and often they want whole, plant-rich foods like beans,” says Eve Turow-Paul, Author, Founder and Executive Director at Food for Climate League. “When you say sustainable products, people think it’s expensive…rice and beans are sustainable, this doesn’t have to be something that’s inaccessible.”

Food can also be a powerful opportunity for self-care and connection, says Rachel Krupa, Founder and CEO of The Goods Mart. As many look to consume less amid rising economic uncertainty and environmental concern, “food is an affordable luxury that we can all connect with and relate to,” says Krupa.

But ultimately, “if you want food that is accessible, that has to be a nonprofit,” according to Mark Bittman, a New York Times bestselling author, former New York Times food writer, and chef. The Summit’s audience heard about Bittman’s new public restaurant model, Community Kitchen, which combines locally sourced, high-quality, and nutritious food with equitable access for all through a sliding-scale payment model.

“Good food is a universal right, we’re trying to demonstrate it’s possible,” says Bittman.

U.S. Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan emphasizes that the event itself—and the conversations on stage—is reason to maintain hope for a more sustainable, equitable, and resilient food future.

“The fact that we’re all in this room shows that we haven’t given up yet. Focus on where you can use your voice, where you can use your power, and together we will come through this,” says Rep. McClellan.

David Gelles, award-winning New York Times climate reporter, echoed the importance of hope: “We are in an intense moment for a lot of people, a lot of people are scared…Without stories of hope, we sacrifice the possibility of positive change in the world.”

The afternoon concluded with Gelles sharing the story behind his forthcoming book, Dirtbag Billionaire: How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia, Made a Fortune, and Gave It All Away. While Patagonia is a “unicorn,” Gelles says there are lessons all businesses can learn from Chouinard’s story. 

“I’m all for tasty food. But…real, durable systems change is going to come from the companies and entrepreneurs that have really bold visions—and sometimes unpopular ones—about how things fundamentally need to change, and then find the ways they can do that,” says Gelles.

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The post From Beans to Butterflies: Rethinking Food for People and Planet appeared first on Food Tank.

The invitation-only event will bring together policymakers, scientists, food industry leaders, nonprofit organizations, and cultural influencers to explore the intersection of food loss and waste, climate action, consumer behavior, and scalable innovations.

“Reducing food waste is a fast, cost-effective way to cut greenhouse gas emissions while boosting food security, saving households and businesses money, and easing pressure on land and water. The Food Waste Breakthrough shows that governments, cities, businesses, and financiers can align on climate action and deliver real gains for people and planet,” says Hongpeng Lei, Chief of the Mitigation Branch, Climate Change Division at UNEP.

“We can’t talk about climate change without talking about the role of food loss and waste as a major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, but also how doable and achievable it is for us to reduce food loss and waste to drive meaningful, positive change! Our ability to healthfully and sustainably feed the world depends on our collective actions, and [this Climate Week] event is a great opportunity to dive into the diversity of solutions that are making a difference,” says Luiz Beling, CEO of Apeel.

“We should not live in a world where people go hungry and food goes to waste. In the US, between 30 and 40 percent of food we produce ends up in a landfill, while at the same time 47 million people—including 1 in 5 children—are experiencing food insecurity. This problem is solvable,” says Jordan Schenck, CEO of Flashfood. “Flashfood is on track to divert more than 27 million affordable meals to our shoppers this year alone.”

The morning will feature panel discussions around a wide range of food waste topics, ranging from “Nudging Smarter Consumption” to “Scaling Food Waste Solutions Through Cross-Sector Collaboration.”

For Dana Gunders, President of ReFED, the Summit’s timing is important: the Summit will remind attendees at the start of Climate Week that food waste is a key part of any climate discussion.

“Reducing food waste is like a Swiss Army knife in that it solves a lot of issues at once, from improving operational efficiency at businesses to being a top solution for addressing climate change. That’s why it is the perfect topic to discuss at the start of Climate Week—reminding the innovators and changemakers in the room that action on food waste is action on climate—and we can make a difference now,” says Gunders.

Alison Bodor, President and CEO of AFFI, emphasizes the importance of frozen foods in preventing food waste, especially for consumers.

“Freezing is such an easy solution to reduce food waste. It allows for a longer shelf life for produce, and pre-portioned meals help reduce leftovers that go to waste,” Bodor tells Food Tank. “In fact, consumers report that frozen foods help them reduce their waste and save money, and that having frozen meal ingredients on hand helps to have more food in the house without risk of spoilage.”

Held in the Greene Space at WNYC-NPR Studios, the event will begin with breakfast at 9am, followed by programming from 9:30am to 12pm, and lunch until 1pm.

Confirmed speakers and moderators include U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Dexter, MD; Jamil Ahmad, Director, New York Office, UN Environment Programme; Somini Sengupta, international climate reporter at The New York Times; Michael Grunwald, Food & Climate Columnist at Canary Media and contributing writer for The New York Times Opinion; Harry Chrispin, Senior Manager, Sustainability, Hilton; Dana Gunders, President, ReFED; Alison Bodor, President and CEO, American Frozen Food Institute; Stacy Blondin, Behavioral Research Associate, World Resources Institute; Jordan Schenck, CEO, Flashfood; Roni Neff, Professor, Johns Hopkins University; Jilly Stephens, Chief Executive Officer, City Harvest; Caleb McClennan, President, RARE; Elliott Wolf, VP and Chief Data Scientist, Lineage Logistics; David Rogers, International Director, WRAP; Luiz Beling, CEO, Apeel Sciences; Lorena Lourido Gomez, IKEA Food Manager and 12.3 Champion; Corby Kummer, Executive Director of the Food & Society Program at the Aspen Institute and senior editor at The Atlantic; and Danielle Nierenberg, President, Food Tank.

The event will include a youth poetry spotlight by 10-year-old Prahlada Rastogi, winner of the 2025 Stop Food Waste Day Youth Poetry Competition, and a special performance from Antoine L. Smith, Broadway actor and singer (MJ the Musical, Carousel, Miss Saigon, The Color Purple, Cinderella), accompanied by Deah Love Harriott, Broadway music director and conductor (for colored girls… at the Booth Theatre).

This summit will be streamed live on FoodTank.com and Food Tank’s YouTube Channel, here. Join the Food Tank newsletter list for reminders, and click here for Food Tank’s full lineup of events at Climate Week NYC 2025.

The post “A Food Waste Breakthrough” Summit Aligns Industry, Science, and Policy for Climate Action appeared first on Food Tank.

