The One Book One College selection this year, All We Can Save, takes a look at the threat of climate change. When we think about climate change, we often focus on energy use. That is important, but it’s not the whole picture. A huge contributor to the problem is agriculture. It’s a triple threat. Plowing releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Fertilizing is a source of nitrous oxide. Cattle release methane. All of these together amount to about a third of all the greenhouse gases leading to human-caused changes in climate.
The food choices that we make matter a lot. And big changes need to happen in the agriculture industry. The New York Times released the first video today that is part of a series called “We’re Cooked.” Part 1, “Meet the People Getting Paid to Kill Our Planet,” takes a hard look at the agricultural lobby in the US. You can watch all of the videos as they are released here. And don’t forget to sign up for your free subscription to the New York Times through the MVCC Library.
To find out more about food and climate change, check out these titles from the MVCC Library.