Investment in resilient food systems in the most vulnerable and fragile regions is critical

The Role of Agricultural Systems in Teaching Kitchens: An Integrative Review and Thoughts for the Future

Diet-related chronic disease is a public health epidemic in the United States. Concurrently, conventional agricultural and food production methods deplete the nutritional content of many foods, sever connections between people and the origin of their food, and play a significant role in climate change. Paradoxically, despite an abundance of available food in the US, many households are unable to afford or attain a healthful diet. The linkages between agriculture, health, and nutrition are undeniable, yet conventional agriculture and healthcare systems tend to operate in silos, compounding these pressing challenges. Operating teaching kitchens in collaboration with local agriculture, including farms, community gardens, vertical farms, and urban agriculture, has the potential to catalyze a movement that emphasizes the role of the food system in promoting human and planetary health, building resilient communities, and encouraging cross-disciplinary collaboration. This paper reviews the current state of agricultural systems, food is medicine, consumer behavior, and the roles within these sectors. This is followed by a series of case studies that fill the gaps between TKs and agriculture. The authors summarize opportunities to combine the knowledge and resources of teaching kitchens and agriculture programs, as well as challenges that may arise along the way.

How can climate change and its interaction with other compounding risks be considered in evaluation? Experiences from Vietnam

While evaluations play a critical role in accounting for and learning from context, it is unclear how evaluations can take account of climate change. Our objective was to explore how climate change and its interaction with other contextual factors influenced One Health food safety programs. To do so, we integrated questions about climate change into a qualitative evaluation study of an ongoing, multi-sectoral program aiming to improve pork safety in Vietnam called SafePORK. We conducted remote interviews with program researchers (n = 7) and program participants (n = 23). Based on our analysis, researchers believed climate change had potential impacts on the program but noted evidence was lacking, while program participants (slaughterhouse workers and retailers) shared how they were experiencing and adapting to the impacts of climate change. Climate change also interacted with other contextual factors to introduce additional complexities. Our study underscored the importance of assessing climate factors in evaluation and building adaptive capacity in programming.

Reframing the local-global food systems debate through a resilience lens

Despite the growing knowledge that food system solutions should account for interactions and drivers across scales, broader societal debate on how to solve food system challenges is often focused on two dichotomous perspectives and associated solutions: either more localized food systems or greater global coordination of food systems. The debate has found problematic expressions in contemporary challenges, prompting us to revisit the role that resilience thinking can play when faced with complex crises that increase uncertainty. Here we identify four 'aching points' facing food systems that are central points of tension in the local-global debate. We apply the seven principles of resilience to these aching points to reframe the solution space to one that embeds resilience into food systems' management and governance at all scales, supporting transformative change towards sustainable food systems.

Effect of Narrowband UV-B Irradiation on the Growth Performance of House Crickets

Indoor co-cultivation systems can answer to the need for sustainable and resilient food production systems. Rearing organisms under light-emitting diodes (LEDs) irradiation provides the possibility to control and shape the emitted light spectra. UV-B-irradiation (280-315 nm) can positively affect the nutritional composition of different plants and other organisms, whereas information on edible insects is scarce. To evaluate the potential effect of the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and LED-emitting LEDs on the rearing and nutritional quality of edible insects, house crickets (Acheta domesticus) were reared from the age of 21 days under controlled LED spectra, with an additional UV-B (0.08 W/m2) dose of 1.15 KJm2 d-1 (illuminated over a period for 4 h per day) for 34 days. UV-B exposure showed no harm to the weight of the crickets and significantly increased their survival by ca. 10% under narrowband UV-B treatment. The nutritional composition including proteins, fat and chitin contents of the insects was not affected by the UV-B light and reached values of 60.03 ± 10.41, 22.38 ± 2.12 and 9.33 ± 1.21%, respectively, under the LED irradiation. Therefore, house crickets can grow under LED irradiation with a positive effect of narrowband UV-B application on their survival.

Sustainable plant-based ingredients as wheat flour substitutes in bread making

Bread as a staple food has been predominantly prepared from refined wheat flour. The world's demand for food is rising with increased bread consumption in developing countries where climate conditions are unsuitable for wheat cultivation. This reliance on wheat increases the vulnerability to wheat supply shocks caused by force majeure or man-made events, in addition to negative environmental and health consequences. In this review, we discuss the contribution to the sustainability of food systems by partially replacing wheat flour with various types of plant ingredients in bread making, also known as composite bread. The sustainable sources of non-wheat flours, their example use in bread making and potential health and nutritional benefits are summarized. Non-wheat flours pose techno-functional challenges due to significantly different properties of their proteins compared to wheat gluten, and they often contain off-favor compounds that altogether limit the consumer acceptability of final bread products. Therefore, we detail recent advances in processing strategies to improve the sensory and nutritional profiles of composite bread. A special focus is laid on fermentation, for its accessibility and versatility to apply to different ingredients and scenarios. Finally, we outline research needs that require the synergism between sustainability science, human nutrition, microbiomics and food science.

