The climate-ag grab bag

Catalyst with Shayle Kann

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Here’s a three-part puzzle for global agriculture: How do you increase calories for a growing population, while zeroing out emissions and minimizing land usage?

The stakes are enormous. According to the UN, the world has to feed an estimated 9.8 billion people by 2050. But agriculture currently accounts for about a third of global carbon emissions and is driving the conversion of important ecosystems – like rainforest and grasslands – into farmland. Converting land is especially problematic because it releases additional carbon into the atmosphere.

So what do we do about it?

In this episode, Shayle talks to journalist Mike Grunwald, who recently penned a defense of industrial agriculture in The New York Times. He’s also the author of the upcoming book “We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate.” Shayle and Mike cover topics like:

The drawbacks of industrial agriculture, like the overapplication of fertilizer and the mistreatment of animals and employees
Why calories per acre need to grow substantially to feed a growing global population
Why minimizing land usage through industrial agriculture may cut more emissions than alternative methods of farming like regenerative agriculture
Why feed additives are not as important as the land efficiency of beef production
Potential solutions, like biofertilizers, cultivated meat, and addressing food waste
Why vertical farming requires too much electricity to be viable

Recommended resources

Simon & Schuster: We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate

The New York Times: Sorry, but This Is the Future of Food

Canary Media: Why vertical farming just doesn’t work

Reuters: Fertiliser ban decimates Sri Lankan crops as government popularity ebbs

Catalyst: Mitigating enteric methane: tech solutions for solving the cow burp problem

Catalyst: From biowaste to ‘biogold’

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