Confirmed speakers and moderators across the week include: Eric Adjepong (chef, TV host); Chitra Agrawal (Brooklyn Delhi); Jamil Ahmad (UNEP); Jamie Ager (Hickory Nut Gap); Alexia Akbay (Symbrosia); Tonya Allen (McKnight Foundation); Douglas Alexander (Lions Clubs International); Appolinaire Djikeng (ILRI); Christa Barfield (FarmerJawn); Luiz Beling (Apeel Sciences); Eitan Bernath (UN WFP); Mark Bittman (Community Kitchen); Stacy Blondin (WRI); Alison Bodor (AFFI); Patrick Brown (Nature for Justice); Will Brinkerhoff (University of Michigan); Jennifer Burney (Stanford); Nick Cain (Patrick J. McGovern Foundation); Sean Carlson (WNYC); Augusto Castro-Núñez (Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT); Cecilia Chang (Mission Barns); Sweta Chakraborty (We Don’t Have Time); Emily Weedon Chapman (World Bank); Harry Chrispin (Hilton); Nikki Clifton (UPS Foundation); Melissa Clark (The New York Times); Clara Coleman (farmer); Julia Collins (Planet FWD); Dana Cowin (Progressive Hedonist); Emily Coppel (The Rockefeller Foundation); Abbie Corse (The Corse Farm Dairy); Matthew Dillon (Organic Trade Association); Maddy DeVita (chef, WFP USA); Vaughn Duitsman (Bartlett); Sheryll Durrant (Just Food); Nancy Easton (Wellness in the Schools); Oliver English (Common Table Creative); Simon English (Common Table Creative); Adriano Espaillat (U.S. Congress); Florence Fabricant (The New York Times); Sara Farley (The Rockefeller Foundation); Tim Fink (American Farmland Trust); Kathleen Finlay (Glynwood Center); Olivia Fuller (Fuller Acres); Evan Fraser (University of Guelph); David Gelles (The New York Times); Jeroen Gerlag (Climate Group); Daniel S. Goldman (U.S. Congress); Jay Goldmark (Stone House Farm); Kelly Goodejohn (Starbucks); Leslie Gordon (Food Bank For NYC); Robert Graham (FRESH Med); Don Grant (Cuna del Mar); Stephanie Grotta (Target); Miguel Guerra (Mita); Dana Gunders (ReFED); Riana Lynn (Journey Foods); Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin (Regenerative Agriculture Alliance); Sarela Herrada (SIMPLi); Kelly Hilovsky (ButcherBox); Ingrid Hoffmann (chef, host); Patrick Holden (Sustainable Food Trust); Robert Hokanson (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints); Isabelle Kamariza (Solid’Africa); Sam Kass (Acre Venture Partners); Mark Kaplan (Wholechain; Better Food Future); Sarah Kapnick (J.P. Morgan); Amy Keister (Compass Group); Geoffrey Kie (Kie’s Pies); Kat Kinsman (Food & Wine); Jon Kung (chef, author); Priya Krishna (The New York Times); Rachel Krupa (The Goods Mart); Corby Kummer (Aspen Institute; The Atlantic); Tamika Lawrence (Broadway artist); Kenneth Lee (Lotus Foods); Caitlin Leibert (Whole Foods Market); Paul Lightfoot (Patagonia Provisions); Brandon Lombardi (Sprouts Farmers Market); Lorena Lourido Gomez (IKEA); Brita Lundberg (Lundberg Family Farms); Bryce Lundberg (Lundberg Family Farms); Geeta Maker-Clark (NorthShore University HealthSystem); Camilla Marcus (west~bourne); Gerardo Martinez (Wild Kid Acres); Brian Mattingly (Star Hill Farm, Maker’s Mark); Sea Matias (farmer, organizer); Jenny Lester Moffitt (American Farmland Trust); Anne McBride (James Beard Foundation); Jennifer McClellan (U.S. Congress); Caleb McClennan (RARE); Jay McEntire (Arva); Joshua McFadden (chef, restaurateur); David Moscow (From Scratch); Bianca Moebius-Clune (American Farmland Trust); Roni Neff (Johns Hopkins University); Marion Nestle (NYU, emerita); Justina Nixon-Saintil (IBM); Clare Reichenbach (James Beard Foundation); Ricardo Levins Morales (artist); Bob Quinn (farmer, Kamut); Caroline Radice (Black Dog Farm); Chloe Sorvino (Forbes); Kim Severson (The New York Times); Sean Sherman (The Sioux Chef; NATIFS); Sabrina Servais (Organic Valley); Jilly Stephens (City Harvest); Kimberley Sundy (Kellanova); Ron Mardesen (Niman Ranch); Máximo Torero Cullen (FAO); Eve Turow-Paul (Food for Climate League); Stacey Vanek Smith (Bloomberg); Marcela Valladolid (Matriarca Foods); Grace Young (cookbook author); Karen Washington (Black Urban Growers); April Wilson (Seven W Farm); Andrew Zimmern (chef, TV host); Prahlada Rastogi (Youth Poetry Winner, Stop Food Waste Day); and Sloan Spiegel (youth poet).

Performers across the week include: Afra Hines (Hadestown; Hamilton tour; former Rockette); Amber Rubarth (Cover Crop); Antoine L. Smith (MJ the Musical; The Color Purple); Brandon Burks (Gypsy; Penthouse IV); Cajai Kennedy (Wicked; Frozen; The Lion King tour); Celia Hottenstein (Wicked; Phantom tour); Chelle Denton (Jagged Little Pill tour; Smash); Clair Rachel Howell (Wicked); Daniel J. Maldonado (& Juliet); Douglas Ewart (composer, multi-instrumentalist); Eliza Ohman (Hamilton; SIX); Emily Kristen Morris (Wicked tour; Something Rotten tour); Janayé McAlpine (MJ: The Musical; Moulin Rouge!); Jennafer Newberry (Wicked); Jennifer Noble (King Kong; Kinky Boots); Joey Contreras (In Pieces); Jordan Tyson (Gypsy; The Notebook); Jidenna (Grammy-nominated, Classic Man); Nana Kwabena (Grammy-winning producer); Penthouse IV (The Prom; Aladdin; The Great Gatsby); Racquel Williams (The Book of Mormon); Ryan Fielding Garrett (Kinky Boots; Wicked); Noah Turner (Jersey Boys); Adam Cole Klepper (Gypsy; Spamalot); Maria Caputo (Off-Broadway, 54 Below); Micah Elijah Caldwell (A Strange Loop); Rebekah Bruce (Mean Girls; Dead Outlaw); Cullen Curth (The Karate Kid Musical); Nick Potocki (Dead Outlaw); Hannah Verdi (In Pieces); and the Catalyst Coffee cast — Stacey Sargeant, Kalyne Coleman, Keshav Moodliar, Erin Neufer, Alex Morf, and Brooks Brantly.

“The urgency of the climate crisis demands that we not only talk about solutions but also bring together the people who can make them happen. At our Summits, we’re creating a space where food system leaders—from farmers to policymakers to chefs—can collaborate, share insights, and create tangible solutions,” says Danielle Nierenberg, President of Food Tank. “This is how we move from talk to action, and how we make food part of the solution to the climate crisis.”

Co-hosts and partners across the 15 Summits include: Acme Smoked Fish; Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT; American Farmland Trust; Applegate; Arva; Atarraya; Better Food Future; Broadway Green Alliance; ButcherBox; Certified Origins; J.P. Morgan; Journey Foods; Kerry Dairy Ireland; King Arthur Baking; Lundberg Family Farms; McKnight Foundation; Meat Institute; Nature’s Fynd; Niman Ranch; Organic Valley; Regal Springs; Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation; The James Beard Foundation; The Rockefeller Foundation; TikTok; UN Environment Programme; Unilever; Wholechain; and World Food Program USA, with deep thanks to Great Performances for powering culinary experiences and Arva for receptions all week.

These co-hosts and partners emphasize the importance of bringing together food systems leaders at global climate events such as Climate Week NYC.

“We know that our global food system sits at the heart of both the climate crisis and the solution. That’s why summits like this one are so important during Climate Week,” Dorothy Shaver, Global Food Sustainability Lead at Unilever, says about Food Tank’s “A Roadmap to a Delicious, Nutritious, and Regenerative Food Future for All” Summit. “They bring together changemakers from every corner of the food world to inspire new ideas, spark collaboration, and accelerate progress. My hope is that attendees walk away with a renewed sense of urgency—and optimism—for how we can nourish both people and planet.”

