Oral

Six major drivers will determine the earth’s carrying capacity and ability to provide food security for all people into the 21st century: (1)Population growth, (2)Industrialization of agriculture and loss of crop diversity, (3)Water scarcity as industry and household use compete with agriculture for water, (4)Globalization of food markets and commodity price manipulation, (5) Dietary choice as industrializing countries like China and India adopt the high meat diet of North America and Europe, and (6)Climate change. Of these drivers, climate change has received insufficient attention as a key determinant to food production capacity throughout the world. This session will explore the opportunities to mitigate and prevent catastrophic disruptions of the food supply in the face of increasing amounts of greenhouse gas emissions.

Session Objectives: To alert the public health community to the factors associated with global climate change that pose a serious and growing threat to the world’s food supply and to present actions that we can take as individuals and public health professionals to reduce the risks to food security.