Juneau has little arable land, a short growing season and few farmers – and deep traditions of residents and the land feeding each other

When clips of one natural disaster after another flood our social media feeds, it can feel impossible to know what to do. But Hong Kong climate activist Eugenia Chow Cheuk-yin says that rather than s…

“The world faces its fourth wave of global food price crises in just 20 years.” That’s the sobering line that opens the 2026 Agribusiness Atlas, a collaborative effort between food system experts, researchers and NGOs, that digs deep into the handful of companies that have our food systems in a chokehold. The concentration of power in the agrifood sector is nothing new. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the sector has steadily consolidated, creating dependencies and fault lines that run through almost every part of the global food chain. But we are now reaching new heights of this, according to the Atlas, which warns corporate concentration is at “unprecedented levels”. For instance, just four corporations have their fingers in nearly all the pies feeding much of our food system – 61% of the global pesticide market, 56% of the commercial seed sector, 43% of farm machinery production, and 24% of the global fertiliser market, respectively. As Imme Scholz, President of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, put it, this means just a handful of companies dictate what we grow, what we eat, but also, fundamentally, “the future of our planet”. Riding the crisis wave Yet when crisis comes, the companies ride...

A version of this piece was featured in Food Tank’s newsletter, released weekly on Thursdays. To make sure it lands straight in your inbox and to be among the first to receive it, subscribe now by clicking here. The past several weeks have been a whirlwind! At Food Tank, we’ve gone from Climate Week NYC to the World Food Prize and Borlaug Dialogues in Des Moines to our Food First Health Summit in Philadelphia just last week. This week’s midterm elections in the United States will likely change food and agriculture policy, too. And right now, I’m on my way to Chicago to celebrate the great food education work happening at the organization Pilot Light. Next week, we will be joining world leaders, advocates, scientists, and others in Antalya, Türkiye, for COP31, the United Nations Climate Change Conference. If you’ll be there too, send me an email—I’d love to say hello. There’s a lot happening in the food system right now. Some of it makes me hopeful. Some of it makes me frustrated. And all of it reminds me how much we still have to learn from one another. One of the things I love most about my work is...

Thanks to eligibility changes and budget cuts, about 5 million fewer people are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2026 than they were in 2025. In fact, participation has dropped to its lowest point in nearly two decades. Combined with other cuts to emergency nutrition assistance programs and rising food costs thanks to tariffs and war, that means food insecurity is now more prevalent than it was in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those cuts also impact farmers. Food assistance programs like SNAP have long been a lifeline for small and midsize growers, while federally backed programs like farm-to-school have helped them find a market close to home. With so many of these supports for local food systems suddenly off the table, it’s harder than ever for farmers to feed hungry people in their own communities. And while overstressed food pantries serve whatever they can get their hands on, high-quality locally produced food is an increasingly rare luxury. Grown with fewer or no chemical inputs or antibiotics, locally grown produce and livestock are harvested or slaughtered at their peak for best flavor and nutrients, which are preserved by a shorter journey to the table. One...

If there’s one takeaway from COP17 in Armenia last month, it’s that the Montreal Agreement on protecting land and seas is failing. Based on the current framework, there are just three years remaining before 30% of land and 30% of oceans globally are supposed to be protected for nature. But, far from triggering a rapid rollout of conservation, restoration and biodiversity initiatives, little action has been taken and in many cases environmental degradation has worsened. According to the Alliance of Champions for Food Systems (ACF), 80% of deforestation, 70% of terrestrial biodiversity loss and 50% of freshwater biodiversity loss is attributed to inefficient and destructive food systems. Despite this, very little is still being said about the benefits of reform and transformation. Failing to do so essentially means all nature targets set out in the Montreal Agreement are impossible to meet. However, there are a number of key examples which show just how quickly changing approach, processes and infrastructure can have a positive impact on the environment. In Vietnam a low emission rice programme now stretches across 354,000 hectares, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 4 tonnes per year, per hectare, per crop and increasing yields by 12%. Water...