The week’s Summits focus on regenerative food systems from various angles, from school meals to financial sustainability for farmers to transparency.

“Regenerative agriculture is the climate solution that should be the highest priority for both policymakers and the private sector. As we explore agriculture’s role in building resilient supply chains and achieving net-zero commitments, we see that the impact from investing in regenerative agriculture improves farmer livelihoods, builds resilient supply chains, and improves soil health,” says Jay McEntire, CEO of Arva.

People depend on agriculture not only for sustenance but also to produce fiber, feed, fuel, and biofeedstock derivatives for critical manufacturing, says McEntire: “Investing here produces benefits for society at a very competitive price relative to engineered solutions for carbon capture. Programs like ‘Regenerative Food Systems: Scaling Impact from Soil to Shelf’ are crucial for convening leaders in food, farming, and finance to discuss these powerful—and underutilized—climate solutions.”

“Awareness of regeneration has grown from 4% to 7% in just 18 months—a clear sign of momentum, yet reaching the Tipping Point requires collective action. Partnerships are essential to scaling regenerative solutions that restore healthy soil and nurture both human and planetary health,” says Evan Harrison, CEO of Kiss the Ground. “We’re excited to join Food Tank and Arva at Climate Week NYC to share insights and amplify impact from soil to shelf.”

“Regenerative school meals are more than a menu tweak: it is a market unlock for farming that restores soil health, water, and biodiversity, while nourishing children and sustaining farmers,” says Sara Farley, Vice President of The Rockefeller Foundation’s global food team. “Rooted in Indigenous know-how, regeneratively produced food can turn the world’s biggest safety net—school meals—into a lever for climate resilience, feeding pupils today, and safeguarding the planet for tomorrow.”

“The only way we are going to realize agriculture’s promise to help combat climate change is if we have enough farmers who can make a living while following regenerative practices,” says John Piotti, CEO of American Farmland Trust. “We need to help existing farmers who are doing the right things stay in business and make it financially possible for forward-looking new farmers to get into the business.”

“Food systems are only as strong as the trust and transparency behind them. That’s why traceability and data standards matter—they’re the foundation that allows food to move fairly, safely, and sustainably across the globe,” says Mark Kaplan, Co-Founder and Chief Sustainability Officer at Wholechain. “At Digital Futures: A Better Food Celebration, we’ll show how these global standards come alive—from seafood to beef to leather—and why they’re essential for the future of food.”

“The Sustainable Foods Showcase is a catalyst for connection across the food and agriculture ecosystem. We’re bringing together visionary founders, investors, and industry leaders from all corners of the industry to feel, taste, and see these next-generation products up close,” says Eric Cohen, Head of Green Economy Banking at J.P. Morgan. “Events like these highlight the power of collaboration in building a more sustainable food system while creating new market opportunities.”

Food Tank’s Summits will also cover the intersection of food, health, hunger, and climate—and how cross-sector participation is crucial.

“[The Food is Medicine and Eating for Health] summit is about connecting the dots between food, health, and wellness,” says Lyndsey Waugh, Executive Director of the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation. “It brings together diverse perspectives to deepen that conversation and inspire new ideas. We hope attendees leave with a stronger sense of how food can truly serve as medicine and how each of us can play a role in building healthier communities.”

“With over 300 million people facing severe hunger, it’s critical that the humanitarian sector invest in food security solutions that mitigate climate risks and save lives,” says Barron Segar, President and CEO of World Food Program USA. “From low-tech solutions like home-grown school meals to advanced predictive technologies and logistics, we’re working with communities and private-sector partners to build resilience and lasting change.”

“Chefs are on the frontlines of climate every day, sourcing from farmers, shaping what diners eat, and influencing how communities understand food. Their voices carry far beyond the plate,” says Anne E. McBride, PhD, Vice President of Impact at the James Beard Foundation. “That’s why bringing chefs into the climate conversation isn’t optional. It’s essential if we want real solutions that resonate with both policymakers and the public.”

Finally, Food Tank’s Climate Week NYC Summits are about joy, celebration, and hope. Musical and theatre performances and tastings will be hosted alongside live discussions to emphasize the importance of celebrating progress and fueling optimism in the face of climate challenges.

“At Journey Foods, we believe solving today’s food and climate challenges requires more than technology. It requires joy, collaboration, and the cross-pollination of ideas. Digital Futures is designed as a night of dance and discovery where leaders, innovators, artists, and creatives come together to celebrate progress and accelerate solutions in today’s digital landscape. My hope is that attendees leave feeling energized, connected, and inspired to act faster and more creatively for a more delicious food future,” says Riana Lynn, Founder and CEO of Journey Foods.

“Climate Week can feel like a tidal wave—from packed schedules to the sheer scale of the climate crisis. But there’s a powerful reason to keep going: hope,” says Brita Lundberg, Fourth-Generation Farmer and Chief Storyteller at Lundberg Family Farms. “At Hope on a Plate, we’re putting hope center stage with personal stories from farmers, inspiring musical performances, chef-led tastings, and real conversations with changemakers driving the regenerative organic movement.”

“As we kick off Climate Week, we know we are at a tipping point. The climate crisis is no longer abstract—it’s here. Yet so is an opportunity: to lead with culture, with care, and with collective vision,” says Tonya Allen, President and CEO of the McKnight Foundation. “This is where performing artists and cultural bearers play a vital role. They give us language to express our grief, fear, and curiosity. They remind us that joy and justice go together. They invite us into spaces of imagining that a different world and a different way is possible, and that in some places, it’s already taking shape.”

“The climate crisis can feel overwhelming, but ‘The Performing Arts Lights the Way’ shows the power of creativity and collaboration to spark change,” says Molly Braverman, Director of the Broadway Green Alliance. “We are thrilled to join forces with Food Tank and the McKnight Foundation to harness the joy of the arts, uplift solutions, and leave attendees inspired, connected, and ready to carry the momentum of Climate Week forward.”

The week concludes with “A Night Honoring Our Farmers: Food and Agriculture Storytelling,” a special presentation by 10 extraordinary farmers sharing experiences of land, legacy, hope, and resilience through theater-inspired storytelling and unscripted narratives.

“As a theater-maker, I’m sold on the power of storytelling, but to be hearing from voices we never hear from—farmers doing vital work to ensure we’ll be able to feed our grandchildren—well, that’s going to make for storytelling flavored with a special sauce of compelling importance and captivating entertainment,” says Anika Larsen, Tony Award Nominee and Broadway Green Alliance Board Member. “And at the Broadway Green Alliance, we know that when stories like these are lifted up, they don’t just entertain—they inspire action for a more sustainable future.”

Ron Mardesen, a third-generation hog farmer from Elliott, Iowa, who has raised pigs for specialty meat company Niman Ranch for over 20 years, emphasizes the weight of each farmer’s story—and why it’s important to listen.

“When a farmer shares a story, their story is wrapped in life. The listener feels the struggles of the farmer. The listener hears the emotion in the farmer’s voice. And ultimately, the listener sees the vision that has moved the farmer to where they are right now,” says Mardesen. “When a farmer shares a story, their story, they are exposing a part of themselves that most of us are uncomfortable to do. It’s hard to bear it all. We’ve all had successes, and we’ve all had failures. But the bottom line is we’ve all learned from our experiences.”

