Food Security
Food security occurs when people at all times have access to safe food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy life. Climate change will result in higher temperatures, changes in precipitation, and more extreme and variable weather, which will challenge local, regional, and global food supplies, distribution systems, and food storage systems. Climate impacts that will affect food security will be driven by both acute (e.g., fire, hurricanes) and chronic (e.g., ecological drought) events. Also, increases in atmospheric carbon will diminish the nutritional value of many agricultural crops, which may increase the demand for new and different cropping systems and can also lead to chronic malnutrition.
The challenge facing a future world of 9 billion people suggests we may have to produce more food in both environmentally and socially sustainable ways that meets the food security needs of all people. Certain groups, including the urban and rural poor, are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity, which will be worsened by climate change. Additionally, a lack of food availability and first foods, in particular, can have physical, as well as mental, health impacts for indigenous and tribal communities.
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Food Security and Climate Change in Alaska
Climate change is likely to affect agriculture, mariculture, and wild harvest foods in Alaska, which could impact the…
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Climate Change and Wild Foods in Alaska
Climate change is altering the abundance and location of a variety of wild foods in Alaska, affecting food security.
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Tribal Food Sovereignty and Climate Change in the Northwest
Food sovereignty is important to Northwest Tribal Nations. However, it is being affected by climate change.
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Food Security and Justice at Calypso Farm, Alaska
This Adaptation in Action profile highlights Calypso Farm’s efforts to increase community access to local food and…
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Planting Gardens of Breadfruit
The Melai Mai initiative is an innovative partnership between communities, traditional leaders, local governments,…
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What We Know About Climate Change and Northwest Huckleberries
Fire and forest management practices play important roles in the current and future success of huckleberry across the…
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Environmental Knowledge and Perceptions of the Urban DC Population
New research from the University of the District of Columbia shows that understanding what people know and perceive is…
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Preparing for Disaster in the Midwest: The Land of Extremes
USDA Climate Hubs work to provide region-specific information, with USDA agencies and partners, to producers and…