"Envision, for a moment, a multiyear period of extreme weather, including heat waves, freezes, droughts, floods, and windstorms, topped off by extreme weather during an El Niño event, leading to major crop failures in the U.S. A disruption of the global agricultural and food supply chain results, leading to panic buying and price shocks."
"Last month, Mike Weber got the news every poultry farmer fears: His chickens tested positive for avian flu. Following government rules, Weber’s company, Sunrise Farms, had to slaughter its entire flock of egg-laying hens — 550,000 birds — to prevent the disease from infecting other farms in Sonoma County north of San Francisco."
"The U.S. global food security envoy is pushing to bring back traditional African crops that American policies helped to sideline."
"The country’s banana industry is heavily reliant on chemical pesticides that threaten the environment and public health".
"The United Nations estimates that 1.84 billion people worldwide, or nearly a quarter of humanity, were living under drought in 2022 and 2023, the vast majority in low- and middle-income countries." "The crisis, worsened partly by climate change, has been accompanied by soaring food prices and could have consequences for hunger, elections and migration worldwide."
"An ancient species of great ape was likely driven to extinction when climate change put their favorite fruits out of reach during dry seasons, scientists reported Wednesday."
"It’s a question that has bedeviled beekeepers across the US in recent years: where has all the honey gone? Scientists now say they have some answers as to why yields of honey have declined, pointing to environmental degradation that is affecting all sorts of bees, and insects more generally."
"Consumer Reports has found that plastics retain a "widespread" presence in food despite the health risks, and called on regulators to reassess the safety of plastics that come into contact with food during production."
As part of its periodic survey of the compelling work by digital journalists using data and multimedia, Reporter’s Toolbox looks at some favorite projects in the last year or so. On the list are granular maps and spinning globes, compelling photo essays and clickable storytelling. But the heart of the best digital journalism, Toolbox reminds us, is that it matters. And these do.
"No food is harder on the environment than beef. Here's how ranchers and researchers are trying to make burgers less burdensome."
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