The post Join Food Tank at Climate Week NYC 2025: 300+ Leaders, Farmers, and Chefs Unite to Tackle the Climate Crisis Through Food appeared first on Food Tank.

“The Sustainable Foods Showcase is a catalyst for connection across the food and agriculture ecosystem. We’re bringing together visionary founders, investors, and industry leaders from all corners of the industry to feel, taste, and see these next-generation products up close,” says Eric Cohen, Head of Green Economy Banking at J.P. Morgan. “Events like these highlight the power of collaboration in building a more sustainable food system while creating new market opportunities.”

Throughout the afternoon, attendees will participate in immersive tastings during live conversations with leaders and innovators. The event, held in the Greene Space at WNYC-NPR Studios, will kick off with lunch at 1:30pm, followed by programming from 2pm to 4:30pm, and a reception.

Talks and tastings will feature Ron Ben-Israel, celebrity cake maker and television judge; Sarela Herrada, Co-Founder of SIMPLi; Anna Hammond, Founder & CEO of Matriark Foods; Viraj Puri, Co-Founder and CEO of Gotham Greens; Mark Kaplan, Co-Founder and Chief Sustainability Officer of Wholechain; Cecilia Chang, Chief Business Officer of Mission Barns; Michael Fox, Founder & CEO of Fable Food; Eben Bayer, Co-Founder of MyForest Foods; Brendan Somerville, Co-Founder and COO of Oishii; Julia Collins, Founder of Planet FWD; Sarah Kapnick, Global Head of Climate Advisory, J.P. Morgan; and Jay McEntire, CEO of Arva.

The Sustainable Foods Showcase will also feature a special musical performance from Afra Hines, currently appearing as one of the Stanley Daughters in Pirates! The Penzance Musical at Roundabout’s Todd Haimes Theatre. Hines is a celebrated Broadway performer whose credits include Hadestown, In the Heights, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, and Shuffle Along, with a national tour of Hamilton and a seven-year run as a Radio City Rockette.

The evening will conclude with a jazz quartet composed of Jeremy Tolsky, New York–based drummer, percussionist, and founder of The Broadway Band; Alex Jashinski, Miami-based saxophonist and woodwind doubler from the University of Miami Frost School of Music; Thomas E. Carley, NYC bassist and arranger with credits at 54 Below, Green Room 42, Joe’s Pub, and Rockwood Music Hall; and Noah Turner, NYC pianist, conductor, and music director with credits including Cinderella, The Sound of Music international tour, and Jersey Boys second national tour.

Click here for Food Tank’s full lineup of events at Climate Week NYC 2025.

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“Food systems are only as strong as the trust and transparency behind them. That’s why traceability and data standards matter—they’re the foundation that allows food to move fairly, safely, and sustainably across the globe,” says Mark Kaplan, Co-Founder and Chief Sustainability Officer at Wholechain. “At Digital Futures: A Better Food Celebration, we’ll show how these global standards come alive—from seafood to beef to leather—and why they’re essential for the future of food.”

The evening will feature panel discussions on topics ranging from “The Role of the U.N. and the Non-Profit Sector” to “Influencer Insights: Shaping Food and Culture.” The audience will also celebrate the intersection of food, climate, and the arts with musical performances, immersive tasting experiences, and a DJ booth. 

“Attendees won’t just hear about supply chains; they’ll experience them through interactive culinary activations, all alongside conversations with the leaders driving change and world-class music that makes it a true celebration,” Kaplan tells Food Tank. “This summit is about making the future of food tangible, inspiring, and impossible to ignore.”

Riana Lynn, Founder and CEO of Journey Foods, says coming together and celebrating progress is critical to accelerating the solutions discussed across stages at Climate Week NYC.

“At Journey Foods, we believe solving today’s food and climate challenges requires more than technology. It requires joy, collaboration, and the cross-pollination of ideas. Digital Futures is designed as a night of dance and discovery where leaders, innovators, artists, and creatives come together to celebrate progress and accelerate solutions in today’s digital landscape. My hope is that attendees leave feeling energized, connected, and inspired to act faster and more creatively for a more delicious food future,” says Lynn.

The invitation-only event is co-hosted by TikTok, Kerry Dairy, Wholechain, the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and Atarraya, and in support of the United Nations Global Compact Ocean Stewardship Coalition. It is also made possible by the Meat Institute, Acme Smoked Fish, and Regal Springs.

The event will start at 7pm at the Greene Space at WNYC-NPR Studios, with a reception featuring food and drink until 10:30pm.

Confirmed speakers and performers include Jidenna, Nigerian-American rapper, singer, and songwriter best known for his Grammy-nominated hit Classic Man and as a contributor to Doja Cat’s Planet Her (Deluxe), nominated for Album of the Year; @xosuigeneris (Suigeneris), a multi-talented music and fashion creator with 4.2 million followers and over 140 million likes on TikTok; Nana Kwabena, Grammy-winning producer, DJ, and longtime Jidenna collaborator, known for blending West African rhythm with contemporary hip hop and electronic production; Chelle Denton, who made her debut as Mary Jane in the first national tour of Jagged Little Pill (Aug 2022–Apr 2024), and most recently appeared on Broadway in Smash through June 2025; Adam Cole Klepper, Associate Music Director and pianist for Broadway’s Gypsy and Spamalot; Riana Lynn, Founder & CEO, Journey Foods; Mark Kaplan, Co-Founder and Chief Sustainability Officer, Wholechain; James O’Connell, Director of Agribusiness and Sustainability, Kerry Dairy Ireland; Erik Giercksky, Head of Ocean Stewardship Coalition, UN Global Compact; and @flavapfever, a chef-comedian hybrid known for vibrant food content, with 128K followers and over 6.5 million likes on TikTok.

Click here for Food Tank’s full lineup of events at Climate Week NYC 2025.

Photo courtesy of IITA

The post Celebrating Climate, Culture, and Cuisine: Digital Futures at Climate Week NYC appeared first on Food Tank.

Last summer, I visited one of North America’s most sophisticated vertical farms: Avery Family Farms, owned by the Peters family in rural British Columbia (BC). 

Most of North America’s vertical farms produce baby lettuce and microgreens, but Avery specializes in head lettuce. Their quality is unparalleled and costs of producing each head of lettuce are coming down. They use almost no land and are extremely water efficient, pesticide free, and have a nutritional profile that surpasses comparable products on the market. And because BC’s electricity is mostly renewable, their carbon footprint is low. 

The hitch? An eye watering price tag: one of these ‘plant factories’ cost about $30 million to build. When I asked the founder, Garry, why they spent so much to build a box that produces tasty leaves, he pondered for a moment and provided two answers.

The first was seemingly simple. His forecasting predicts that this heavy investment will provide a return within 5 or 10 years—a straightforward incentive but notably fast for agricultural ventures. 

The second reason was more layered. Garry thought it crazy for BC to depend on greens from water-starved California. He noted that the quality of supermarket lettuce isn’t all that good, and that unless people like him invest in agri-food innovation, the food system might not work for another generation. It’s fraught to depend on global supply chains for food security given trade wars, geopolitical upheaval and climate chaos.

By, of, and for the local

Two months before my trip to Avery farm, I found myself observing a different part of the world’s food system. 