The botanical education extinction and the fall of plant awareness

Civilization is dependent upon plants for survival. Plants permeate our every moment and our relationship with them will dictate how we will manage the threats of climate change and ecological collapse defining the Anthropocene. Yet, despite the significance of plants and the critical role they have played in shaping ecosystems, civilizations, and human cultures, many people are now disconnected from the botanical world. Students are presented with little plant content, particularly identification, compared with animal content. Consequently, we are producing few plant scientists and educating fewer scientists about plants. This drives a self-accelerating cycle we term the extinction of botanical education. A process of knowledge erosion, that in this instance contributes to our separation from the natural world, makes us blind to the biodiversity crisis and inhibits our ability to restore it. We argue that neglecting the importance of plants within education threatens the foundations of industries and professions that rely on this knowledge. Furthermore, this extinction of botanical education creates an existential threat: Without the skills to fully comprehend the scale of and solutions to human-induced global change, how do we as a society combat it? We present key research agendas that will enable us to reverse the extinction of botanical education and highlight the critical role plants play on the global stage.

Traditional Rainwater Management (Haveli cultivation) for Building System Level Resilience in a Fragile Ecosystem of Bundelkhand Region, Central India

This article presents the evidence on how the traditional rainwater management system (haveli system) has contributed toward rehabilitating degraded landscapes and changing them into a productive form in Bundelkhand region of Central India. The haveli system was the lifeline of the region for water security for the last 300 years. Farmers (~1–5%) situated at the upstream of the landscape were harvesting surface runoff in their fields during monsoon by constructing earthen embankments along with provision to drain out water after receding of the monsoon. Farmers traditionally cultivated only during the post-monsoon period, using residual soil moisture along with supplemental irrigation from shallow dug wells. However, this system became defunct due to apathy and poor maintenance. The traditional design of the havelis were also often malfunctioning due to new rainfall patterns and storm events. Farmers are facing new need for haveli rejuvenation and the traditional design and knowledge calls for new innovations, particularly from research and external expertise. In this context, ICRISAT and consortium partners have introduced an innovative approach for haveli rejuvenation by constructing masonry core wall along with outlet at a suitable location. Totally 40 haveli structures were constructed between 2010 and 2021 across seven districts of Bundelkhand region. One of the pilot sites (i.e., Parasai-Sindh) was intensively monitored in order to capture the landscape hydrology, change in land use, cropping intensity and crop productivity, between 2011 and 2017. Out of 750 mm rainfall received during July and September, generated surface runoff is about 135 mm (18% of rainfall) on average. However, rainfall below 450 mm (dry years) rarely generates surplus water as most of the rainfall received in such years are absorbed within the vadose zone, whereas, wet years with over 900 mm rainfall, generate runoff of about 250–300 mm (~30–35%). Rejuvenation of the haveli system created an opportunity to harvest surface runoff within farmers' fields which helped to improve groundwater levels in shallow dug wells (additionally by 2–5 m hydraulic head) which remained available during the following years. This has increased cropping intensity—by converting about 20% of permanent fallow lands into productive agriculture lands—and ensured irrigation availability especially during the critical crop growth stage. This enhanced land and water use efficiency of the system and increased household net income by two to three folds as compared to the baseline status. This article further establishes the link between landscape rejuvenation through haveli system, groundwater resource availability, production system and household income in the fragile ecosystem of Central India. The results are helpful for various stakeholders so that they can take informed decisions on sustainable natural resource management.

Will Participatory Guarantee Systems Happen Here? The Case for Innovative Food Systems Governance in the Developed World

Participatory guarantee systems (PGS) are locally-rooted agroecological governance mechanisms primarily designed to meet the needs of local producers for product certification and cooperative sales. They have experienced periodic waves of interest in different places throughout the globe. There is a small but rich and growing scholarship devoted to understanding how they are managed, how they are sustained, and what factors predict their success. Interestingly, there is little evidence that they have developed in the United States, which has instead, witnessed the growth of community supported agriculture (CSA), farmer’s markets, food hubs and food policy councils (FPC), although many of these mechanisms have failed to sustain interest and support. Here, we explore the factors that drive the creation of systems in the global South, Europe and other regions, and identify the factors that shape a different trajectory for local agriculture in the United States. We discuss the possibilities for more radical food system transformation in the United States, considering a changing climate, an industrial food system that has prioritized profit over health, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, we conclude by identifying some future pathways for policy reform and research opportunities.