The re-election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva brings a sigh of relief for Brazil’s democracy, forests, Indigenous peoples, and the millions of Brazilians who have struggled with hunger. Beyond Brazil, it also offers hope for people in countries where democracy is under threat. His victory offers an opportunity to build on major achievements in tackling hunger and deforestation, and promoting a more sustainable food system. But despite defeating the far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, powerful agribusiness interests remain firmly entrenched in Brazil’s political institutions, wielding enormous influence over agricultural and environmental policies. Since returning to office in 2023, Lula has, again, made ending hunger a national priority. In just two years, Brazil lifted over 40 million people out of moderate or severe food insecurity, and was officially removed from the U.N. Hunger Map in 2025. This was achieved not through technological fixes or further industrializing food production, but through political choices: expanding cash transfers to vulnerable families, raising the minimum wage, investing in school meals, purchasing food from family farmers, and supporting agroecological production. As president of Brazil’s National Food and Nutrition Security Council (Consea), I have seen how coordinated government action and civil society participation can transform people’s...

Artificial intelligence is increasingly being deployed across the food system from farm to fork, optimising everything from seed selection to reformulation and R&D. But Google DeepMind is coming at the problem from a different direction. Understand and map biology’s building blocks, then see where that leads. “If we can solve the very fundamental problems in a given scientific space, we can then unlock all of these downstream use cases in a much more optimal, systematic fashion,” says Director Ramine Tinati, speaking at the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit 2026 in Singapore. The scientific sandbox DeepMind has built spans three areas: protein structures through AlphaFold; understanding how changes in DNA can affect biological function through AlphaGenome; and a longer-term ambition to build virtual cells that could allow more biological experimentation to take place using AI and computation. All three could have implications for the food system. Here’s how. 1. Building crops that can fight disease To understand AlphaFold’s impact, you need a quick biology lesson. Proteins are chains of amino acids that fold into complex three-dimensional structures. That shape is fundamental to what a protein does, so being able to predict it can help scientists understand biological processes and identify potential targets...

Artificial intelligence is increasingly being deployed across the food system from farm to fork, optimising everything from seed selection to reformulation and R&D. But Google DeepMind is coming at the problem from a different direction. Understand and map biology’s building blocks, then see where that leads. “If we can solve the very fundamental problems in a given scientific space, we can then unlock all of these downstream use cases in a much more optimal, systematic fashion,” says Director Ramine Tinati, speaking at the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit 2026 in Singapore. The scientific sandbox DeepMind has built spans three areas: protein structures through AlphaFold; understanding how changes in DNA can affect biological function through AlphaGenome; and a longer-term ambition to build virtual cells that could allow more biological experimentation to take place using AI and computation. All three could have implications for the food system. Here’s how. 1. Building crops that can fight disease To understand AlphaFold’s impact, you need a quick biology lesson. Proteins are chains of amino acids that fold into complex three-dimensional structures. That shape is fundamental to what a protein does, so being able to predict it can help scientists understand biological processes and identify potential targets...

Students and faculty members gathered on Oct. 22 for a community dinner and panel hosted by the Wisconsin Alumni Student Board (WASB) and Slow Food UW about the political, economic and social forces shaping the food on their plates. Three University of Wisconsin-Madison professors discussed challenges for local and global food systems, ranging from consolidation and agricultural labor to the role of institutions in supporting sustainable agriculture at the “Food for Thought” event. Panelists included Jennifer Gaddis, a professor in the department of Civil Society and Community Studies whose work focuses on school food systems, labor and the politics of food; Michaela Hoffelmeyer, an assistant professor of Community and Environmental Sociology who studies agricultural labor and inequality; and Irwin Goldman, a professor of Plant Sciences specializing in plant breeding and genetics. The event allowed students to engage with local food systems over a free community meal of lentil bolognese, focaccia and apple crumble prepared by Slow Food UW, a student organization connecting students with local agriculture and serving accessible, sustainably produced food to the campus community. “We’re literally making a meal for community members to eat, so they can understand where food comes from and why that should matter to...

