#CLIMATE OPTIMISM SERIES#

Over the next year, I plan to use this space to continue to think about one central question: what should the future of our food system look like? I canвЂ™t wait to find out.When presidents, prime ministers and diplomats descend on Paris in late November, they will discuss a life-changing matter for billions around the world. Majorly cut down on pollution, gas emissions, and environmental degradation.Reduce use of environmentally harmful chemicals.

Reforest and rewild massive amounts of land.

What could we do in a future where we saved 90% of the cultivated land and freshwater resources spent on cultivating starches, and used CO2 as an input into the agricultural process, instead of a harmful externality? Where you could eat a burger guilt-free, knowing you circumvented the ethical nightmare that is Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)? This is real animal protein cultivated from stem cells, grown into real animal muscle, ready to sizzle on your grill, but with 99% less land and 96% less water than traditional animal agriculture, at lightning speed, without one butcher knife. This is not your Impossible Burger, with beetroot juice to give it the pink center.

Cultured meat is grown in labs through bioreactors without the slaughter of animals or the plethora of issues stemming from feed sourcing to waste. However, the real disrupter of our current $200 billion meat industry is looming: no-kill, cultured meat.

Impossible Meat, Beyond Meat, and Tofurkey are well-known brands. We already live in a world where most consumers in developed economies can purchase plant-based meats. Of all greenhouse gas emissions associated with our food system, a whopping 60% are due to meat. You canвЂ™t discuss changing our global food system without addressing the cheeseburger in the room. Growing chicken wings without the chickens Simply put, 'if the overall cost of the process can be reduced to a level economically comparable with agricultural planting in the future, it is expected to save more than 90 percent of cultivated land and freshwater resourcesвЂќ. This new process has unbelievable implications for climate. Using chemical catalysts and carefully selected enzymes, they were able to synthesize starch from CO2 8.5 times more efficiently than corn. Last month, a team of scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences published a breakthrough so significant, it has radically altered my view of the future. Scientists have created starch out of thin air For the sake of brevity, IвЂ™ll name three. There are so many exciting things happening in innovative agricultural technology right now. What is the case for climate optimism, in the face of such a dire situation? In the context of food systems, when you peek into the cutting edge of research and thought-leadership, you realize something amazing. Interestingly, 32% stated that they felt optimistic in the face of climate change. 60% responded that they felt вЂњvery worriedвЂќ or вЂњextremely worriedвЂќ about climate change, stating that climate change makes them feel sad (68%), afraid (68%), anxious (63%), and angry (58%). This presents a serious existential question we must all consider: how can we shift our current food system to reduce our climate footprint and provide an ethical living wage?ДЄ recent survey of 10,000 youth from 10 countries found that the psychological distress caused by climate anxiety is a major issue. The way that we produce, process, package, consume, and dispose of food accounts for one-third of our global greenhouse gas emissions and employs roughly 1.1 billion agricultural production workers, millions who receive little or no social protection in exchange for their labor. ItвЂ™s certainly a feeling IвЂ™m well acquainted with, and one I can pinpoint back to middle school when my understanding of the world was beginning to blossom.ДЄs I have a tendency to do, I began to steer the conversation towards my true passion: sustainable agriculture and food systems. Climate anxiety refers to the stress many people feel when confronted with the intractable, wicked problem that is our current climate emergency, and the catastrophic future we may face if we do choose to do nothing. It will explore the ways our food systems can and should pivot in a world that is being increasingly disrupted by climate change.ДЄ few weeks ago, while locked in a passionate discussion with a fellow classmate at the SaГЇd School Business, I learned a new term: вЂњclimate anxietyвЂќ.

#CLIMATE OPTIMISM SERIES#

This blog is the first in a series titled вЂThe Future of Food SystemsвЂ™, written by MBA candidate Melissa Benn.

Climate optimism