Climate Change and Food

Global warming has always been and continues to be a highly debated topic! Is it legit? What does it mean for agriculture?

When I attended the World Food Prize Conference and Borlaug Dialogue this past October climate change was one of the areas of discussion. No matter where you stand on the global warming issue they presented the facts and let you draw your own conclusions. There was one session titled "Resilience and Reality: The Future of a Climate Volatile Planet." This session did an excellent job getting you to think about "climate change" instead of "global warming." While we can't all agree on global warming I think most can agree that our climate is always changing. We have all seen severe weather swings in the past couple years (flooding, droughts, blizzards, extreme cold, etc.) One of the speakers had the following to share in regards to climate change, "It is what it is. Nature doesn't always give us bad things, we must look for opportunities to capitalize on our climate." This really put things in perspective. Yes we want to implement practices that conserve and don't harm our climate, but we also need to learn to work with what we have.

Hotter world means less food, higher costs, says UN panel: Article regarding climate change and how it will affect our food supply along with the stance of the UN. I encourage you to read this article and discuss with others.

Agriculture Education Challenge

I encourage you to think about how we are going to deal with climate change. Think about crops that are commonly grown in your area. In small groups brainstorm ways that you could alter crops or crop plans to better utilize the weather patterns and climates you are seeing in your area recently and where you see trends heading. Share and discuss your finding as a large group. Can present your information verbally or create presentations (PowerPoint or Poster).