This year’s cohort of Rural Scholars from the UMass Chan Medical School gave a two-for-one presentation with recommendations for creating an integrated health care system to improve Martha’s Vineyard for residents who are older or have a disability. While the focus was on the older population, they share many needs with people who have disabilities, […]
MD/PhD student Claire Branley is passionate about fighting food insecurity to prevent disease. The president of the UMass Chan Community Garden, Branley is researching community-based nutrition policy.
The future of food: Imagining our food system in the decades to come
Our global food system is complex, with trade-offs existing between efficiency, equity, and human and environmental health. Managing a transition, even without cultural factors and vested interests involved in food systems, is highly challenging.
However, a number of promising technologies, including hydroponics, cultured meat, innovations across aquaculture and the use of bacteria in nutrient production are critical in the future of food.
Challenges for the future of food
COVID-19 has exacerbated a dire global malnutrition crisis, where calories have been prioritized over nutrients, and a small minority of people have balanced and healthy diets. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies exist throughout the world, and leading to both obesity and emaciation. The number of people malnourished globally in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic was 820 million, making United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 3 of zero hu
Event Recap | AgriTechAction 2020 Event Recap by Borja Prado, Claire Branley
Public investment in agriculture research and development has declined in the United States in the past decade, despite major challenges such as climate change increasingly damaging the food system. Food insecurity not only weakens the U.S. internally, but increases economic and political instability across the world, posing an additional threat to U.S. national security. It is imperative that innovation in agriculture remains a priority, and a new infusion of interest in the agriculture sector from the technology and data sector can accomplish this.
Technology has radically transformed and will continue to change the way agriculture and the complex, ill-defined networks of our food system function, both domestically and internationally. To fully leverage the power of the opportunities available and in the