Climate-Smart Food

This open access book asks just how climate-smart our food really is. It follows an average day's worth of food and drink to see where it comes from, how far it travels, and the carbon price we all pay for it. From our breakfast tea and toast, through breaktime chocolate bar, to take-away supper, Dave Reay explores the weather extremes the world’s farmers are already dealing with, and what new threats climate change will bring. Readers will encounter heat waves and hurricanes, wildfires and deadly toxins, as well as some truly climate-smart solutions. In every case there are responses that could cut emissions while boosting resilience and livelihoods. Ultimately we are all in this together, our decisions on what food we buy and how we consume it send life-changing ripples right through the global web that is our food supply. As we face a future of 10 billion mouths to feed in a rapidly changing climate, it’s time to get to know our farmers and herders, our vintners and fisherfolk, a whole lot better.

Avoiding emissions versus creating sinks-Effectiveness and attractiveness to climate finance

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

CEA systems: the means to achieve future food security and environmental sustainability?

As demand for food production continues to rise, it is clear that in order to meet the challenges of the future in terms of food security and environmental sustainability, radical changes are required throughout all levels of the global food system. Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) (a.k.a. indoor farming) has an advantage over conventional farming methods in that production processes can be largely separated from the natural environment, thus, production is less reliant on environmental conditions, and pollution can be better restricted and controlled. While output potential of conventional farming at a global scale is predicted to suffer due to the effects of climate change, technological advancements in this time will drastically improve both the economic and environmental performance of CEA systems. This article summarizes the current understanding and gaps in knowledge surrounding the environmental sustainability of CEA systems, and assesses whether these systems may allow for intensive and fully sustainable agriculture at a global scale. The energy requirements and subsequent carbon footprint of many systems is currently the greatest environmental hurdle to overcome. The lack of economically grown staple crops which make up the majority of calories consumed by humans is also a major limiting factor in the expansion of CEA systems to reduce the environmental impacts of food production at a global scale. This review introduces the concept of Integrated System CEA (ISCEA) in which multiple CEA systems can be deployed in an integrated localized fashion to increase efficiency and reduce environmental impacts of food production. We conclude that it is feasible that with sufficient green energy, that ISCEA systems could largely negate most forms of environmental damage associated with conventional farming at a global scale (e.g., GHGs, deforestation, nitrogen, phosphorus, pesticide use, etc.). However, while there is plenty of research being carried out into improving energy efficiency, renewable energy and crop diversification in CEA systems, the circular economy approach to waste is largely ignored. We recommend that industries begin to investigate how nutrient flows and efficiencies in systems can be better managed to improve the environmental performance of CEA systems of the future

From Farm to Fork: growing a Scottish Food System that doesn't cost the Planet

Our global food system is under immense pressure. Feeding a growing human population well while simultaneously delivering required climate, biodiversity and other key outcomes arguably represents the biggest challenge of our civilization in the twenty-first century. Here we discuss this growing challenge in the context of Scotland, its progress to date, its new target of “net zero” greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, and its potential to be an exemplar for well-integrated land use policy that delivers on multiple aims. We highlight the role of research in informing rural policy and landowner actions and stress the importance of social science in helping to ensure a sustainable net zero transition that takes full account of socioeconomic contexts and avoids the big potential pitfalls of ignoring local contexts

City of Newport News, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods and Guidelines

This shoreline inventory is developed as a tool for assessing conditions along the tidal shoreline in the City of Newport News. Field data were collected during July and September 2002, and data were updated using VBMP 2006/2007 imagery. Conditions are reported for three zones within the immediate riparian river area: riparian land use, bank and buffers, and the shoreline. A series of maps and tabular data are published to illustrate and quantify results of an extensive shoreline survey. Shorelines of the James River, Skiffes Creek, Warwick River and Deep Creek, including small tributaries, were surveyed. Some sections were coded using remote sensing techniques because the shoreline was inaccessible by boat

City of Chesapeake, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods and Guidelines

This shoreline inventory is developed as a tool for assessing conditions along the tidal shoreline in the City of Chesapeake. Field data were collected between June and July 2002. Conditions are reported for three zones within the immediate riparian river area: riparian land use, bank and buffers, and the shoreline. A series of maps and tabular data are published to illustrate and quantify results of an extensive shoreline survey. Shorelines of the western, southern and eastern branches of the Elizabeth River including small tributaries were surveyed for this inventory. Small sections were coded using remote sensing techniques because the shoreline segment was inaccessible by boat