I was helping with a project aimed at boosting the resilience of food systems in Sierra Leone, Malawi, and Ethiopia. We travelled into the countryside of Sierra Leone to see how farmers were coping with climate change, the aftermath of COVID and Ebola, and the recent civil war. Dr. Patrick Kormawa, a former U.N. official whose now directs programs from the President’s office on food security and climate change, took us to see two fish processing facilities. 

The first was local, small scale and humble—barely a cluster of cinder block buildings with some charcoal fires under wracks of fish. The other was a multimillion-dollar investment sitting behind tall brick walls. 

Patrick wanted us to see that the multimillion-dollar facility was idle, mothballed, and had barely seen any use. The small facility, however, was at full capacity and bustling seven days a week. 

Why? The big project had become mired in governance problems, rumors of corruption, and required massive catches of fish to operate. In short, it was out of scale with the community’s needs. The local one was what the entrepreneurs required because it filled a hole: what to do with the relatively small quantities of fish local fishers were catching. In the small facility, fishers were able to preserve their catch and add value to the harvest, insuring their families against shocks. In doing so, the humble facility was creating resilience. 

Entrepreneurship for resilience

What links these two vignettes—one in Canada and the other in West Africa—is the idea that local entrepreneurship can build resilience. Across the world, from high-tech vertical farms to community-organized facilities, the roots of many solutions to today’s food system crisis lie in the hands and minds of local innovators. 

Much like in many regions, where I live in Canada, we depend on small businesses that contribute an upwards of 75 percent of our agricultural GDP. So while big businesses sometimes capture most of the attention, supporting small enterprisers is key to reaching this sector’s potential.

To be resilient, we must nurture agri-food entrepreneurs, especially when they emerge as newborn companies. We need to train the next generation not only to be excellent scientists and farmers but also innovative and entrepreneurial systems thinkers. And we need to reduce the risk of investing in this sector, using models like Avery Family Farms to encourage private capital to invest in agricultural spaces.

Amid growing calls to transform food systems into engines of sustainability and economic growth—and ongoing global debates about the ups and downs of international trade—local food enterprises have a vital role to play. When well-resourced, tech-enabled, and responsive, these businesses can significantly improve food security for everyone. That’s something worth remembering—and investing in.

Photo courtesy of Evan Fraser

The post From Scarcity to Abundance: Unlocking Solutions to the Food Crisis appeared first on Food Tank.

However, we can only achieve a fairer, greener food system if citizens—our workforce—are empowered with the skills to shape it. Across the agrifood sector, a deepening skills gap is widening inequalities, threatening to leave behind the very people whose participation is essential to a sustainable future. The European agrifood sector supports 30 million jobs and contributes €900 billion (US$654 billion) in value. Yet, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports that the sector has the highest rate of skills misalignments across all economic sectors. It is also forecasted that we could lose 13 percent of skilled workers across the next decade, showing these challenges are projected to be amplified in the future.

The challenge is not just about having enough people—it is about ensuring everyone can gain the right skills to contribute meaningfully to a fast-changing food system. This is where AI-driven tools can play a transformative role—helping bridge access gaps, empower overlooked communities, and build resilience and dignity across the labor market.

From rural areas to underrepresented youth, many communities face significant barriers to accessing reskilling and upskilling opportunities. Rural regions, accounting for 80 percent of the EU’s territory, suffer from poor digital infrastructure, limited education provision and underinvestment in innovation—making upskilling even harder. Meanwhile, young people, migrant workers, and other marginalized groups continue to face barriers to entering or advancing within the sector. Despite their potential to drive innovation and sustainability, these communities are often excluded from the very training and opportunities that would allow them to do so.

As the food system undergoes rapid technological and environmental change, failing to close this skills gap risks entrenching inequality. If the food system is to become truly sustainable, inclusive, and resilient, we need to close these access gaps—and we need to do it fast.

AI-driven learning tools offer a unique opportunity to democratize access to skills. By making education more personalized, adaptive, and data-driven, they can connect people to real job opportunities, regardless of their background or location. EIT Food’s Geek4Food Skills Platform, co-developed with SkyHive by Cornerstone and part of a large consortium under the project Global Ecosystems and Expanded Knowledge for skills and capabilities in the food sector, supported by the Erasmus+ program is one such tool. Using AI to continuously map labor market demand, the platform identifies future roles, and the skills needed to fill them—providing learners with tailored, accessible pathways to reskill.

By analyzing a person’s existing experience, transferable skills, and learning preferences, Geek4Food helps make upskilling not only more effective, but more inclusive—enabling the next generation to step into meaningful roles within the evolving food system.

We’re already seeing the impact of AI and innovative technology in action across the agrifood sector. Elanti, an AgriTech startup supported by EIT Food, in collaboration with Bayer, are leveraging machine learning to optimize crop yields and promote regenerative agricultural practices by understanding the soil microbiome. This research could significantly reduce risks of early crop failure and boost plant resilience—demonstrating how digital tools can support both sustainability and innovation. At the same time, Geek4Food is beginning to show how AI can serve as an intelligent bridge—aligning real-world industry needs with individual capabilities. By linking employers, educators, learners and soon, policymakers, the platform has the potential to become a blueprint for inclusive, AI-powered workforce transformation in agriculture and beyond.

Technology is only one part of the equation. To create an equitable skills ecosystem, we need to invest in the social and institutional infrastructure that allows everyone to benefit from innovation.

Policymakers must create environments that support lifelong learning, particularly in rural and underserved areas. This includes funding for digital infrastructure, flexible training pathways, and support for inclusive education initiatives. Employers must also be more transparent about the skills they need—opening opportunities for workers to understand, develop and demonstrate their capabilities. Finally, educators and training providers must embrace new learning models that reflect the realities of the modern labor market—co-created with industry and communities to ensure relevance, accessibility and impact.

Facilitating collaboration across the food system will empower the next generation to shape the future of food, creating a resilient workforce.

AI is not a silver bullet, but it offers a powerful lever to unlock a fairer food future. Used well, it can dismantle barriers, amplify human potential, and connect people to the tools and opportunities they need to thrive.

We have the chance to shift the conversation from scarcity to possibility—from skills gaps to skills ecosystems. By investing in inclusive, tech-enabled education, and embedding equity at the heart of our transition, we can build a food system that is not only greener and smarter, but fairer too.

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To address this need, Aleph Farms and Federation University Australia have partnered on a research initiative to explore a just transition in livestock agriculture—one that ensures producers can navigate change while maintaining economic security and social inclusion.

The question we need to ask is what a just transition for the livestock industry looks like. While industries are undergoing changes due to climate action and regulation, they need new strategies that allow people to adapt without being left behind. But a just transition isn’t solely about industries—it’s about guiding entire economies toward more sustainable and equitable models. The concept originated in the energy sector, where policies were developed to support workers as industries shifted from fossil fuels to renewable energy. These policies have prioritized economic stability, job creation, and skills development, ensuring that communities historically reliant on traditional sectors are active participants in shaping the future.

While energy transition frameworks are well-established, livestock agriculture lacks a structured approach for managing change. Unlike energy production, which is centralized, livestock farming is deeply embedded in local economies, food cultures, and regional supply chains, employing over 1.3 billion people worldwide.

A just transition for livestock agriculture is not about replacing one system with another. Instead, it is about ensuring that while we transition to more resilient agrifood systems, producers have access to new opportunities while preserving the knowledge, traditions, and livelihoods that define their role in the food system. Diversification, rather than replacement, is key—integrating cellular agriculture, precision fermentation, and regenerative livestock practices in ways that offer producers new tools and markets without disrupting their livelihood.