Students and faculty members gathered on Oct. 22 for a community dinner and panel hosted by the Wisconsin Alumni Student Board (WASB) and Slow Food UW about the political, economic and social forces shaping the food on their plates. Three University of Wisconsin-Madison professors discussed challenges for local and global food systems, ranging from consolidation and agricultural labor to the role of institutions in supporting sustainable agriculture at the “Food for Thought” event. Panelists included Jennifer Gaddis, a professor in the department of Civil Society and Community Studies whose work focuses on school food systems, labor and the politics of food; Michaela Hoffelmeyer, an assistant professor of Community and Environmental Sociology who studies agricultural labor and inequality; and Irwin Goldman, a professor of Plant Sciences specializing in plant breeding and genetics. The event allowed students to engage with local food systems over a free community meal of lentil bolognese, focaccia and apple crumble prepared by Slow Food UW, a student organization connecting students with local agriculture and serving accessible, sustainably produced food to the campus community. “We’re literally making a meal for community members to eat, so they can understand where food comes from and why that should matter to...

As an investor who takes a system-level view, we expect companies to go beyond prudent management of their own short-term risks. As we support and encourage the transition to business models that create systemic value rather than only extract it, we are seeking companies that foster resilience, regeneration, and solutions that strengthen the food system and the communities it sustains. In practice, our engagement focuses on the pace of this transition and the evidence that shows it is underway. We look at how companies are learning from pilots and scaling these initiatives, changing purchasing decisions and incentives to reflect these priorities, offering financing that helps farmers make the needed on-farm changes, and building relationships with farmers that support the long-term capacity to produce food, restore soil health, and protect biodiversity. With this context in mind, we are evaluating several interconnected challenges. Alignment of Interests There is a misalignment in time horizons and evidence requirements across the value chain. Even where the long-term risks of climate change and nature loss are recognized, companies may seek evidence of near-term financial costs within their own supply chains before prioritizing investment. That connection can be difficult to establish, particularly when the benefits of action...

Most of that production takes place in the state’s southwest corner, in what is often called the “golden triangle,” where processing plants run by National Beef, Tyson, and Cargill are concentrated in three cities—Liberal, Dodge City, and Garden City. On the outskirts, feedlots and dairies abound. And like other meatpacking towns, these cities are home to large numbers of immigrant workers and their families. One grassroots organization that supports those communities is Loud Light, whose New Frontiers project typically fills its social media feed with a mix of images promoting free tacos, outdoor movies, and celebrations of Mexican heritage. “They’re targeting brown, Spanish-speaking people. They’re targeting farmworkers.” But late last month, another kind of post took over, as the organization rushed to alert residents to the presence of federal immigration officers in the area. “Be careful during shift change,” read one of the first posts. “They are posted in the Liberal National Beef lot and around the Love’s by National Beef in Dodge City.” Such posts document an unprecedented moment, for Kansas, and for the nation. In August, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested a record 51,000 people across the country in one month, and the summer surge continued...

Here is something I have been learning. Colonial powers did not only conquer with guns and borders. They also conquered with food. They ripped up native crops and replaced them with export monocultures. They forced displaced people to eat strange grains from distant lands. They broke the ancient link between people and their place, one meal at a time. Food system change was a tool of colonization. And if that is true, if changing what people eat can change everything, then food system change can also be a tool of liberation. So I have been wondering: what is the opposite of that? What does liberation taste like? I think it begins with something we urgently need to remember: our bioregional diet. It is not a new invention. It is the oldest human practice there is. For nearly all of our existence, people ate what grew where they lived. They knew where and when to find it, how to grow it, how to cook it and store it using local available resources and ancestral skills developed through generations. This was not a lifestyle choice. It was simply how humans survived. And it worked for millennia. In contrast, look at the globalized...

