Sustainability Ambassadors: 2050 Workout

Ben Friedman
Aug 26, 2017 · 2 min read

Feeling very humbled by my morning at University of Washington coaching the Food System group at the Sustainability Ambassadors 2050 Workout — a thought experiment on what it will take to make our communities sustainable 30 years from now.

Different groups analyzed other systems like Integrated Water Systems, Clean Energy & Living Buildings, Zero Waste & Circular Economies, and Transit and Urban Planning.

If you want to be inspired, go to Kane Hall (room 110) tonight at 7pm to watch them synthesize all these systems into a hopeful view of the future!

Looking at the timeline till 2050, our Food System group zeroed in on 5 main pivot points (not in any particular order) that will drive the food system towards our sustainability goals over the next three decades:

  1. Governments increasing standards and regulations for food production, processing & additives
  • The EU has been out in front on this for over 20 years
  • We need to legislate around animal welfare standards (global animal partnership)
  • We need to make unnecessary pesticides ilegal & and punish runoff and pollution
  • Stronger water use regulation so our farm lands can be farmed in the future

2. Electrification of our Distribution Systems

  • We recognize that no matter how much consumer brands like Homegrown popularize local and seasonal eating, the economy is only going to get MORE global. We need to take “food miles” out of the equation by greening our shipping and transportation system so we can focus more on “how” food is grown and less on “where” it is grown.

3. Begin to Rapidly Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

  • We need to get ahead of climate change or our current form of agriculture and crop varietals are at risk of critical failure.

4. Innovations in Food Production

  • How we grow food nees to be less resource intensive and more resilient to climate change, with increased access to growing technologies like hot house growing and hydroponics. If we’re at risk of losing our ability to dirt farm in many regions of the world, we have to make alternative growing methods more cost-effective.

5. Policy Changes to Make Sustainable Food More Competitive with Conventional Food

  • More balanced subsidies that reward sustainable growers and prices that are more reflective of the “true cost” of food
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