What's For Lunch: The Future of Food in a Changing World

Environment editor Peter Thomson's changing lunch: Rotary Club veggie dogs on whole wheat buns. (Photo: Peter Thomson)

Launching ‘What’s for Lunch’: Environment editor Peter Thomson on climate change and food

Host Marco Werman speaks with The World's environment editor Peter Thomson about our new series on climate change and the future of food.

Launching ‘What’s for Lunch’: Environment editor Peter Thomson on climate change and food
A meal prepared by Joyce Kayongo in Uganda, with native tilapia and greens from a low-tech aquaponic system designed by her husband, Charles Mulamata.  Although they live in the city, nearly all the ingredients were sourced from the neighborhood.

What's for lunch: Under pressure from climate change, The World takes a global tour of our changing lunchscape

What's for lunch: Under pressure from climate change, The World takes a global tour of our changing lunchscape

Vertical lunch: To increase food production, crowded Singapore looks up

Vertical lunch: To increase food production, crowded Singapore looks up
Bon Appétit's low-carbon food plan calls for putting vegetables at the center of the plate. Making the plate smaller cuts down on waste.

Cafeteria lunch: Industrial kitchens dish out climate-friendly cuisine

Cafeteria lunch: Industrial kitchens dish out climate-friendly cuisine

No-waste lunch: China's "Clean Your Plate" campaign

No-waste lunch: China's "Clean Your Plate" campaign

Hopeful lunch? When it comes to feeding the world, 'nothing' will save us

Keeping our growing number of selves fed (sustainably, equitably, healthily) is way more than just a technical challenge. But the technical stuff does matter, too.

Hopeful lunch? When it comes to feeding the world, 'nothing' will save us

GMO lunch? Uganda considers disease-resistant cassava

The vital staple cassava is one of the most climate-resilient crops around, but it’s also highly susceptible to diseases. Scientists in Uganda hope to distribute a free, virus-resistant GMO variety, but it’s run into a buzzsaw of hostility.

GMO lunch? Uganda considers disease-resistant cassava
An artist’'s rendering of a full-scale commercial low-input desert agriculture facility. Project’s designers say the concept should work in any low-altitude desert area near a large source of salt water.

Desert lunch: Coaxing climate-friendly food from the world's driest places

In Qatar, a team of visionaries has set out to prove that even in the world's most inhospitable places, sunlight, salt water and CO2 can be transformed into energy, fresh water and food.

Desert lunch: Coaxing climate-friendly food from the world's driest places
Amaranth seedlings being grown in southern Mexico’s Tehuacan valley. The plant's seeds are high in protein and its leaves are high in iron, vitamin C and calcium.

Alt staple lunch: Mexicans push return of an ancient grain

400 years after the Spanish banned it, amaranth is making a comeback in Mexico as a high-nutrition staple that's also resistant to climate change.

Alt staple lunch: Mexicans push return of an ancient grain

Vegan lunch: Going meatless in Beijing

In a country where eating meat is considered a sign of prosperity, veganism is on the rise as more Chinese consider the environmental impact of what they eat.

Vegan lunch: Going meatless in Beijing
Kampala Entrepreneur Charles Mulamata is developing low-cost technology to produce fish, like this tilapia, and vegetables in a largely closed-loop system.

Aquaponic lunch: Pushing super-efficient fish & veggie farming in Uganda

It's an almost climate-proof method of raising fish and vegetables cheaply using very little space, water and chemical inputs. Now one man is determined to make it work in Africa.

Aquaponic lunch: Pushing super-efficient fish & veggie farming in Uganda
The System of Rice Intensification promises higher yields at a lower cost than conventional growing methods.

Changing lunch: For farmers, new 'can't miss' technology isn't always enough

Economist and food-policy researcher Shane Bryan says along with producing better tools, we need to foster environments in which those tools are truly useful.

Changing lunch: For farmers, new 'can't miss' technology isn't always enough
Farmer Maria Luisa Jimenez eliminates greenhouse gas emissions from synthetic fertilizers by growing vegetables in the mixture of biochar, compost, rice husks and coconut fiber.

Carbon-neutral lunch: Costa Rica looks to lead on climate-friendly ag

Since Costa Rica announced four years ago that it would become "carbon-neutral" by 2021, the country has become a laboratory for reducing the climate impact of agriculture.

Carbon-neutral lunch: Costa Rica looks to lead on climate-friendly ag

Low-water lunch: A Chinese breakthrough on irrigation?

Growing more food with less water will be one of the biggest challenges in the coming era of surging populations and increasing climate disruption.

Low-water lunch: A Chinese breakthrough on irrigation?
One of a fleet of trucks in the Bangalore area that brings untreated sewage from homes to farms, to be used as fertilizer.

Recycled lunch: Using human waste to grow food, and fight climate change

Synthetic fertilizers contribute mightily to climate change. So now there's a growing push in India to return to the ancient practice of using human waste as fertilizer, but with modern sanitary safeguards.

Recycled lunch: Using human waste to grow food, and fight climate change