What we eat and how we produce our food are inextricably linked to the climate crisis.
Science makes it clear that to avert the worst impacts of climate change, we must address the greenhouse gas emissions from the food and agriculture sectors. This includes wasting less food, phasing out agricultural chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers, reducing meat consumption from confined factory farms, and capturing and storing carbon in soils. With so many crises unfolding on our planet—pandemics, loss of biodiversity, hunger, and poverty—the food and agriculture sectors must transition toward regenerative systems that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, build soil health, protect public and environmental health, grow more nutritious food, and increase equity and resilience.
What We're Doing
More plants and less red meat for healthier people and planet.
The certified “organic” label provides the best assurance we have today that our food was produced without dangerous synthetic pesticides.
What we eat plays a big role in the fight against climate change. Eating more plants and wasting less good food are vital places to start.
Farming in harmony with nature fights climate change, improves water quality, and protects biodiversity. NRDC works with growers, ranchers, and community leaders to craft policies for a regenerative farm and food system.
A resource that is right beneath our feet can help us fight climate change, while cleaning up our water, increasing biodiversity, and creating healthy food in the process.
The most common and effective strategy for farmers adapting to climate change is improving soil health.
Everyone, from governments and large food companies to ordinary people, has the power to make a difference in the fight against climate change by changing the way we grow our food and changing what we eat.
This pandemic has shone a light on the fragility of the broken U.S. food system.
As long droughts become more and more common, we're pushing farmers to embrace sustainable practices that increase soil health and use water more efficiently.
The IPCC lands report makes clear that the food system is a significant driver of climate change, but that it can also be a vital part of the solution.
This is how we can help California farms and ranches be part of a drought mitigation strategy.
As higher temperatures head north, the Great Plains’ grasslands are in for a transformation.
Carbon farming, an agricultural movement taking root in Northern California, aims to improve the soil and help stabilize the climate.
Growing, processing, transporting, and disposing our uneaten food in the United States has an annual estimated cost of $218 billion, costing a household of four an average of $1,800 annually.
Could we integrate solar power and crop cultivation to the benefit of both? It’s called agrivoltaics—and if done right, it may catch on.
Related Priorities
What You Can Do
Composting Is Way Easier Than You Think
With minimal effort, you can turn those banana peels and apple cores into gold. Let us break it down.