Led by PhD candidate Priyambada Joshi, and Dr. Lee Recht, former VP of Sustainability and Policy at Aleph Farms, this research examines key factors shaping beef production across the United States, France, and soon, Brazil. Through interviews and surveys with over 150 beef producers, the study explores how livestock agriculture and food innovation can complement each other to strengthen the broader food system.

Findings highlight the importance of region-specific approaches in shaping transition strategies:

In the U.S., producers emphasize the need for financial security, land access, and labor stability to ensure long-term resilience. Many are adopting new technologies and diversification strategies to enhance stability in an evolving market.

In France, grass-fed beef producers are adapting to market fluctuations, generational shifts, and structural changes in production systems. Collaborative models, such as shared infrastructure and cooperative investments, are helping support the sector.

And in Brazil, the next phase of the study will offer insights into livestock production dynamics in another major beef-producing country, providing a broader understanding of transition pathways worldwide.

The study shows that livestock farmers face a range of challenges, including production risks (land shortages and climate hazards), financial risks (rising costs of land, labor, and feed), human risks (labor shortages and generational transitions), policy risks (regulatory changes and environmental mandates), and market risks (price volatility in both sales and input procurement).

To manage these uncertainties, many are adopting precision agriculture, sustainable grazing methods, diversified revenue streams, cooperative farming models, and innovative financial tools to enhance resilience.

Over a quarter (27 percent) of surveyed livestock farmers believe that cultivated beef and conventional beef can successfully coexist in the market, while a substantial 42 percent remain open to the conversation. Likewise, around 15 percent see potential for collaboration between beef producers and the cultivated beef industry, with nearly 49 percent still exploring their stance. This high level of uncertainty highlights an opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions on innovation and how cultivated beef can complement sustainable methods of conventional beef production.

Unlike industries where success is measured by replacing outdated systems, food production requires a balance between existing and emerging practices. The transition in livestock agriculture must be inclusive of farmers and ranchers, ensuring they have access to financial resources, technical knowledge, and new market opportunities.

The research highlights how diverse food production methods can work together. Regenerative livestock farming, cellular agriculture, and precision fermentation each play a role in strengthening the food supply, and their integration can create a more flexible, resilient system that benefits all stakeholders.

By fostering knowledge-sharing and collaboration, a just transition will enable livestock producers, food innovators, and policymakers to identify solutions that create value and provide a holistic approach with long-term security for those working in the sector.

A just transition in livestock agriculture requires a diverse range of financial models, policy support, and expanded research to ensure that producers have the tools they need to succeed. To facilitate this transition, policymakers and research institutions should focus on: expanding funding for joint research that integrates traditional livestock practices and food innovations; improving rural infrastructure and access to financing to enable diversified production; and developing policy frameworks that support producers through economic and structural changes.

As the food sector evolves, collaboration within the animal agriculture industry will be key. A just transition ensures every stakeholder is an active participant in shaping the future of food, rather than being sidelined by change.

The research provides a foundation for this shift, demonstrating that innovation and tradition can work together to create a food system that values economic stability, social inclusion, and environmental resilience.

By integrating diverse approaches, we can ensure that livestock farmers and ranchers remain central to the food system, creating new opportunities while preserving their essential role in feeding communities worldwide.

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Here’s a question: Over the past 40 years, what natural disaster has affected more people around the globe than any other?

The answer, according the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is drought.

The past 10 years have been the hottest 10 years on record, and higher temperatures and drier conditions are making more regions vulnerable to drought and arid land degradation, or desertification. This process is “a silent, invisible crisis that is destabilizing communities on a global scale,” according to the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Globally, the nearly 2 billion people who live in dryland areas are often the first to face hunger, thirst, and the devastating effects of poor soil and environmental decline, says Dr. ML Jat, the Director of Resilient Farm and Food Systems at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). And the next generations will feel the effects: UNICEF predicts that, by 2040, one in four children will live in areas of extremely high water stress.

But there is a path toward a better future—there are farming and food-system solutions that allow us to nourish communities in hotter, drier climates.

Indigenous crops, for example, are naturally adapted to the extreme weather in desert regions and can strengthen food security, community health, and local ecosystems. I’ve long admired the work of organizations like Native Seeds/SEARCH, which conserves seeds so they can continue to benefit the peoples in the Southwest and Mexico, and the Arizona Alliance for Climate-Smart Crops, which supports farmers in adopting climate-smart crops and practices that conserve water.

“Wild desert plants have a remarkable number of adaptations to cope with heat, drought, unpredictable rainfall, and poor soils—the sorts of stressful growing conditions we are already seeing and expect to see more of in the future,” Dr. Erin Riordan of the University of Arizona told Food Tank.

And at the same time, there are innovative solutions we can elevate to restore degraded landscapes and combat further desertification! The U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is supporting several amazing projects in Africa, including the Great Green Wall Initiative, which works across 22 countries to revitalize fertile land and transform lives. And in Somalia, the U.N. Development Programme is partnering with local leaders to construct reservoirs and dams to improve water access and address deforestation and desertification.

We can’t solve these challenges alone. A fascinating new ICRISAT report looks at the power of microbes to boost crop yields and restore soil health in dryland farming systems. These microbes could include bacteria that improve nitrogen-fixation, which can improve soil fertility, and other microorganisms that can control diseases and crop pests.

And we need a whole-of-society approach to combating desertification—especially in parts of the world that have not traditionally struggled with arid landscapes and water scarcity, because, as we know, natural disasters like drought are affecting more and more people as the climate crisis deepens.

As he always does, author and agro-ecologist Gary Paul Nabhan writes powerfully about what all of us across the entire food system must do to prioritize Indigenous crops and adapt to changing environments.

“If farmers shift what crops they grow, they will need consumers, cooks, and chefs to adapt what they are willing to prepare and eat in the new normal,” he wrote in a great op-ed for us at Food Tank. “It is time to turn the corner from corn and soy monocultures to the sesames, prickly pear cactus, garbanzos, millets, and mulberries of the world that desert dwellers have eaten in delicious dishes for millennia.”

How are food and agriculture system leaders in your community working to protect land from becoming degraded? I love hearing stories of creative solutions, like the ones I’ve highlighted here, so please say hello at danielle@foodtank.com and tell me about the microbes, Indigenous crops, and land management techniques that will help us nourish our neighbors and adapt our food systems in hotter, drier climates.

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Photo courtesy of Zion National Park Service

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CGIAR unites 15 research centers around the globe —collectively employing more than 9,000 scientists, researchers, technicians, and staff—as they work to transform food, land, and water systems. But investment in this work is on the decline, Elouafi reports. 

“Really what we are seeing is that hunger is rising, but funding is falling,” Elouafi tells Food Tank. “Everybody should remember that…one in every eleven people globally is going to bed without food and feeling hunger and malnutrition.”

While the recent dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development is alarming, Elouafi says that she has been “very concerned” for the last few years, “particularly since COVID started.”

According to a study published in World Development, CGIAR funding peaked in 2014. By 2020, it had declined by more than 25 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars.

“I think all scientists feel frustrated and feel helpless when they know that they can produce solutions,” Elouafi tells Food Tank, “but they don’t have access to that funding to bring the solutions.”

Elouafi reports that the returns on agricultural research are significant: Every dollar spent yields 10 dollars in return. And it’s more important than ever to invest in innovation and help communities adapt to the climate crisis.

