ABSTRACT
Humanity is facing unprecedented crises that we must address: the climate, biodiversity, water, soils, deforestation and pollution. Add to these: ill health and hunger in so much of the human population and the extreme suffering of animals reared in industrial mega farms. The common connection between all these is the food system.
There is a better way forward. We need to move urgently to regenerative farming systems that nourish the soil. We need to rethink our protein consumption and move to more plant-based diets. Denatured soils need to be rewilded.
There are signs of hope, such as the United Nations (UN) Food Systems Summit and the Presidency Declaration on food systems, farming and climate at COP28, which was signed by over 150 countries. At last, food systems are on the agenda.
The big challenge now is to ensure that food systems are transformed in a way that benefits humanity everywhere, the animals who live wild alongside us, the animals we farm and the earth itself, its soils, its waters and its abundant biodiversity.
