These Solutions Are A Roadmap To A Stronger Food System

Danielle Nierenberg

Danielle Nierenberg

Buckle up: We’re on the road to a better food system! This journey will take us to places including Türkiye later this year for COP31, the United Nations climate change conference, but first, we’re stopping in New York City for Climate Week. 

As always, I feel guided by the solutions Food Tank sees on the ground and the farmers we learn from every day. I firmly believe that our path toward food systems transformation is illuminated by stories of hope and success from communities around the globe—and that sharing these stories is one of the most powerful ways we can fuel greater change. 

As we gear up for Climate Week, we’re spending this week and next week breaking down solutions that should remain top-of-mind no matter where in the food system you find yourself: Not only the initiatives that capture the most headlines or have the most name-recognition, but the steps that will truly make change at the scale we desperately need.  

Find out more about our amazing lineup for Climate Week NYC—featuring more than 225 luminary speakers and performers from September 20 to 25—by CLICKING HERE. And all 13 of our Summits are being livestreamed, so you can tune in from wherever you live!

Here’s this week’s crop of six solutions:

Acting At The Speed of Crisis

We’ve spent too long being caught off-guard by the cascading crises brought on by climate change. We need to be proactive, not reactive. I’m fascinated by a new public-private initiative called RAAPID, or the “Remote-sensing Agricultural Assessments for Policy Impact and Decision-making initiative.” RAAPID aims to bring together satellite data, AI analytics and more to help address urgent food system disruptions. This kind of quick technological creativity is what we need to see!

“With the frequency and intensity of global conflict, climate hazards, and other stressors rapidly increasing, building a robust monitoring mechanism for food shocks is as essential as ever," says Inbal Becker-Reshef, the Managing Director of the Microsoft AI for Good Lab, the Founder & Co-Director of NASA Harvest, and the Founder of RAAPID. 

Supporting The Next Generation Of Farmers 

We’re facing a massive generational transition in agriculture. The average age of farmers continues to rise—meaning that, as today’s farmers get older and older, we’re not doing enough to strengthen the generation that’s set to inherit the food system. 

“The new generation is stepping into agriculture because they see themselves as the climate leaders, environmental changemakers and problem solvers to some of our biggest environmental and food system challenges,” says Michelle Hughes, Executive Director of the National Young Farmers Coalition. 

We need to see more resources, like the Next Generation Farmer Fund announced last month, dedicated to helping younger farmers access resources and technical assistance to build their businesses, sustainably steward their lands, and nourish their communities. 

Building Climate Resilience One Farm At A Time

The American Farmland Trust’s Beef Grazing Network is helping hundreds of beef cattle producers transition to more economically and environmentally resilient operations.

“Sustainable grazing systems can create value for producers, communities, and the land,” says Bianca Moebius-Clune, AFT’s Climate and Soil Health Director. “That creates economic resilience through opportunities for price premiums. It also advances soil health and the many co-benefits of healthy soils. These outcomes build more resilient supply-chains and stronger rural economies.”

Involving Mission-Driven Brands In Action

The private sector has enormous power. Just as we must call out counterproductive steps in the food industry, we also can harness partnerships with businesses whose values are aligned with ours: They can push their peers to improve, too. Technology that brings greater transparency and traceability to supply chains can help stop deforestation and curb overfishing. 

As Mark Kaplan, Chief Marketing and Sustainability Officer at Wholechain, says: “Traceability expands market access for small-scale producers. If producers can prove that they are aligned with global standards for sustainability and safety, they meet a requirement the international market is increasingly asking for.”

Solving Food Waste via Circular Economies

There are countless ways we can solve the problem of excessive food loss and waste, and, in turn, myriad other challenges that would be solved by doing so—a perfect encapsulation of the idea of circular economies. Let’s look at Brazil: In 2024, the country launched its first National Circular Economy Strategy. Last year, they celebrated the opening of the first organic waste segregation and composting facility, which works to reduce methane emissions, create green jobs, and strengthen the local economy.

“Climate change is very real in Brazil. … And a circular economy is one of the most important ways to reduce emissions, transform our economy, and create the jobs and opportunities of the sustainable future we all need,” says Adalberto Maluf Filho, the National Secretary for Urban Environment, Water Resources and Environmental Quality, within Brazil’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. 

Harnessing Local Policy Power To Drive Change

When we talk about food policy, we cannot overlook the immense power that city governments have to make urban food systems into agents of climate transformation. New York City’s Food and Climate Strategy is driving climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience by examining everything from dietary shifts to food waste to resilience to climate shocks—all while improving food and nutrition security. 

With the strategy, “we are nurturing healthier families, cultivating a more resilient environment, and building a thriving, equitable food future,” says Ora Kemp, Senior Policy Advisor in the NYC Mayor’s Office of Food Policy. “Every sustainable meal served, every ton of waste diverted, and every resilient supply chain strengthened is a step toward healing our communities and our planet.”

How are you seeing these and other food-system solutions being put into action in your communities? Share even more success stories with me at danielle@foodtank.com!

(Danielle Nierenberg is the President of Food Tank and can be reached at  danielle@foodtank.com)