Sustainable Agriculture & Food Policy

Kendra Klein, senior program associate for Physicians for Social Responsibility, said her group has been “excited and very hopeful” that the USDA start addressing diet’s influence on the environment — in terms of carbon emissions and in terms of pesticide and land use.

“Many of the leading figures of social entrepreneurship have been affiliated with Yale,” Klein said. “It’s a more recent tradition … but it’s a tradition we are proud of.” Many students hope not only to develop a business but also to do something for the greater good, said Stuart DeCew FES ’11 SOM ’11, program director of the Yale Center for Business and the Environment, which runs the Sabin Sustainable Venture.

Start by developing technologies that reduce all the wasted food out there.

Some environmental groups criticize the recommendations for suggesting that at first a quarter of the fish feed could be from sustainably wild-caught — but not organic — fish. A fish can't be organic, they argue, if it doesn't eat 100 percent organic feed. Wild fish would not be eligible for the organic label — that would be too difficult to monitor. The environmental groups also are concerned that fish in ocean pens would be able to escape and contaminate their surroundings. They also worry about ocean contaminants.

Santa Cruz-based Community Agroecology Network’s (CAN) Food Security & Sovereignty in Las Segovias, Nicaragua project was selected as a finalist for the 2015 Specialty Coffee Association of America Sustainability Award. Read more

Nathan McClintock, a professor at the school of urban studies at Portland State University, sees a link between the rise of urban farming and a diminishing social safety net. “With the stripping away of the welfare state, there’s a growing dependence on food banks and volunteerism; people can rely less on government assistance,” he said. “People are also moving back to cities and they want a back-to-the-land experience.”

James Downing is the new editor of the University of California's research journal "California Agriculture". Read more

Sharon Smith co-authored the Union of Concerned Scientists' Palm Oil Scorecard 2015, which found that many of America's biggest brands are still using palm oil that contributes to deforestation and peatland destruction. Read more