From farmers to urbanites, “every one of us feels it,” Elouafi says. Yields are falling as temperatures rise and droughts become more severe. Producers, particularly small-scale farmers, are struggling with the unpredictability in weather patterns. The fragility is “unprecedented.”

That’s why CGIAR is reaching out to partners and funders, telling them that the pace of progress—and investment—needs to speed up, not slow down. 

Despite the challenges, Elouafi still holds onto hope. She believes that if the financing is available, the research centers have cultivated the proper environment “to create those breakthroughs and the innovation that can help us.”

As part of the network’s new five year research portfolio, they are working to facilitate knowledge sharing even more effectively through the cultivation of stronger relationships. Elouafi reports greater collaboration between the Global South and Global North and, particularly in the last two decades, “a surge of South-South collaboration.” CGIAR’s programs connect researchers and farmers in, for example, Morocco and Ethiopia, Ethiopia and the Ivory Coast, the African continent and China, and Brazil and Africa. 

And none of this work can advance without engaging farmers directly. “I think CGIAR, be it in our breeding program, be it in our policy work, be it in our data generation work, we have been really engaging the stakeholders at large, but particularly the farmers,” Elouafi tells Food Tank. And producers’ input isn’t simply taken for consideration. Rather, it’s used to inform new innovations that match the context they’re developed for. 

“We don’t know what we cannot see and we need farmers’ experience over decades, over generations. It’s super important.”

Listen to or watch the full conversation with Dr. Ismahane Elouafi to hear more about the current funding landscape for agricultural research, why a critical mass is needed to unleash the power of science, and where CGIAR is finding success. 

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“The mission of [ShrimpVet] is to revolutionize the way we do farming in Vietnam and globally,” Loc Tran, ShrimpVet’s Founder, tells Food Tank.

The carbon footprint of South Asian farmed shrimp is among the highest in aquaculture, emitting 13 kilograms of CO2 equivalents per kilogram, according to Nature. When land conversion is included, shrimp aquaculture emissions can surpass those of beef production. Soy-based shrimp feed is also a driver of deforestation, according to the Global Seafood Alliance.

“The shrimp industry has been criticized for being very high in carbon footprint,” Tran tells Food Tank. “We have to have a very holistic approach in order to reduce that carbon footprint and to protect the planet.”

According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), shrimp aquaculture is a leading cause of mangrove destruction, water pollution, and depletion of wild shrimp stocks. In Vietnam’s Mekong River Delta—the country’s aquaculture hub—mangrove coverage has nearly halved since 1973, research in Ocean and Coastal Management finds.

Mangroves are critical coastal ecosystems, sequestering up to five times more carbon than terrestrial forests, buffering coastlines against extreme weather, and providing habitats for over 1,500 species, according to the U.N.Environment Programme (UNEP).

Vietnam’s shrimp industry—which ranks among the three largest globally—is also strained by extreme weather events, high production costs, inflation, and disease, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Tran and his team seek to address these challenges. A 30-hectare farm, located in the southern Mekong Delta, serves as a testing ground for their research. Part of their approach involves reforesting mangroves.

“For every 10 hectares [of farm], we plant two to three hectares of mangroves,” says Tran. “For every hectare of mangroves, we can gain up to 130 tons of carbon sequestration.”

The farm integrates mangroves with fishponds to naturally treat wastewater. Untreated wastewater from shrimp farming can lead to algal blooms, groundwater contamination, and antimicrobial resistance, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

“When you feed the shrimp, about 30 percent of the dried matter will be utilized by the shrimp, and the rest 70 percent will be released as organic waste,” explains Tran. The fish feed on this waste, and the treated, nutrient-rich water is released through the mangroves.

“Phosphorus can create red tide. So that is why mangroves will be the last barrier, so we will convert those dissolved nutrients into biomass of the mangroves,” Tran explains. Red tides, or harmful algal blooms, make shellfish toxic to eat.

Tran has also eliminated antibiotics, which can leave antibiotic residues and create antimicrobial resistance, which threatens human health.

Instead, ShrimpVet focuses on mitigating disease risk factors, from improving the genetic quality of the shrimp to enhancing water quality, nutrition, and shrimp gut health.

“We don’t gamble,” says Tran. “We start to analyze the risk factor associated with each [aspect of] farming. And then we address them one by one.”

Risk-mitigating practices include introducing beneficial bacteria into ponds, optimizing stocking densities, and monitoring and adjusting for weather conditions. Tran says that these practices, which reduce the amount of stress that the shrimp experience, also produce tastier shrimp.

Though Tran is careful, he is also efficient: by incorporating trucks and automated systems into his operation, Tran says his harvest is ten times more efficient than traditional methods. The company’s 15 workers produce 1,500 tons of shrimp annually, which means Tran can pay his workers US$15,000-20,000. The average annual household income in Vietnam was US$2,502 in 2023, according to the Capital Economics International Conference (CEIC).

Aquaculture will need to evolve to meet growing global demand, according to Kevin Fitzsimmons, Professor and Extension Specialist at the University of Arizona and former President of the World Aquaculture Society. “Probably in the next three, four years, maybe five years, 60 percent of all the seafood in the world will be farm raised. It’s already over 50 percent,” says Fitzsimmons.

Fitzsimmons, a member of the Future of Fish Feed (F3) group, is also advocating for more sustainable aquaculture feed using ingredients like insect meal, algae, and brewing byproducts.

“We’d like to see F3 become the equivalent of grass-fed beef or free-range chickens,” he says.

Tran is on board with the initiative.

“We can do the F3, we can do sustainable feed formulation, of course we can,” Tran says.

Tran is in discussion with provincial governments about acquiring more unproductive land to scale his initiative and reforest more mangroves.

Tran hopes other farmers will copy his model. “We aim to be the most transparent food producing company in the sector,” he says. “I want to make a business model that is accessible to other investors, other farmers…So spread the word. Open source.”

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Photo Courtesy of Loc Tran 

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The joint report from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) explores the critical role of climate technologies in transforming global agrifood systems to enhance resilience, reduce emissions, and foster inclusivity.

“Until this report, there had been no solid analysis of where and how climate technologies can be most effective in agrifood systems,” UNFCCC steering committee member Diane Husic tells Food Tank. “The report is an important step in understanding how climate technologies can be mobilized effectively.”

According to the FAO, hunger now affects at least 800 million people worldwide, and food insecurity continues to rise. The report emphasizes that agrifood systems play a significant role in the economies of low- and middle-income countries, where the majority of the world’s poor rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. These communities are disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change, despite contributing the least to global greenhouse gas emissions.

“Creating sustainable agricultural systems and food security in a changing climate and ongoing population growth is an extremely complicated challenge,” says Husic.

The UNFCCC hopes that climate technologies can address these challenges by improving agricultural productivity, promoting resilience to climate impacts, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Examples of adaptation technologies include drought-resistant crop varieties, climate-smart irrigation systems, and agroforestry practices, which help conserve water, protect soils, and improve crop yields under changing conditions.

“The subtitle of this document, Placing food security, climate change and poverty reduction at the forefront, is a critically important goal,” Husic argues. “However, when I look at the complex graphics and jargon in the report, I have trouble seeing how the details in the document can be translated to on-the-ground solutions in rural areas throughout the world.”

Ensuring that climate technology is accessible and practical requires building local capacity for maintenance, training, and scaling these technologies to reach vulnerable communities. The report calls for targeted initiatives, like Technology Needs Assessments (TNAs), to identify regional technology requirements and tailor solutions to local contexts.

