Food and Farming Climate Media Toolkit

This is a crucial time for journalists covering the climate impact of what we eat. There will soon be more people on the planet than ever — 9.7 billion by 2050 according to UN figures — yet our food system is stretched to its limits in its current form. We can’t continue producing food in the same way without causing significant environmental damage.

Despite the urgency, this is a story that is vastly underreported. Our study conducted with the data analysis group Faunalytics found just 7 percent of climate media stories mentioned animal agriculture.

There’s an urgent need for more media coverage but also accuracy. While media outlets cover the food system from a variety of perspectives — we should at least be able to agree on the need for science-driven and evidence-based stories.

With that in mind, we’ve compiled a number of resources here for journalists looking to cover the food-climate connection.

Climate Emissions from Food

• Creating a Sustainable Food Future | World Resources Report
  Researchers recommend a number of solutions for feeding the global population without increasing global warming beyond 1.5 degrees.
  
• How much of global greenhouse gas emissions come from food? Our World in Data using Poore, Nemecek data
  Around 26 percent of global GHG emissions come from food production, primarily beef, including land and methane from cattle burps.
  
• Environmental Impacts of 57000 different foods, PNAS
• EAT-Lancet Commission Report
• FAO – Livestock Emissions: Key facts and findings

Further reading

• Livestock Don’t Contribute 14.5% of… | The Breakthrough Institute
• Analysis of U.S. Emissions by Tim Searchinger — What Does 10 Percent Really Mean?
• UN numbers say meat is bad for the climate. The reality is worse. Vox

Dietary Change

• You want to reduce the carbon footprint of your food? Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is local – Our World in Data 
• How 4 Leading Organizations Define a Sustainable Diet
  

Deforestation

• Tropical Deforestation (nasa.gov)
• Drivers of Deforestation – Our World in Data

Regenerative Agriculture and Soil Carbon Sequestration

• Frontiers | What Is Regenerative Agriculture? A Review of Scholar and Practitioner Definitions Based on Processes and Outcomes
• 30-year study comparing no-till to tilled plot of land
• Tillage and soil carbon sequestration-What do we really know? Experts@Minnesota (umn.edu)

Further Reading

• Regenerative Agriculture Practices | World Resources Institute (wri.org)
• INSIDER: Further Explanation on the Potential Contribution of Soil Carbon Sequestration on Working Agricultural Lands to Climate Change Mitigation | World Resources Institute
• Sustainable Food Future: Workshop Series on Ways to Boost Food Security While Reducing GHG Emissions | World Resources Institute (wri.org)
• A Soil-Science Revolution Upends Plans to Fight Climate Change | Quanta Magazine

Carbon Offsets and Carbon Neutral Labels

• High-Quality Offsets – Carbon Offset Guide
• Carbon Neutral, Climate Neutral and Net Zero, Explained

Global Warming Potential and Methane

• Global Warming Potential and Methane, Explained

Analysis: Feed additives for curbing methane

• Just how much methane can feed additives reduce? Want Carbon-Neutral Cows? Algae Isn’t the Answer | WIRED).