On April 23, IFOAM – Organics International in collaboration with the Global Landscapes Forum, will host a digital forum that aims to explore the role of smallholder farmers as the trend toward lab-grown food attempts to address the shortcomings of how we currently produce and consume food.
IFOAM says that in difficult times like these we will need to navigate new ways to communicate with each other and find solutions to global challenges. And it means “rethinking how we do a lot of things, from buying food to how we shape our food systems, particularly as the trend toward lab-grown food continues”.
Next week’s digital forum sets out to answer two big questions:
- How can organic agriculture provide solutions that contribute to food security, mitigate climate change and protect biodiversity?
- Could the future of food be without farmers – Is this the future we want?
Food without farmers?
Setting the discussion in context, IFOAM reminds us that the recent IPCC report showed that the world’s food systems are estimated to cause up to 29% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. This is due to unsustainable crop and livestock production as well as deforestation. Estimates show that agriculture is responsible for 80% of deforestation worldwide. “The world is on the cusp of a new technological era, meaning most of our food could stem from unicellular life in the lab, and not from farms,” says the organisation.
Participants in this digital event will explore topics related to sustainable food systems, incentives for farmers, reducing the impact of unsustainable agriculture on biodiversity and livelihoods, how to equip farmers with the skills and knowledge they want and need, and much more.
Register for this timely and important digital discussion here.
Photo by Huseyin Kaya on Unsplash