“It is critical to have a thorough understanding of these various factors, their complex interactions, and the behaviors, beliefs, and cultural practices of the inhabitants to determine which climate technologies would be beneficial and appropriate for a region and effectively used and sustained by a local population,” Husic explains.

TNAs are tools for identifying which climate technologies are most suitable for particular countries, sectors, and communities. These assessments guide the development of appropriate interventions and ensure that technology solutions are aligned with local needs and challenges.

TNAs identify and rank the most critical technologies for specific sectors, such as agriculture or energy, based on their potential to address climate challenges.

The process examines barriers hindering the adoption of these technologies, such as financial constraints, technical expertise gaps, or policy limitations, and recommends enabling frameworks to overcome these challenges.

 insights from TNAs culminate in Technology Action Plans (TAPs), which lay out steps to implement climate technologies, including securing financing, building infrastructure, and fostering local expertise. These plans aim to align technology adoption with broader development goals, ensuring agrifood systems are sustainable and equitable.

Husic notes that many of the world’s least developed nations receive little of the climate finance needed to deploy these innovations. “Only a small share of climate finance goes to agrifood systems,” she says.

The report calls for targeted investments to bridge this gap, focusing on technology transfer and capacity building in vulnerable regions. It also highlights the importance of public-private partnerships, gender and social inclusion, and ensuring that financial resources reach marginalized communities.

Husic stresses that while climate technologies hold promise, they are just one piece of the puzzle. “Technology, like precision agriculture, can help minimize environmental damage while increasing yields…but these will only get us so far and for so long,” Husic warns. “We need to address behavior, food waste, and the causes of climate change—along with finding ways to develop sustainability at the same time.”

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The Food Planet Prize was established to drive a rapid transition to a sustainable global food system. Climate and sustainability scientists emphasize the importance of staying within the planetary boundaries, the safe operating space for a healthy Earth. Human activities have already caused transgressions of six of the nine boundaries. The food system is the single most effective way to revert to safety, as all the boundaries are intrinsically linked to what we eat, and we can’t choose to stop eating.

As the main activity of the Curt Bergfors Foundation, the Food Planet Prize awards initiatives that have the potential to make a transformative impact on food systems sustainability. This reward for potential, rather than past success, sets the Food Planet Prize apart from other awards. Because of the vast array of ways the food system affects the planet’s wellbeing, the Food Planet Prize is interested in supporting initiatives from all parts of the food value chain and all corners of the world. Both nonprofit and for-profit initiatives are eligible. The main criteria are that initiatives have a clear focus on reducing the environmental impact of the food system and the possibility of scaling up their work.

The Food Planet Prize Secretariat receives around 1000 nominations each year. After reviewing every nomination, the team develops a longlist of roughly 50 initiatives followed by a shortlist of up to 10, striving to maintain a diversity of innovations and geographies. Each stage of the evaluation process increases in rigor. The jury, an international mix of academic experts and practitioners, ultimately votes on the winner, which is announced in Stockholm in June.

Here’s a short selection of previous winners, representing different countries and approaches:

C40 Food Systems helps cities around the world shift to sustainable food consumption patterns, including by developing ambitious food policies, redesigning public procurement, and reducing food loss and waste.

The Agrobiodiversity Index measures the status of biodiversity in food and agriculture, addressing consumption, production, and genetic resources. Agrobiodiversity Index indicators are aligned with the SDGs and Aichi Biodiversity target.

ColdHubs offers solar-powered cold storage facilities that extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables, reducing post-harvest loss and improving food safety and farmers’ revenue.

The Global Mangrove Alliance works to reverse mangrove loss and increase mangrove habitat. Mangrove ecosystems provide community livelihoods, function as biodiversity hotspots, and help mitigate the effects of climate change.

The Land Institute is creating a radical agricultural system that recreates natural cycles and processes—consisting of perennial crop species grown in polyculture configurations that maximize water uptake, nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, solar capture, and natural pest suppression.

And Sanergy developed insect-based methods to convert human waste from urban slums into organic fertilizers and animal feed for commercial and smallholder farms—turning sanitation problems into opportunities for food production.

Creating a global food system that is sustainable rather than environmentally-damaging requires a myriad of solutions. If you know of an initiative that could make a difference, please nominate via a short online nominations form. Nominations received by March/April 2025 will be considered for the 2026 Prize.

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Photo by Erik Elsson

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Helios was co-founded by Francisco Martin-Rayo and Eden Canlilar, two food and technology entrepreneurs from different backgrounds. Canlilar previously worked as a Senior AI and machine learning engineer at Google and owned a restaurant. Martin-Rayo worked on avocado trade from Mexico, served as the Chief Commercial Officer at an AI start-up in financial services, and served as a Principal at the Boston Consulting Group.

Canlilar and Martin-Rayo “saw the impacts of climate change accelerate…but were not seeing progress on dealing with the impacts on agriculture,” Martin-Rayo recalls. Meanwhile, they also noticed “a revolution of extraordinary advances in AI and technology, and more climate information than ever before from more commercial satellites, making it cheaper to get that data.” This led to the realization that they could use these advances to build a platform to better understand and predict agricultural disruptions.

Helios was born to develop ways to use AI to analyze climate data and predict potential disruptions in crop supply chains. Over time, the company has added different product lines, Martin-Rayo explains. They primarily assist producers of consumer-packaged goods (CPGs) to forecast where crops including mangoes, tomatoes, potatoes, and raspberries can be reliably grown in the coming years. This service shows importers and exporters whether they can rely on a region to yield a specific crop or need to pivot to another crop or region.

Helios has also assisted hedge funds to predict prices of soft commodities such as corn, wheat, soy, and cocoa. “The types of crops that hedge funds are interested in differ widely from CPG interests,” says Martin-Rayo.

And most recently, the platform also “expanded its technology to work with non-governmental and nonprofit organizations such as Save the Children and the World Food Programme to predict factors for food insecurity around the world and in the United States,” saysMartin-Rayo.

Helios has “divided the world into 14 million hexagons to get daily climate information, and built custom machine learning models for each crop,” Martin-Rayo tells Food Tank. The data reflects how crops have reacted to various environmental conditions in the last 20 years. When inserted into the generative AI model, it can regularly create hundreds of customized reports for different categories of customers, commodities, and stages of the supply chain.

Helios also uses the technology to notice patterns and cycles of climate and crop interactions. Martin-Rayo and Canlilar noticed that some small farms are experiencing challenges adapting to climate volatility, higher input prices, and scarce resources.

Climate factors are making it harder for farms to access water, pushing them farther away from urban centers, and adding higher transportation costs. And because the margins for small-scale farms are already low, farmers are feeling a tighter squeeze. Martin-Rayo hopes the technology can be used to support small farmers that are close to urban centers so they will be able to continue growing diverse crops.

Martin-Rayo attributes much of Helios’s success to the company’s global approach, which allows it to provide broader predictions and solutions, and sets it apart from other agricultural AI companies. He also points to Helios’s compliance with legal regulations and requirements by not sharing customer data or using any customer data to train AI models.

This practice and transparency have allowed the platform to build trust and gain engagement, according to Martin-Rayo. He notes that there is still a “gap in regulators and law makers’ understanding about AI technology,” as they don’t always realize how fast-moving the technology is and how quickly it can change.

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