Food Is Medicine, a new book by Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, offers a blueprint to transform food and farming systems in a way that heals people, the economy, and the planet. “Being a healthy American adult is an anomaly,” says Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and Director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University. He notes that 94 percent of people in the U.S. over the age of 18 are “not where they should be” in terms of cardiovascular and metabolic health. The food system is “the top cause of death and disability in the country,” Mozaffarian tells Food Tank. “This is the top cause of preventable healthcare spending. This is the top cause of devastation to our oceans, soil, water, and climate. And if you put it all together, this is actually the top issue facing humanity.” His new book addresses these challenges, acknowledging their complexity. It also outlines the solutions available, revealing how the growing Food is Medicine movement can help communities produce and consume food in a way that supports public health and the environment. “We have the science and the evidence on what needs to change,” Mozaffarian tells Food Tank. “And we really can fix our food...

Warnings are growing that our food system is far less secure than we assume

Rising food prices. Supply chain disruptions. Wars. More extreme weather. The confluence of these factors in 2026 has prompted researchers, advocacy groups and farmers around the world to more forcefully question the architecture of an increasingly stressed global food system—and the money, both public and private, that supports it. Coinciding with harvest season in much of the world this month, critics and activists are using a handful of agriculture- and food-focused events to home in on the structural problems of a system they say disadvantages developing countries, fattens rich ones and fails to “feed the world” as it claims to. “It does produce food,” said Jeff Conant, a deputy director with the advocacy group Friends of the Earth. “It also undeniably produces something on the order of a third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. It produces illness. It produces dispossession of land-based peoples. It produces obesity and it produces wealth for the corporate elites at the expense of the rest of us.” This month, Friends of the Earth and more than a dozen advocacy groups published a report tracking the profits of the world’s largest food companies. “It is not, in fact, a food system,” Conant said. “It’s an...

The article discusses the dual potential of artificial intelligence to enhance efficiency in the food supply chain while simultaneously raising concerns about increased costs for consumers. Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, argues that while AI can improve productivity through precision agriculture, better forecasting, and optimized distribution, its implementation must be carefully managed to avoid price discrimination based on personal data. The piece highlights McDonald's $8.5 billion investment in technology and restaurant modernization through 2036, which includes AI deployment, as an example of industry-wide technological adoption. In contrast, Wendy's faced backlash in 2024 over proposed dynamic pricing that would have charged more during peak hours, leading to a clarification that surge pricing would not be implemented. Charlebois emphasizes that while businesses can benefit from AI-driven efficiency, consumer trust is paramount. He notes that using browsing history, purchasing habits, or inferred income to charge different prices for the same products raises ethical concerns, particularly regarding food security. Maryland has already enacted legislation restricting surveillance pricing in groceries, and Charlebois urges Canadian policymakers to establish similar prohibitions. The article also cites Statistics Canada data showing a significant increase in businesses planning to adopt AI within the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and food services sectors. Charlebois concludes that AI should help reduce waste, improve productivity, and serve people better, but that using personal information to determine higher prices crosses a line. The piece stresses that while competition may help translate efficiency gains into lower prices for consumers, businesses must prioritize transparency and ethical use of AI to maintain consumer confidence.

L'utilisation des pesticides a fortement augmenté entre 2008 et 2018, selon une étude citée par la chercheuse Philippine Coutau. Dans La Matinale mardi, elle appelle à revoir le modèle alimentaire et ...

The UK’s wasteful and import-dependant food system is exposed to a range of potential threats from climate change to geopolitical shocks

Women in low-income countries are at greater risk of being left further behind than men by the impact of the polycrisis on global food systems, unless governments, donors and development partners improve inclusion, according to a new report. The publication, Advancing equality, transforming futures: a path to resilient and productive food, land and water systems in 2050, calls on governments, funders, NGOs, researchers and the private sector to address the gender gap as food systems evolve between now and 2050. Compounding pressure on food systems, from the fuel and fertilizer crisis to climate extremes and trade disruption, has disproportionately impacted women over the past year. At the same time, women remain central to building the resilient food systems the world needs to guard against emerging threats. The report, released by the CGIAR GENDER Accelerator, highlights opportunities to reduce gender inequality through a set of targeted solutions, from institutional, legal and social reform, to inclusive infrastructure, social protection, improved data-gathering and the responsible use of emerging technology. It provides a blueprint with proven solutions for policymakers, funders, the private sector and key actors on how to close gender gaps by 2050 through food systems transformation. “The choices we make over the...

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